A doctor friend, a psychiatrist, writes:
“In listening to your latest JFK Facts podcast, I realized that many people cannot ‘see; the evidence that contradicts the standard interpretation of the Kennedy assassination because of a phenomenon described by Thomas Kuhn in “The Structure of Scientific Revolution.” This may be too theoretical for most people, but it was Kuhn who described the problems encountered with paradigm changes.”
(Here is a link to a quick synopsis of Kuhn’s theories)
The doctor goes on:
“Kuhn describes classic psychology experiments that proved that people cannot see ‘evidence’ that conflicts with their world view or paradigm of reality. For example, when shown a deck of cards in which there are cards like a black four of hearts, observers cannot figure out what they are.
Discoveries are Rare Because Expectations Obscure our Vision
“The fact the normal science does not aim at novelty, as Kuhn has argued, cries out for explanation. Briefly, Kuhn’s response is that scientists are entrenched within a certain way of seeing things, and this clouds their vision (they tend to see what they expect to see). As an instance of what Kuhn thinks is a general psychological phenomenon, he cites a study by J. S. Bruner and Leo Postman, “On the Perception of Incongruity: A Paradigm,” Journal of Personality XVIII (1949) 206-23.
many people cannot ‘see; the evidence that contradicts the standard interpretation of the Kennedy assassination because of a phenomenon described by Thomas Kuhn
“In this psychological experiment, subjects are shown ordinary playing cards mixed up with some anomalous cards, like a black four of hearts. Roughly speaking, the results show that subjects initially see what they expect to see (either the four of spades, or the four of hearts). In sum, Kuhn seeks to explain the difficulty of discovery as an instance of the general psychological fact that our expectations cloud our perception of the world.”
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From a 5-Star Amazon review of Jefferson Morley’s CIA and JFK: The Secret Assassination Files,
“Can’t imagine a more meticulous take down of the CIA’s decades-long subterfuge surrounding the assassination.”
Jefferson Morley’s new ebook, CIA and JFK: The Secret Assassination Files, available on Amazon, provides the fullest account of the role of CIA operations officers in the events leading to the death of JFK, with a guide to what will be declassified in October 2017.
