Paradigm Inertia Paradigm Inertia is the systemic, psychological, and institutional resistance to updating, revising, or replacing an established mental model, operational framework, or scientific consensus—even when confronted with empirical anomalies, falsifying data, or demonstrable systemic failure. It represents the tendency of epistemic systems (individual minds, academic disciplines, regulatory agencies, and professional cultures) to maintain their
Two very different minds. Silvan Tomkins (1911-1991) is considered by many to be the Einstein of emotional science. His theory of emotion defines a core set of indivisible neurobiological elements – “affects” -whose innate and learning conscripted behaviors aggregate to explain the entire universe of human emotion. John Steinbeck (1902-1968) also viewed humans through a
John Steinbeck & Silvan Tomkins – What A Shame! Read More »
This is a podcast conducted by Jesica Glover as a stand alone episode in “My Child Can’t Read: A Heartland Crisis”. The podcast was as recorded on 5-12-26 and was produced on behalf of the Phillips Fundamental Learning Center. The above video is the raw interview. The interview was edited and released as a
The Crisis Beneath the Literacy Crisis Read More »
I fed the transcript of the following video of my talk to the Tomkins organization to an AI proxy of Silvan Tomkins and instructed it: Filter out everything not related to affect theory. Distill the affect-order distinctions being made. Point by point, use Tomkins to comment on them. A page of background and further
What Silvan Tomkins Might Say: My Tomkins Talk Read More »
Gary David, PhD, is an epistemologist, educator, and former professional jazz musician who applies General Semantics and Epistemics to human awareness, learning, and emotional processes. Background & Mentorship J. Samuel Bois: Apprenticed and studied with epistemologist J. Samuel Bois from 1964 to 1978, later editing his textbook The Art of Awareness: A Handbook on Epistemics
Two very different minds. Silvan Tomkins (1911-1991) is considered by many to be the Einstein of emotional science. His theory of emotion defines a core set of indivisible neurobiological elements – “affects” -whose innate and learning conscripted behaviors aggregate to explain the entire universe of human emotion. John Steinbeck (1902-1968) also viewed humans through a
Tomkins and Steinbeck: What A Shame Read More »
I had been sharing images of the latest U.S. reading scores since 2003. Usually in the form of stop signs, like these from 2003, 2017, and 2023. Watching these scores remain so close to flatline for 20 years led me to create a video called “A Brief Tour Through Decades of U.S. Reading Scores“.
After Decades of Literacy Improficiency… Read More »
End summary: This considers learning a self-renewing participation in meaning, not the acquisition of information. This aligns with Bohm, Varela, Piaget, but goes beyond each by adding: • a geometry (parabola) • a mechanism (co-implication density) • an apex (inflection) • a cycle (wingbeat) • a unifying scope (micro → macro) Advantages of this definition
The Beating Wings of Learning Read More »
Tangent migrations most often begin when a memory evoked in the current stream of attention overpowers the emotional motive of the stream and repurposes attention and memory according to relevance with the evoked memory rather than to the original context and purpose in the stream that evoked the memory. Where this happens without our
What Calabrese and Tomkins Might Say: Meta-tations Read More »
Have you ever noticed someone veer off on a tangent? Have you ever noticed your how your own thoughts migrate off into tangents? I mean by “tangent migrations”, changes to the direction of the unfoldment of meaning in the stream of consciousness or a train of thought due to the emotional charge of a memory
HOW DID THAT COME TO MIND? Meta-tations and the Illusion of Free Agency Read More »