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Language as Clue — Part 2
The Effect of Paradigms on Creating Systemic Change in Business
The Behavioral Paradigm
The second paradigm in modern culture emerged after the machine paradigm had taken solid hold, carrying over the idea formulated by thermodynamics that objects need external inputs to work (gas into a car, electricity into a radio) but shifting the input from fuel or energy sources to the manipulative management of one person or group by another. The basic premise of the behavioral paradigm is that people and groups are externally determined by the consequences of their actions and that the introduction of behavior intercedents can give us power to control them based on their reactivity to pleasure and pain. managing these stimuli can produce predictable responses that are beneficial to others, although not necessarily to the person who is being manipulated. The behavioral paradigm has as its goal prediction and control of behavior.
Source: John B. Watson, who originated the field of behaviorism, emphasized the external behavior of people and their reactions in given situations, rather than their internal, mental states. In his opinion, the analysis of behaviors and reactions was the only objective method for developing insight into human actions. This outlook — combined with the complementary ideas of…
