Preamble: The Limits of “Normal Science”
The initial framework for The Conversion Index conceptualized translational failures as mechanical errors, utilizing the terminology of operational loss between defined systems. However, treating the transmission of historical and cultural knowledge as an engineering problem creates a false equivalency. As Thomas Kuhn articulated in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), mature scientific disciplines rely on an “unparalleled insulation” from the outside world, creating a highly specialized, technical language to solve routine puzzles, what Kuhn termed “normal science”.
Yet, as historian Deborah Coen points out, this Kuhnian emphasis on incommensurable, technical isolation obscures the vital, fluid communication that happens at the boundaries of disciplines and across everyday realities. Consequently, the TCI methodology has been restructured. It resists the urge to distill complex cultural differences into rigid, reductive engineering paradigms, focusing instead on the friction inherent in conceptual translation. This leads to a major update to our Methodology Version 1.1, where the layers are no longer categorized by discipline, but by the depth of commensurability between the conversion disciplines.
1. Conceptual Framework & Core Definitions
- Conceptual Translation & Transmission: Moving beyond the mechanical metaphor of “conversion,” TCI investigates the transmission of ideas across distinct epistemological, linguistic, or historical boundaries. It operates on Ludwik Fleck’s premise that “communication never occurs without a transformation”.
- Commensurability: Drawn from Kuhn’s framework, commensurability defines the degree to which two distinct conceptual paradigms can be accurately mapped onto one another. The Index documents failures not as simple mathematical losses, but as breakdowns in the attempt to make differing paradigms commensurate.
- Translational Friction: Replacing the quantitative concept of “Conversion Loss,” this term captures the semantic decay, ideological distortion, or oversimplification that occurs when a concept is forced from its native paradigm into the incompatible vocabulary of a target system.
2. Scope and Inclusion Protocol
The Index serves as a curated catalog of case studies where the transmission of knowledge observably degrades or shifts.
- Identifiable Interfaces: Cases must feature a clear point of transfer, such as classical texts adapted for modern museum curation, or historical scientific concepts interpreted by modern standards.
- Focus on the Gap: TCI does not document general lay misunderstandings, and in exceptional cases treats them separately from our framework. It isolates specific interfaces where a concept was demonstrably altered precisely because it was forced into a new framework.
3. Typology of Translational Failures
Rather than classifying cases along a rigid set of Cartesian axes, TCI categorizes failures by their degree of commensurability.
- Category I: Commensurable Mismatches (Intra-Paradigm Errors)
- Definition: Failures occurring within a single, shared epistemological paradigm where concepts are fully commensurable.
- Characteristics: Involves routine conversion errors or differing conventions. There is no controversy over the underlying concept; the failure is purely operational.
- Example: The 1983 Air Canada flight failure resulting from the transition between Imperial and SI units. The units differ, but the underlying system and understanding of physical weight are identical.
- Category II: Cross-Paradigm Gaps (Approaching Incommensurability)
- Definition: Failures occurring across differing historical or conceptual idioms, where bridging the gap requires navigating fundamentally different worldviews.
- Characteristics: These failures often stem from attempting to force a direct, one-to-one correspondence where none exists, relying on a priori categorizations.
- Examples: Translating complex classical Chinese terminology into modern conceptual frameworks, or attempting to perfectly map pre-Newtonian concepts of force onto a post-Newtonian understanding of physics.
4. Interpretive Method
Resisting Reductionism and Jargon: While technical and scientific fields rely heavily on reductive thinking to concentrate on specific problems, TCI actively preserves the ambiguity required to accurately document humanistic subjects. The Index avoids the use of obfuscating technical jargon — what the Viennese satirical tradition called a Grubenhund, a pseudo-authoritative technical claim designed to pass unchallenged precisely because it wears the costume of expertise [2], [4]. TCI prioritizes clarity, open investigation, and the acknowledgement of competing paradigms.
Historical and Philological Rigor: TCI prioritizes and approaches Category II cases utilizing a broad historical and philological method. This requires deep contextualization to understand how distinct networks of actors negotiated meaning.
References
[1] T. S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 3rd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
[2] D. R. Coen, “Rise, Grubenhund: On Provincializing Kuhn,” Modern Intellectual History, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 109–130, 2012.
[3] L. Fleck, Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, T. J. Trenn and R. K. Merton, Eds., F. Bradley, Trans. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1979. (Originally published in German, 1935.)
[4] A. Schütz, Der Grubenhund: Eine Kultursatire. Vienna: Jahoda & Siegel, 1931.
[5] B. Barnes, T.S. Kuhn and Social Science. London, UK: Macmillan, 1982.
