Why Paradigm?

C

Crowley

Rear Admiral
For me, this is one major bugger in Privateer: why on earth would anyone name a battleship 'Paradigm'? I can understand naming ships after swords, or other weapons or flying creatures, but paradigm? That's a linguistic term, fer cryin' out loud! What does that have to do with flying or fighting?
 
It's not just a grammatical term. In it's more common (in my experience) usage it is used as a term that encompases the point of view, thinking methods and the point of view of a culture. It's also a nice flowing name.

TC
 
Capital ships generally *aren't* named after objects, though -- they're usually ideas (Concordia), events (Trafalgar) and such.
 
For a singular capital ship I'd find that easier to accept, but it seems to me that we are looking at a whole bunch of *Paradigm-class* ships.

And as for the other meanings, my encyclopaedia only knew the grammatical use. Amazing what you can learn at places like these.
 
Originally posted by TC:
In it's more common (in my experience) usage it is used as a term that encompases the point of view, thinking methods and the point of view of a culture.
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Quite right, and it’s one of the most interesting if not amazing words in the English language right now, both for its current use and its history. Imagine “Cinderella” morphing into “Frankenstein’s Monster” and you’ll start to have a good handle on it.

Prior to 1962, the word was basically a simple synonym for a “pattern” or an “exemplar”. But then The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was published, written by Thomas S. Kuhn, a historian/philosopher of science (trained in theoretical physics) who chose the word in order to describe a key element of science that accounts for its success or “progress”. The book was (and still is) a milestone in the field, but unfortunately Kuhn’s use of the word at that time was less than precise (one critic counting a total of twenty-two different contexts).

As a result, and otherwise propelled by the academic success of Structure, the word literally took on a life of its own and “escaped”. First, social scientists adopted the word to argue that the so-called soft sciences like economics or psychology were no different in kind from the hard sciences like chemistry or physics. Next, philosophers in general expanded their use of the word to characterize distinct schools of thought and complex theories (in history, art, ethics . . . you name it). And finally, inevitably, it “trickled down” and has since spread out (like a weed some would say) into the common culture as TC noted.

The great and/or horrible thing about all this is that because it has become such an elastic and ethereal word its meaning or context is hard to pin down when people do use it or hear it used. Which is why you see its use satirized from time to time (e.g., in a Simpsons episode, a New Yorker cartoon, and other venues).

But I must say it does sound good on a capital ship.:)
 
Its a corvette...

Look, It's a corvette. Take a look at some other Confed Corvettes... Venture class? What's wrong with "paradigm?" It's a corvette. People don't pride themselves on naming good corvettes. The damn dreadnaughts and carriers get all the good names:( .

Plus, If there's a ship class that needs to be changed, it's the damn Durangos (BWS Intrepid). Now that's a stupid name. (Durango. I kinda like Intrepid.)
 
Originally posted by Crowley
I can understand naming ships after swords, or other weapons or flying creatures,
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You've been playing a lot of Tachyon: The Fringe lately, I take it? :D

And Nemesis...damn! That was a damn good history on the subject!
 
One of the questions of the 1999(?) 'Concepts of Programming Languages' exam at Leiden University:
"What is a paradigm?"

I know this because I took the exam for that subject yesterday and reviewed a few old ones.
No, he didn't ask it this time. :rolleyes:
 
It is quite good in taking out fighters. What weapons does it have? Does it appear anywhere else except in Privateer?
 
Originally posted by WildWeasel

No.
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No to no! The TCS Paradigm is the central... thing... of the "TCS Paradigm" mode of Origin FX. :) There's a thing in the manual that talks about the history of the ship a little bit, too.
 
Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
No to no! The TCS Paradigm is the central... thing... of the "TCS Paradigm" mode of Origin FX.:) There's a thing in the manual that talks about the history of the ship a little bit, too.
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Well, when we're talking about Privateer, I consider that to include both the game and the manual. What's this ""TCS Paradigm" mode of Origin FX" you speak of?
 
Originally posted by WildWeasel


Well, when we're talking about Privateer, I consider that to include both the game and the manual. What's this ""TCS Paradigm" mode of Origin FX" you speak of?
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I meant the Origin FX Manual, yo.

Origin FX was an Origin screensaver for Windows 3.1 from back in the day, yo. It had a bunch of cool modes, like TCS Paradigm in which the TCS Paradigm flew around the screen... and there was a WC2 movie player, which would play all the 'FMV' from WC2... and there was a mode where tiny Origin related fighters flew around (SC, WC, PS) and one where you flew through amounts of WC debris that you chose (X% asteroids, X% blown up fighters, mines, so forth). There were a bunch of Ultima ones too (there was one where Ultima VII animals appeared everywhere) and a bunch of inexpicablely non-Origin ones (like one where a window-wiper would clear off part of a building and you'd see a spider inside).
 
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