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Parascientific Paradigms

The grand, overarching theoretical frameworks within parasciences that are unfalsifiable by design. Like Thomas Kuhn's scientific paradigms, they dictate what questions are valid and what counts as evidence, but they are immune to revolution by empirical anomaly because anomalies are defined away as part of a conspiracy or as "not yet understood" within the paradigm.
Parascientific Paradigms Example: The "Ancient Astronaut" paradigm. Any archaeological mystery is evidence for the theory (aliens built the pyramids). The absence of evidence is also evidence (the cover-up). Any scientific debunking is framed as close-mindedness. This parascientific paradigm is a totalizing belief system that consumes all data, positive or negative, as fuel.
by Dumu The Void February 9, 2026
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Love Parasite

A man who loves someone (or something) so much and knows that she also loves him, so much so that he knocks everyone back simply to love that one person (whether real or fictional), in every way, sexual or whatever else, but without it being twisted, just really sexual and slutty to some

The subjects don't care though, they just love each other and there career, like the opposite of a concubine, higher than a wife
Dante: hey nero, you seen Trish and Nivek, my mum and mando has become total love parasites

Nero: and here I thought Kyrie's cooking was the best
by -Dat Mental Gamer- February 11, 2026
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Power Paradigms

The theory that whoever holds power determines not just policies but paradigms—the very frameworks through which reality is understood. Power Paradigms argues that truth, logic, science, and reality itself are shaped by those who control institutions, resources, and discourse. The powerful don't just dominate the world; they dominate the terms by which the world is understood. Paradigms shift not when evidence accumulates but when power shifts—when new groups gain the ability to define what counts as knowledge, what counts as reasonable, what counts as real. Power Paradigms explains why history is written by the victors, why certain knowledge is marginalized, why some truths are unspeakable. It's the theory that reality has a ruling class.
Example: "He used to think science was pure, objective, above politics. Then he learned about Power Paradigms—how funding shapes research, how institutions control publication, how those with power determine what counts as knowledge. Science wasn't corrupted; it was always political. The question wasn't whether power influenced knowledge, but whose power, and toward what ends."
by Abzugal February 21, 2026
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Logical Paradigms

The recognition that logic itself operates within paradigms—frameworks that determine what counts as logical, what methods are valid, what inferences are allowed. Logical Paradigms vary across cultures, historical periods, and domains. Classical logic is one paradigm; intuitionistic logic is another; paraconsistent logic is another; fuzzy logic is another. None is "logic itself"; all are logics, each adequate to certain purposes, each limited by its assumptions. Understanding Logical Paradigms is essential for escaping logical absolutism—the belief that one's own logic is logic.
Example: "He'd thought there was one logic—the logic. Logical Paradigms showed him otherwise: different logics for different purposes, different frameworks for different domains. His logic wasn't logic; it was a logic. The plural mattered."
by Abzugal March 9, 2026
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Rational Paradigms

The recognition that rationality itself operates within paradigms—frameworks that determine what counts as rational, what methods are appropriate, what standards apply. Rational Paradigms vary across cultures, historical periods, and domains. What was rational in one era (bleeding patients) is irrational now; what's rational in one culture (ancestor worship) may seem irrational in another. Understanding Rational Paradigms is essential for escaping the assumption that one's own rationality is simply rationality—that one's way of reasoning is the way.
Example: "He judged other cultures' practices as irrational. Rational Paradigms showed him otherwise: they were rational within their own frameworks, using their own standards. His rationality wasn't the measure; it was one measure among many."
by Abzugal March 9, 2026
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Scientific Paradigms

The core concept from Kuhn: the frameworks of assumptions, methods, and standards within which normal science operates. Scientific Paradigms define what questions are worth asking, what methods are appropriate, what counts as evidence, what constitutes a solution. They're the invisible structures that make normal science possible—and that make revolutionary science so traumatic. Understanding Scientific Paradigms is essential for understanding how science actually works, not how it's idealized.
Example: "He'd thought science just accumulated facts. Scientific Paradigms showed him otherwise: facts were always facts-within-a-paradigm. When paradigms shifted, facts shifted too. Science wasn't a straight line; it was a series of revolutions."
by Abzugal March 9, 2026
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Cognitive Paradigms

The frameworks of assumptions, concepts, and processes that shape how individuals and groups think, perceive, and understand. Cognitive Paradigms include mental models, conceptual schemes, cognitive styles, and ways of knowing—all the structures that shape how we make sense of the world. They're what cognitive science studies when it examines how minds work, but with the added recognition that these structures are not universal but vary across individuals, cultures, and contexts.
Example: "She thought everyone thought like her. Cognitive Paradigms showed her otherwise: different minds, different paradigms. Her way of thinking wasn't the way; it was a way."
by Abzugal March 9, 2026
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