Paradigms and Consciousness

How Knowledge and Perception Help Form Our Reality

“Paradigms are powerful because they create the lens through which we see the world […] It becomes obvious that if we want to make relatively minor changes in our lives, we can perhaps appropriately focus on our attitudes and behaviors. But if we want to make significant, quantum change, we need to work on our basic paradigms” (Covey, 2014, Web Publication). Paradigms can be shaped by more scientific or subjective information; based more on intuition and subjective feeling; or passed down or inherited traditionally. We call these the Three Eureka’s of Knowledge. (Collins, 2020, Video Lecture)

When we experience something for the first time, the new knowledge or feeling or worldview causes a shift in our consciousness. This paradigm shift creates a new framework for the mind to explore. This can be both enlightening and frightening depending on the situation. Sometimes new information can be so overwhelming it leads to what is called cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance can be defined as “psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously”. (Mirriam-Webster, 2022, Web Page) This typically happens when someone has a deep level of paradigm blindness, which can be described as how we allow the paradigms we live within to pull the proverbial wool over our eyes. In order to properly deal with the new information, we must experience a shift in paradigm. This can present a challenge, but retaining an overall sense of enthusiasm for true knowledge can help this process.

A 150+ year old example of extremely conflicting paradigms is that of viruses as the cause of disease. That phrase alone can lead to the immediate scoff that comes with scorn and disbelief. However, let us put our potential paradigm blindness aside for a moment and consider some things. Many of the modern frameworks we have in place for the delivery of medicine have been modeled after the pro-Germ Theory notion of how viruses make us sick. This is a clear example of how powerful paradigms- especially ones followed for so long- can have a massive effect on overall perception, understanding and consciousness. This can also have an effect on aggregate consciousness, and it is important.  I want you to know that it is this exact expanse in knowledge and worldview that has caused me to divert from allopathic-centered care and lead me down the path toward personal holistic medicine. I can no longer work in a space where my mentors, colleagues, and superiors refuse to take in new evidence that challenges their tightly held ideas.

It is perhaps a combination of both subjective and traditional knowledge that has led to this widely-accepted paradigm. But a further look at the true, objective science behind this tells us that we have allowed a massive spell to be cast over the vast majority of the world. There is a plethora of evidence that supports the statement that viruses simply cannot be labeled as the cause of disease because no virus in history has even been properly purified and isolated. If this is not done, you have nothing to carefully study and characterize.

This may seem like an extraordinary claim, but again, let us allow ourselves to detach from our potential paradigm blindness in an effort to better understand how disease works. You may be surprised with what is presented and the very strong arguments and evidence that comes with this very controversial paradigm.

First, I want to introduce the term cytopathic effect, which is defined as: “[the] structural changes in a host cell resulting from viral infection. CPE occurs when the infecting virus causes lysis (dissolution) of the host cell or when the cell dies without lysis because of its inability to reproduce.” (Britannica, 2022, Web Publication) It is important to understand this term to understand what is being looked for when scientists allege that they have proven that a so-called ‘virus’ causes disease. The methods used in virology for the ‘isolation’ technique CREATE the cytopathic effects that are then used to make the claim that a virus is responsible for said effects. To summarize and also quote the work of Mike Stone (2022), the methods used to isolate a virus do not adhere to the Scientific Method, [which] is the process of observation, questioning, and experimentation that is supposed to be followed by all researchers. It consists of a series of steps designed to test a hypothesis in order to either validate or invalidate it. Virology is at a loss from the very start as they cannot observe a “virus” in nature. They cannot see a “virus” float into a host and witness this act causing disease. They cannot watch “viruses” being transferred from person to person through tiny droplets or aerosols in the air. As virologists cannot observe “viruses” at all, they had to assume something “virus-like” existed in the first place causing disease. (Web Publication, paragraph 3 &4)

This paradigm goes pretty deep, so I tried to just stick to the lack of adherence to basic science specifically. There are other inconsistencies that surround viruses and the theory they cause disease, but those are a story for another time. To quote Tom Cowan (2020), one of the leading doctors questioning the validity of the science behind viruses as the cause of disease: “Since [Louis] Pasteur’s day, no one has demonstrated experimentally the transmissibility of disease with pure cultures of bacteria or viruses. No one has bothered since Pasteur’s time to [question this paradigm. We have instead passed it down via both subjective and personal knowledge, instead of verifying the validity of these claims using objective, scientific logic.] Incredible as that may seem, we are sitting on a house of cards that has resulted in a dangerous shift in aggregate consciousness that must be reversed to instill real truth and knowledge and promote better avenues for overall healthcare.

SOURCES:

Covey, Stephen R. (March 13, 2014). Web Publication. https://hotpinkwebsites.com.au/paradigm-shifts-steven-covey/

Collins, John. (2020). Video Lecture, part 2. https://miuonline.instructure.com/courses/1588/pages/2-dot-2-video-presentation-by-john-collins-paradigms?module_item_id=135429

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. (August 31, 2022). Web Publication. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive%20dissonance

Brittanica. (August 31, 2022). Web Publication. https://www.britannica.com/science/cytopathic-effect

Stone, Mike. (April 26, 2022). Web Publication. https://viroliegy.com/2022/04/26/introduction-to-viroliegy/