A Lesson from the Physicists

From their beginnings, the social scientists and those in the helping professions have adhered to the cause and effect model of research and application originally developed by the physical scientists. This model was first discredited in physics by Heisenberg's conception in 1927 of the uncertainty principle. If, therefore, this model is inapplicable in the world of material substances, it is all the more inappropriate and misleading in the unique world of the individual, where measurement and predictability are inherently precluded. The same dramatic shift in outlook that the uncertainty principle necessitated among the physical scientists is long overdue among those whose commitment is to the enhancement of the unique world of the person.