Holons
From Wikinfo
In the philosophy of history, a holon is a historical event that makes other historical events inevitable. A holon is a controversial concept, in that some reject the inevitability of any historical event. A special category of holon is technology, the view that technology dictates history.
In some versions of holism and systems theory, a holon (from the Greek holos, "whole") is something that is simultaneously a whole and a part. The term was coined by Arthur Koestler on p. 48 of his book The Ghost in the Machine (1967).
A holon refers to a system (or phenomenon) that is a whole in itself as well as a part of a larger system. It can be seen as systems nested within each other. Every system can be considered a holon, from a subatomic particle to the universe as a whole. On a non-physical level, words, ideas, sounds, emotions � everything that can be identified � is simultaneously part of something, and can be viewed as having parts of its own.
Since a holon is embedded in larger wholes, it is influenced by and influences these larger wholes. And since a holon also contains subsystems, or parts, it is similarly influenced by and influences these parts. Information flows bidirectionally between smaller and larger systems. When this bidirectionality of information flow and understanding of role is compromised, for whatever reason, the system begins to break down: wholes no longer recognize their dependence on their subsidiary parts, and parts no longer recognize the organizing authority of the wholes. Cancer is a good example of this breakdown in the biological realm.
This hierarchy of holons is called a holarchy. It is a natural hierarchy in the sense that it is objective rather than subjective. Ken Wilber comments that the test of holon hierarchy is that if you were to remove a type of entity from existence, then all other entities of which it formed a part must of necessity cease to exist too. Thus an atom is lower in the hierarchy than a molecule, because if you removed all molecules, atoms could still exist, whereas if you removed all atoms, molecules would cease to exist too. The same test is true for letters and words, or people and countries. This natural hierarchy contrasts with other types of hierarchy (such as human leadership) which are dependent upon consensus and may be subject to dispute or change.
Dirk Laureyssens created a holistic theory about cosmology which describes a mechanism Pelastration to create holons, and the growth of complexity, from fundamental particles, atoms, molecules to complex organisms.�He theorized that spacetime is a dynamic oscillating membrane, non-breakable and stretchable to almost the infinity. This membrane can restructure locally in sub-sets. This happens as�the penetration of one passive part of the spacetime membrane by another active part on the spacetime membrane. After the pelastration, a new local area (or discrete area) is created where the penetrating part is covered by the passive part. He says that in this way a new multi-layered locality is created, which is called a holon, and appears to be independent from the spacetime membrane. Holons contain always duality, thus yin and yang, + and -, etc. Holons can have hundreds of such internal layers.�On the mathematical level the theory is in fully accordance with the Catalan Numbers, since spacetime layers couple to higher dimensions in a specific non-commutative way. This topological approach may also describe the mechanism of the Implicate Order of David Bohm.
See also
External links
- A brief history of the concept of holons
- An even briefer history of the term holon
- A topological theory how holons can be created for a single background membrane
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Holon_(philosophy)" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holon_(philosophy), used under the GNU Free Documentation License
