Mechanistic paradigm facts for kids

The mechanistic paradigm is a way of thinking that was very common in the 19th century. It sees everything around us, including people and nature, as working like a machine. Imagine a clock or a car; each part has a specific job, and if you know how the parts work, you can predict what the whole machine will do. This way of thinking influenced many areas of science.

• In physics, this idea often focuses on things being made of tiny particles. For example, it might prefer to think of light as tiny particles rather than as waves. Even though both ideas are needed to fully understand light, the particle view was often emphasized.
• When looking at the universe (in astrophysics), the mechanistic view sees it like a giant clockwork machine. It suggests that the universe runs on its own, and our choices don't really change how it works.
• In cosmology, which studies the origin and future of the universe, this way of thinking prefers models where the universe isn't constantly creating new matter or energy. It sees the universe as having a fixed amount of "stuff."
• For chemistry, the mechanistic paradigm assumes that molecules are like simple building blocks. It believes that when molecules combine, their effects are always predictable and straightforward.
• In biology, this idea suggests that everything about living things, including all the complex processes of biochemistry, can be fully predicted just by understanding chemistry and physics.
• People who strongly believe in this paradigm sometimes see fields like ecology (the study of how living things interact with their environment) and psychology (the study of the mind) as "less scientific." They might think these fields are not as precise as physics, chemistry, or biology.
• This way of thinking can also make people less open to ideas where bigger, more complex systems influence smaller parts. For example, they might not easily accept theories like Gaia philosophy, which suggests the Earth's living systems work together like a single organism.
• Sometimes, this leads to what's called Greedy Reductionism. This is when people always try to explain things by breaking them down into smaller and smaller parts, even if those parts are invisible or hard to prove, like in string theory.
• In psychology, this can lead to theories like behaviorism. These theories try to explain human behaviour mostly through biology and learned responses, sometimes suggesting that free will isn't a real thing.

Paradigm Shifts

The mechanistic way of thinking assumes that our beliefs and tools don't really add much bias to scientific theories. However, a famous scientist named Thomas Kuhn disagreed. He said that the main ideas and assumptions in science can change drastically over time. He called these big changes paradigm shifts.

The move from the mechanistic way of thinking to a more "cognitive" way (which focuses on how the mind processes information) is an example of such a shift. Later, Kuhn used other words like "mind-set" to describe these assumptions, but the word "paradigm" is still widely used today.

Economics and Technology

Some people say that economics has been too influenced by the mechanistic paradigm. For example, some economists who follow this idea try to combine physics and economics. They might suggest that people and tiny particles behave in similar ways, which can be a very simplified view of human behavior.

Making new technology can sometimes be easier if you think in a mechanistic way. You might focus on how the parts should work together. However, if something goes wrong, it might be harder to figure out why, especially if you only think about how it "should" work instead of looking at real-world experience.

Other Ideas

Some people have suggested that mechanistic ideas are similar to an older way of thinking called scholasticism, but with more mathematics. Both approaches tried to figure out how things "must" or "should" work, rather than focusing on what experiments actually showed.

Another idea, which is quite debated, is that scientism comes from the mechanistic paradigm. Scientism is the belief that science is like a religion or a guide for how we should live our lives. Most scientists who think mechanistically try to keep science separate from ethics (what is right or wrong).