Pluriformity - An epistemology of diversity

Pluriformity - An epistemology of diversity.

Science has long been static and deterministic in its search for matter, particles and laws of nature that didn't change over time. For a long time, science embraced uniformity as its superior model, in its search for universality, for a grand unified theory or for a uniform set of absolute, perpetual and universal laws that governed nature. Even quantum theory, while greatly disturbing conventional science, still hangs on to uniform laws governing natural phenomena. But once we let go of the idea of this old-fashioned approach of uniformity, we are entering the realm of alternative epistemologies.

Epistemologically, the opposite of uniformity is pluriformity and many great thinkers embraced pluriformity in many ways. The great ancient philosopher Heraclitus embraced change, pointing out that people may all talk about a river, as if naming it therefore meant that they were all talking about the same thing, yet at closer look, there turn out to be different waters running and passing through a riverbed, making that this river is constantly changing. Similarly, the riverbed is made up of organic material that constantly changes. In conclusion, everything is constantly changing, as Heraclitus would say so eloquently: "Panta Rei". When Darwin studied species, he also concluded that they were changing, evolving in competition for resources and space. Market analysts see a world of separate entities, each one existing on their own, yet all being complementary in cherishing this individuality.

In the epistemology of pluriformity, there is no static entity, in fact a static entity cannot be sustainable in this inherently diverse reality that is constantly changing. If one entity did at some stage become dominant somewhere, before long it will change or fall apart and split up into numerous separate entities.

Governments all over the world subsidize universities that teach students to believe in uniformity. But instead, it would make sense for thinkers all over the world to contemplate pluriformity as the better epistemology of the reality we live in.

[Also posted at the Pluriformity Blog at Yahoo 360 ]