Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Re: To all those discussing 'new paradigm'

Author: Fernando Villegas

Date: 07:41:01 11/06/00

Go up one level in this thread


On November 06, 2000 at 09:58:56, Joe Besogn wrote:

>You are, imo, running round in circles due to the usual reasons of vested
>interests, but also because you argue without even a basic understanding of the
>terminology.
>
>Try: http://cgi.student.nada.kth.se/cgi-bin/d95-aeh/get/kuhneng
>
>for a concise description of Kuhn's ideas in the "History of Scientific
>Revolutions".
>
>Then, perhaps, there might be some interest in reading what you have to say on
>the subject amongst the more enlightened.
>
>The descriptions in the article, imo, almost exactly mirror actions and progress
>within computer chess. That's imo.
>
>Although you are unlikely to reach agreement on new/old paradigms, existence of,
>or whatever, at least you'll have some new agreement on what words mean. That
>helps.
>
>Also useful for you will be the realisation that a paradigm is not a 'chess
>playing computer program', but a 'system of thought'. The fact that it is
>possible to take a conventional chess program and apply new ideas to it, does
>not mean that a paradigm shift has not taken place. The revolutionary shift is
>in 'ways of thinking' or in 'world view' - rather more difficult than changing
>code. The paradigm shift, therefore, is in you, in your own head. Some make this
>shift faster than others, one revolutionary starts it off, some see it soon,
>some see it later, some never see it at all. The ones that don't see it, deny it
>exists. The ones that do see it, say "you need to think different". The ones who
>see it late claim "it's evolutionary, I could do that".
>
>Why do I always try to help them ?!

Hi.
You are right that sharper definitions of words helps, but not so much and not
always is neccesary, anyway. There is room, in a casual debate as those
performed here, to some fuzzy logic. I think every one here -or almost- knows
how radical a "paradigm" is, but nevertheless we all understand that, when
Thorsten uses it here, he is just referring  to a more modest thing: a new way
to understand how to program certain functions of a chess program. In that sense
the word is useful and it would be a kind of pedantry to argue againts him on
the base of the exact definition of what a paradigm is. Besides, to define words
tends only to open another field of debate instead of solving it. How much
radical a new way of thought has to be to be a paradigm? Exception made of some
clear cases -copernican vs tolomean astronomical vision- the issue ios tricky
anyway.
Regards
Fernando



This page took 0.02 seconds to execute

Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700

Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.