What is the definition of paradigm ?
A scientific paradigm relates to how something is observed, what questions are to be asked and how they will be asked, and how the results will be treated. Basically, it’s how an experiment will be ran. Plate Tectonics has a standard model that is very widely accepted by the full range of scientists in all related fields. When it comes to funding, investigations that could change the model slightly would be favored over an investigation that would overthrow the model entirely. This is due to the thinking that the finite monies and other resources available are better spent on what is most likely to increase understanding with positive results. For instance, funding would be much more likely to go for a project that investigated the effects of tidal pull on magma flow (which could be fit into the standard model) than one that investigated the possibility that plate movements were caused mostly by the wind pushing the plates around (which doesn’t fit the standard model at all). In colloq
