emrgnc
propositions
20 tenets
the 20 tenets of holonic theory
The theory of emrgnc is dependent on an understanding of emergence. An understanding of emergence is dependent on an understanding of the fundamental capacities of holons.
Really, if we are going to work with the whole, we need to know how to identify the whole parts (and how they are distinguished from heaps and artifacts).
When we identify the parts, we also need to know how they relate to the whole, in a dynamic emergent system.
What seems impossible to understand has been explained by Ken Wilber (Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution 1995) in the 20 tenets, extending on Arthur Koestler's work (The Ghost in the Machine 1967) . In summary these 20 tenets are:
20 Tenets of Holons
1. Reality as a whole is not composed of things or processes, but of holons, i.e. wholes that are parts of other wholes, indefinitely.
2.
Holons display four fundamental capacities:
i) self-preservation - principle
of autonomy or agency.
ii) self-adaptation - principle of communion.
iii)
self-transcendence - ability to go beyond the given, i.e. creativity.
iv)
self-dissolution - ability to break down to its sub-holons.
3. Holons emerge - new holons/entities/patterns come into being.
4. Holons emerge holarchically - i.e. hierarchically; go beyond their predecessors.
5. Each emergent holon transcends and includes its predecessor(s); - preserves their being but negates their exclusiveness.
6. The lower sets the possibilities of the higher; the higher sets the probabilities of the lower.
7. The number of levels which a hierarchy comprises determines whether it is 'shallow' or 'deep'; the number of holons on any given level we shall call its 'span'.
8. Each successive level of evolution produces greater depth and less span.
Addition I. The greater the depth of a holon, the greater its degree of consciousness. [9]
9. Destroy
any type of holon, and you will destroy all of the holons above it and none of
the holons below it;
- less depth = less significance to the Kosmos, i.e.
more of the Kosmos is external to the holon; it is more fundamental.
- more
depth = more significance = less fundamental. [10]
10. Holarchies co-evolve, i.e. interrelatedness of holon (micro) and its environment (macro). [11]
11. The micro is in relational exchange with the macro at all levels of its depth; - each layer of a holon's depth continues to exist in (and depend upon) a network of relationships with other holons at the same level of structural organisation. [12]
12. Evolution has directionality: [13]
a)
increasing complexity; [14]
b) increasing differentiation/integration [15]
- differentiation produces partness, a new 'manyness'
- integration produces
wholeness, a new 'oneness';
c) increasing organisation/structuration; [16]
d) increasing relative autonomy; [17]
e) increasing telos; - deep structure
of a holon acts as an attractor/magnet for the actualisation of it in time and
space. [18]
Addition II. Every holon issues an IOU to the Kosmos; - IOU = Incomplete Or Uncertain - constant tension between consistency and completeness, between agency and communion. [19]
Addition
III. All IOUs are redeemed in Emptiness; - holons are conventional truths - Emptiness/Spirit
is ultimate truth. [20]
The 20 tenets of holon theory is of course, only one part of:
the practice of emrgnc