Musings: Getting out of our paradigm

So I'm going to post some things I've been thinking about, in relation to my classes and other things that have been going on in my life. I just sat down and wrote out what I've been thinking about/struggling with, so they not very well formed. A lot of the writing is in the form of questions, as well, because I don't have the answers yet (and may never, of course). I'm just going to post them though, and will hopefully come back at some point and edit/add to them. Some of the topics may be used for papers this semester, too...so that might lend a more concise form to them :) Also, there are a few book references from my class, that will be a bit incomprehensible if you haven't read the book--but ask me if you want to know more!

Getting out of our paradigm. Is it possible to do so? Does it come down to a forced change every time, or can we in some way choose to change? How do we judge how much our views are affected by our own paradigm. Is it possible to broaden our paradigm? Or is it only possible to change it? For example, in Avatar the main character and the scientists seemed to mostly just switch sides, rather than encompass both. This often seems to be the case (perhaps because I/We most easily see the polarizations) in people who have gotten out of their own cultural prejudices (most easily, indigenous peoples advocates in the US/Western culture). As a listener, I often get the feeling that I should be ashamed of everything Western and just convert to the indigenous viewpoint.