I was watching [this video](https://youtu.be/euE7PP_RUfk) on YouTube about incommensurability, and I have some questions.
As I understood it, when a paradigm shift occurs, there is no way we can objectively compare these paradigms. Now this confused me a bit, and I have a couple of questions regarding this.
1. Does this apply to all sciences or just social sciences?
2. Aren’t the new paradigms there because they explain topics the previous paradigm couldn’t while also covering whatever the previous paradigm explains? If so, wouldn’t that mean the new one is better?
3. Why would we use the old standard? Isn’t thenew standard a result of a failure in the old standard?
4. It was also mentioned in the video itself that there are people who argue that the new paradigm is better because they address failures of the previous ones, which I understand. But for those who argue that there is no objective standard, why would we ever prefer the old standard? If the old paradigm was better, why was there ever a paradigm shift then?
I understand that the video might have oversimplified it for beginners, and I might have misunderstood the whole thing.
In: 8
Consider a paradigm like a blanket, and you switch to a new paradigm/blanket which is larger (handles edge cases the previous did not) or has a different thread count (more accurate at a different scale). Both blankets might keep you warm, assuming you stick to the middle, but you might want the new one for the edges or scale. Or the old one might be a simpler design and handles what your needs are just fine. So instead of throwing out the old one, you would just use whichever serves your purposes at the time. You might even have several equally valid paradigms/blankets and you use each as needed. But generally you would base your next one on the most recent, as you want to cover more and more edge cases. Improved accuracy might be enough on its own though.
Example: if you want to calculate the time it takes to get to your destination down the road, you generally don’t need to account for space-time stretching effects of general relativity or even the curvature of the earth. But when you do need those things, they are a lot more useful to have and use.
As for the blanket, sometimes you need to share with more people, or use a blanket that doesn’t trap all the heat, or both. But when it’s just you on a normal day, your favorite go-to works best.
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