The shift from “Acts of God to Earth science system and the shift from Growth Paradigm to Sustainability Paradigm are some of the major scientific shifts that remain contested in the modern world.
While the shift from the Acts of God to Earth Science Systems is a widely accepted scientific shift, the shift from Growth Paradigm to Sustainability Paradigm is only accepted within the scientific community but contested by a number of scholars in engineering, economics and politics because the realization of a green revolution is considered a myth rather than a reality.
In this paper, a comprehensive comparison of the two scientific shifts is developed to enhance knowledge in the shift from growth paradigm to sustainability paradigm, attempting to predict the time needed for the world to accept the need for sustainability rather than growth paradigm in solving the current and future problems of global warming.
The shift from the Acts of God to Earth Science Systems is defined by an increasing acceptance that the biblical story of creation has a number of areas that do not reflect the truth. In fact, the biblical story has been shortened to ensure that people understand the origin of the universe with ease (Dekkers 129).
Although scientists do not tend to contest the biblical story, they have developed a volume of information based on scientific evidences, which tend to refute the biblical claim that the age of the world is approximately 10,000 years (Dekkers 172). The scientific evidence tends to prove that the world is approximately several billion years old.
The geophysics principles such as the decay of the earth’s magnetic field and cooling of the earth as well as the principles of planetary science such as the shrinking of the sun, accumulation of dust on the moon and the fusion within the sun are important sources of evidence.
In fact, scientists have used these evidences to show that the biblical concept of “the Acts of God” have a number of assumptions. Thus, the new evidence provided through these principles has developed a scientific shift from the Acts of God to the earth science systems paradigm.
This shift is comparable with the shift from the growth paradigm to the sustainability paradigm advocated by scientists in the modern context. Unlike the shift from the acts of God to the earth science systems, the paradigm shift from growth to sustainability is not supported by strong scientific evidence because economists and other groups also present strong evidence against the need for the shift (Edwards 33).
In particular, the need to “green” the global economy is highly refuted, which contrasts with the wide scientific evidence that the biblical story of creation is based on assumptions.
Unlike the shift from Acts of God to the scientific systems of the earth, the paradigm shift from growth to sustainability is taking place in the modern context, which makes it difficult for individuals to quantify the actual impact of global warming in future (Edwards 73).
In fact, the studies carried out to disapprove the Acts of God theory were based on past evidences, while the current studies on the future of the world and the global warming are based on insights into the future, making it difficult to quantify (Dekkers 172).
Moreover, it is worth noting that the current paradigm shift from growth to sustainability is based on human activities, while the shift from acts of God to earth science systems is based on the forces of nature that developed the universe (Dekkers 177). Thus, it is difficult to convince the world on the need for changing the systems to implement activities that lead to sustainability rather than economic growth.
Therefore, it is evident that the complete change from growth to sustainability will take time to become real. In fact, the actual impacts of the global warming will trigger the need for the change, which means that the shift of the paradigm might take more than 100 years to become real.
Works Cited
Dekkers, Rob. (R)Evolution: Organizations and the Dynamics of the Environment. London: Springer, 2010. Print.
Edwards, Andrés R. The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift. Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers, 2012. Print.