Holon help

[volcomstone]

THanks for that link, Ill read and get back to you, looks very interesting,  Especialy because they mention Rupert Sheldrake,
he's a bit of a science hero of mine.

[JoWo]

Hello Ybom,

Thank you for your Feb. 24 post "Holon help" and for your interest in this subject.  Sorry that I didn't respond sooner because I just returned from a long journey.

The Hungarian author and philosopher Arthur Koestler coined the term 'holon' for a basic unit of organization in biological and social systems.  In Greek, 'holos' means whole, and the suffix 'on' means particle or part. In other words, a holon is both a whole in its own right but also a part of a larger system.  Consider any natural organization, the solar system, an anthill, or the human body.  Each one is composed of subunits, and those subunits are 'wholes' themselves composed of even smaller units.

Take for instance the planet Earth.  It has two functions within the solar system: the Earth is a part of the system and simultaneously it is by itself a whole in its own right with many parts of its own.  This is what is meant by 'holon': being an integral part of a larger organization and simultaneously being an autonomous entity of its own, comprised of its own parts.

You, Ybom, are a holon.  You are an autonomous individual. Yet, at the same time, you know that you are a part of human society with which you are intimately interrelated.  So it is with every entity in the universe except, perhaps, the largest Whole of All-that-Is, which I call All-Entity.  

Greetings!
Jo.

[Ybom]

Now this gave me a lightly easier way to look at a holon. Thanks JoWo. It's pretty much what I was thinking, but I was giving it a definition rather than a visualization. Now I have both and your article seems a little more down to my earth. I'm letting it settle, everything I soaked in on your essay, for another week or so before I go back over it. Those HP and MHP's get rather complicated after a while!

On another note, I hope you had a nice trip, care to elaborate on it?

[Ybom]

JoWo, this is primarily pointed in your direction, but anyone can help if they feel they can add.

I was reading your essay recently and am a bit stuck on the concept of what exactly a holon is. It seems that they are the rules and guidelines that shape the boundaries of dimentions, but is this logic flawed? I really do not hope this is looked at as a stupid post.

If anyone needs reference for what I'm talking about, go to his essay at //www.quantum-metaphysics.com/essay.htm. That's what I'm troughing through now. I'm just a bit stuck on the holon part is all.