Page 90 - SREENARAYANAGURU OPEN UNIVERSITY
P. 90

Fig. 1.4.4 Comparison of primary and secondary sources


                                            1.4.3 Convergence and Divergence

                                               The innovative thinker Donald Campbell first put forward
                                            the idea that bringing together multiple perspectives could
                                            reveal new truths. He called this method "triangulation", using
                                            the analogy of different viewpoints coming together to map out
                                            a shape. When we only look from one angle, we are limited by
                                            that narrow viewpoint. But adding a second perspective from
                                            a different position can open up a new understanding where
                         Combining          the views intersect. This combination of different angles is
                           multiple         like a guiding light, illuminating connections we couldn't see
                         perspectives       before. It reflects an important philosophical truth - that there
                                            is often an underlying unity beneath surface differences. By
                                            linking up fields and combining approaches, we make new
                                            connections  between  ideas  that  we missed.  Through this
                                            integration,  our knowledge  changes  from  fragmented  to
                                            holistic, from short-sighted to big-picture. When we stick to
                                            one approach, our grasp of complex things is restricted to
                                            the single note it sounds. But by taking another viewpoint,
                                            a second melody joins the first, enriching the sound. Now
                                            systems become multidimensional, granting clearer insight.
                                               Thus  the  power  of  triangulation  resides  in  gathering
                                            isolated rays of insight and concentrating their radiance into
                          Integrating       a unified beam, illuminating realms previously shrouded in
                           different        darkness. It summons experts across diverse fields to unite
                          disciplines       their perspectival prisms and refract reality's light through
                                            an integrated lens. When biotechnology merges with ethics,
                                            cultural studies with hard science, synthetic biology with the
                                            humanities - novel hybrid vistas undulate across disciplines,
                                            yielding  revelations  no solitary  structure  of thought could


                      84       SGOU - SLM - Foundational Skills for Research and Writing
   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95