An Introduction to Whole Systems

8/6/2019 An Introduction to Whole Systems

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CHAPTER 1

AN INTRODUCTION TO WHOLE SYSTEMS

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AN INTRODUCTION TO WHOLE SYSTEMS

th e Re-discovery o f Rela t ionship

We begin by present ing a w h o l i s t i c context or po in t o fview fo r organizing informat ion and concepts re la t ingto the human body.While i t s roots a re anc ient , our po in t o f view has beenre -d iscovered by th e p h y s i c i s t s , who have brought iti n to th e main s t ream o f s c i e n t i f i c thought . Animpor tan t s tep was the pub l ica t ion by one o f thosep h y s i c i s t s , F r i j t o f Capra, of a book en t i t l ed THE TAOOF PHYSICS. A subsequent book by the same au thoren t i t l ed THE TURNING POINT descr ibes how th ed i scove r i e s o f the phys ic i s t s a f f e c t every asp ec t o four l i ve s .In h is wri t ings , Capra descr ibes in lay terms t h e g r ea trevo lu t ion in physics , and shows c lea r ly how moderndi scove r i e s coincide wi th anc ien t pr inc ip les of Eas te rnphi losophy and re l ig ion .The or ig in o f th e new paradigm in physics can be t r acedto a sp e c i f i c moment a t t he tu rn of the cen tu ry . OnDecember 14, 1900, Max Planck re luc tan t ly presented toth e German Physica l Soc ie ty in Ber l in h is di scove r i e sabout an obscure phys ica l phenomenon known as blackbody rad ia t ion . His he s i t a t i on came from an awarenesst h a t h is f ind ings were t o t a l l y con t ra ry to th e acceptednot ions o f th e na ture o f mat te r . And these not ionswere dear ly he ld , for they were widely thought to be at r iumph o f reason, a means to unders tand a l l of na tu re .At the t ime o f Planck ' s presen ta t ion a l l mat te r wasconsidered to be composed o f "b i l l i a rd -ba l l " atomsmoving about according to th e laws of motion developedby S ir I saac Newton. Lord Rutherford had summarizedth e phys i c i s t ' s se l f -conf idence by s t a t i ng t h a t a l l o fsc ience was divided in to two branches : physics andstamp co l l ec t ing . Max Planck ' s upset t ing presen ta t ioni s regarded as th e b i r t h o f quantum phys ics , and th eend o f an era of comfort in which p h y s i c i s t s thoughtthey had th e means to fathom a l l of the myster ies o fnature .There arose from Planck ' s di scove r i e s , and those t h a tsoon fol lowed, a pa in fu l awareness t h a t our bas icconcepts , our language, our whole way o f th inking, wereinadequate to descr ibe th e world in which we l i ve .This was not only an i n t e l l ec t ua l problem, but anemotional problem as wel l . For it went to th e h e a r t o four conceptul iza t ion o f th e na ture of our r ea l i t y , o fwhat we a re t augh t about th e way th e world works fromth e f i r s t days of our l i ve s .


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In th e end th e c r i s i s in phys ics , the soul-searchingand bewilderment , was rewarded with deep and profoundi n s igh t s t h a t have meaning fo r a l l of us.The bas ic discovery i s t h a t a t th e subatomic l eve l nop a r t i c l e s e x i s t except in re l a t ionsh ip to o thers . Whatwe c a l l OBJECTS are i n fac t poin ts of cor re la t ion inth e in te rconnec ted network of events , motions,r e l a t i ons , and energ ies . Subatomic p a r t i c l e s , and a l lmat te r made therefrom, inc luding our ce l l s , t i s sues ,and bodies , are in f a c t PATTERNS OF ACTIVITY ra the rthan THINGS. There i s NO THING t h a t e x i s t s by i t s e l f .By s tudying the elementary fo rces of na tu re , phys ic i s t shave discerned t h a t th e universe i s a dynamic web ofi n t e r re l a t ed pa r t s and processes . No fundamental un i tor most impor tan t p a r t can be i s o l a t e d . Eins te ins ta ted it t h i s way:

"A human being i s a pa r t of the wholecal led by us ' un ive r s e , ' a pa r t l imi tedin t ime and space . He experienceshimse l f , h is thoughts and fee l ings , assomething separated from th e r e s t - - akind of op t i c a l i l l u s i on of h isconsciousness . This i l l u s i on i s a kindof p r i son fo r us, r e s t r i c t ing us to ourpersona l des i res and to a f fec t ion fo r afe w persons neares t to us. Our t a skmust be to f ree ourse lves from t h i spr ison by widening our c i r c l e o fcompassion to embrace a l l l i v ingcrea tu res and the whole of na ture ini t s beauty . Nobody i s able to achievet h i s complete ly , bu t th e s t r iv ing fo rsuch achievement i s in i t s e l f a p a r t ofthe l i be r a t i on and a foundat ion fo ri nne r s e c ur i t y . "

Another express ion o f t h i s view comes from Rolfe rJe f f rey Mait land:"Every system i s composed of systems,every system i s a member of a system,and th e forces between systems arethemselves systems. To understand anyone system requires understanding th el iv ing body as a whole, and tounderstand th e body as a whole requiresunders tanding each system ..... no onepa r t or system is more fundamental thanany o ther . "


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Science i s based on ob jec t ive exper imenta t ion , on th econcept of the "detached observer" who i s able todiscern the t ru th by unbiased observat ion . Quantummechanics revealed t h a t the re i s no such th ing as adetached observer - - the observer and th e observed areconnected in count less ways. This led to a profoundupheval in sc ience t h a t cont inues today. Heisenbergdescribed it t h i s way:

The v io len t r eac t ion on th e r ecen tdevelopment of modern physics can onlybe unders tood when one rea l izes t h a there th e foundat ions of phys ics haves ta r t ed moving: and t h a t t h i s motionhas caused the f ee l ing t h a t th e groundwould be cut from sc ience .To deal wi th the dilemmas posed by new d iscover ies , theleading phys ic i s t s of th e t ime met in Brusse ls , Belgiumin th e autumn of 1927. During th e gather ing were heldfamous debates between Nie l s Bohr and Alber t Eins te in .There emerged from t h i s gather ing what became known asthe Copenhagen In te rpre ta t ion of Quantum Mechanics.This was ca l led the Copenhagen In t e rp r e t a t i on becauseof th e succes s fu l arguments of th e Danish phys ic i s t ,Niels Bohr. The Copenhagen In t e rp r e t a t i on says , ine f f e c t , t h a t it does not mat te r what quantum mechanicsi s about . The impor tant th ing i s t ha t it works. Thisone of th e most impor tant s tatements i n the h i s to ry ofsc ience . It began a monumental reunion of th e r a t i ona lp a r t of our psyche, typ i f ied by sc ience , with our o theraspec t which had been ignored s ince the 1700 's , thei r r a t iona l . Phys ic i s t s had rea l i zed t h a t th e mind canonly deal with ideas . It i s no t poss ib le fo r the mindto r e l a t e to anything o ther than ideas . Therefore , th emind i s unable to ponder r ea l i t y d i r e c t ly , it i s onlyable to cons ider ideas about r ea l i t y , which a re notr ea l i t y i t s e l f . Physic is t s were, for the f i r s t t ime,forced to acknowledge t ha t a complete understanding ofr ea l i t y l i e s beyond th e capabi l i t i e s of r a t i ona lthought .The removal of th e fundamental p i l l a r s of sc ience ,log ic and reason, l e f t phys ic i s t s in a very insecure ,~ n s t a b l e , uncomfortable pos i t ion . Thei r search fo rsomething to hang on to quickly led them to anc ientmyst ica l t r ad i t i ons of Eas te rn phi losophy. Capra c i t essevera l prominent phys ic i s t s :


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Ju l i u s Robert Oppenheimer:The gene ra l not ions about humanunders tanding ... which a re i l l u s t r a t e dby discover ies in atomic physics arenot in the nature of th ings whol lyunfami l i a r , whol ly unheard o f , o r new.Even in our own cu l tu re they have ah i s to ry , and in Buddhist and Hinduthought a more cons iderable and c e n t r a lp lace . What we s h a l l f ind i s anexempl i f i ca t ion , an encouragement, anda re f inement o f o ld wisdom.Niel s Bohr:For a p a r a l l e l to th e lesson o f atomictheory ...we must turn to those kinds ofep i s t emolog ica l problems with whicha l ready th inker s l i ke the Buddha andLao Tzu have been confron ted , whent r y i n g to haronize our pos i t ion asspec ta to rs and ac to r s in th e g r ea tdrama of ex is tence .Werner Heisenberg:The grea t s c i e n t i f i c con t r ibu t ion int h e o r e t i c a l physics t h a t has come fromJapan s ince the l a s t war may be ani nd ica t ion of a ce r ta in re l a t ionsh ipbetween ph i losoph ica l ideas in thet r ad i t i on o f th e Far East and theph i losoph ica l subs tance o f quantumtheory .

For years physics had s t rugg led with the wave-par t i c ledua l i t y . It was d i f f i c u l t to accept t ha t l i gh t ormat te r can be, a t the same t ime, a par t i c l e - -an en t i t yconfined to a small volume--and a wave, which i s spreadou t over a la rge region o f space . This con t rad ic t ionled p h y s i c i s t s to accep t var ious o th e r pa radox ica laspec ts of r ea l i t y as p a r t of quantum mechanics.Even deeper were th e paradoxes of the re l a t ionsh ipsbetween th e mind and r e a l i t y .


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The pa radox ica l na tu re o f a l l th ings i s a fundament o fTaoism. The essence of th e Tao i s contained in the2,500 year old wri t ings of Lao Tsu ca l l ed th e TAO TECHING, which has been one o f th e major underlyinginf luences in Chinese thought and cu l tu re . Forexample:

Under heaven a l l can see beauty asbeauty only because there i s ug l ines s .A ll can know good as good only becauset he re i s ev i l .Therefore having and not having a r i s et oge the r .Di f f i cu l t and easy complement eacho ther .Long and shor t con t ras t each o ther ;High and low r e s t upon each o ther ;Voice and sound harmonize each o ther ;Front and back follow one another .Therefore th e sage goes about doingnothing, t eaching nota lk ing .The ten thousand th ings r i s e and f a l lwithout cease.Crea t ing , y e t not possess ing ,Working, y e t not t ak ing c red i t .Work i s done, then forgot ten .Therefore it l a s t s forever .

An even more anc ien t source fo r t h i s philosophy is theQabalah:The t ree o f l i f e i s the symbol of ananc ien t and vas t metaphysica l systemknown as the Qabalah. According to theQabalah, what we can see , touch, andfee l provides us with only a r e l a t i ver ea l i t y . Beyond t ha t which isconsidered " rea l" by most people areworlds of an even grea te r r ea l i t y ,which every indiv idual has the capac i tyto explore . Enlightenment meansemergence from th e darkness of ourl imi ted sense-percept ions and thoughtframework in to a consciousness of thegrea te r r ea l i t y . It i s of t ha t fromwhich we are born, and in to t h i s t ha twe s ha l l r e tu rn a t the end of our br i e fl i f e cyc le .


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Long and c a re fu l re f l ec t ion on the Treeand Qabal i s t pr inc ip les opens one to as t a t e of consc iousness t ha t t ranscendsa l l viewpoints . it provides anexperience of inner t r u t h . The Treedescr ibes th e t r ans i t i on from God toMan. The ten spheres , each cal led aSephi ra , are sa id to emanate from theCrea tor ' s be ing . The spheres may bel ikened to glass ba l l s f i l l e d with purel i gh t . I t i s t h e i r arche typa l pa t t e rnt ha t provides th e t r ans i t i on fromnothingness to subs tance , and t he re fo rer ep resen t s the inner workings of theuniverse . It represents a s t a t e ofconsc iousness in which s p i r i t u a l i t y andmater ia l i sm, consc iousness of s e l f andconsc iousness o f o thers , and th e innerd iv in i ty and ou te r persona l i ty are inpe r f e c t balance .The Qabalah is a system claimed to havebeen given to Adam by God, and to havebeen the province of a few chosenadep ts . Unt i l recent ly it has been anora l t r ad i t i on , forming an unrecognizedbut profoundly s i gn i f i can t sub-currento f western c iv i l i za t ion . The Treedivides the Universe i n to s pe c i f i cca tegor i es , al lowing fo r th ees tabl i shment of correspondencesbetween a l l t h ings . I t reveals theper fec t order which we a l l have thecapaci ty to perce ive . There i s no suchth ing as an accident . For everymovement of every l eaf on every t r eet he re i s a reason, and every movementof every th ing i s i n t e r - r e l a t ed .Separateness i s a myth. We are a l lpa r t of one grea t uni ty . Th e Treeguides us along a Path of Return. I ti s a monumental and extraordinary work,s t rong, s imple , and enduring as thea rchi tec ture of the pyramids--a bookwhich i s a summary of a l l sc iences ,which can resolve a l l problems by i t si n f in i t e combinat ions , which speaks byevoking thought , it i s an i n sp i re r andmoderator of a l l poss ib le concept ions ,and th e masterpiece perhaps of th ehuman mind. I t i s to be countedunquest ionably among th e grea t g i f t sbequeathed to us by ant iqui ty .


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Physics i s regarded as a "mature ," "hard" sc ience , inc o n t r a s t with psychology, biology, soc io logy, whichdea l with in te rac t ions t h a t are d i f f i c u l t to quant i fyand pre d ic t . So th e jo in ing of physics wi th anc ien tphi losophy has unimaginable consequences fo r a l l l i nesof inquiry in to na tu re .The pr inc ip l e o f in te rconnec tedness i s everywherel eading to profound i n s igh t s and progres s . A ll ofsc ience can now be viewed as a sys temat ic d i ssec t ion o faspects o f the in te rconnec tedness , of th e l i nes offorce , the l i nes of communication, th e l i nes o fin te rac t ion between ob jec t s in the universe . In fac t ,a l l ob jec t s , inc luding ourselves , are consequences ofthese r e l a t i ons , ra the r than e n t i t i e s unto themselves.I used t o l i ve on a pond. One day as I was washing th edishes , I looked ou t th e window and saw a t u r t l e swimpa s t . As I added th e de te rgen t to th e wat e r to washthe dishes , I exper ienced my in t imate re l a t ionsh ip withthe t u r t l e . For th e soap u l t imate ly becomes p a r t ofth e t u r t l e ' s environment, and has a d i r e c t inf luenceupon h is l i f e .So what i s th e importance of one t u r t l e to me? I f th et u r t l e d ies , i f th e pond dies because of the chemicalsthe human community (me!) adds to the ground water , ap a r t o f our p lane t i s des t royed. i must be care fu l andrespons ib le for such th ings as these .We have always assumed t ha t what we pour down the s ink ,put in our garbage, or f lush down the t o i l e t i s goneforever . Now we are being forced to recognize t ha tt h i s i s a cos t ly i l l u s i on . The bad news i s corning ou teverywhere. Wells are contaminated from seepage fromdumps: our dr inking water i s contaminated fromr e s i den t i a l and i ndus t r i a l waste . ~ o x i c chemicals aretu rn ing up everywhere, in th e t i s sues of every organismon th e p lane t . No one wants a hazardous waste d ~ m p int h e i r town!An exper ience of the interconnected world view i s t ha tt he re i s rea l ly no place we can dispose of anything.There i s no place we can throw s o m e ~ ~ i ~ g where it i spermanently gone. For a while it appeared t ha t theconsequences of our mistakes w o u l ~ not have to be dea l twith u n t i l fa r in to the fu tu re . T ~ e burden would f a : ~ on fu ture genera t ions . We now know th i s was not acor rec t assumption. A ll of us are af fec ted , r i g h t ~ o w !


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Name any tw o objec t s , and we can show a myriad ofconnect ions between them. Real i ty i s l ike a road mapof th e United St a t e s - - t he re are many highways t h a tconnect New York and San Franc isco. There i s ani n f i n i t e number of routes we can t ake between those twoc i t i e s .Most people a re aware t ha t behavior i s af fec ted by thephase of the moon, and behaviora l sc ience has confirmedt h i s . The concept t ha t th e moon i s fa r away, and t h a ti t s inf luence on us i s t he re fo re very weak, has brokendown. This i s but one example of how we havea r t i f i c i a l l y separated ourselves from the cosmos, andfrom ourse lves . The Chinese long ago recognized theways th e rhythms of the c e l e s t i a l bodies inf luence ourown phys io log ica l rhythms.Science has documented the road maps. Astronomy hasmapped the r e l a t i ons between the c e l e s t i a l ob jec t s .Ecology has mapped th e r e l a t i ons between organisms andt h e i r environment. Physiology has mapped the re la t ionsbetween par t s and processes within the body.Psychology maps the re la t ions between i nd iv idua l s . Butthe d iv i s ion of our inquiry into d i f fe ren t areas cancrea te the i l l u s ion t ha t the d i f fe ren t pa r t s andprocesses of our r ea l i t y are s e pa ra t e - - t ha t physiologyi s d i s t i n c t from psychology, c e l l biology i s separa tefrom ecology. One road i s ca l l ed Route 151, another i sca l l ed Route 28, but these des ignat ions have noinluence on th e continuous flow of t r a f f i c along them.We a re now forced to recognized t h a t each l ine ofinquiry follows but one o f many paths , examines but oneof many par t s of the i n t e r a c t ing and in te rdependentwhole.


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In THE TURNING POINT, Capra points ou t t ha t our cur ren tcontext i s one o f c r i s i s . It takes only a b r i e f looka t any newspaper to see t h a t we are bese t withproblems: t e r ro r i sm, war, po l lu t ion , cr ime,unemployment, c r i s e s in energy, hea l th care , e tc .Capra suggests t h a t a l l of these problems are f ace t s ofone and th e same c r i s i s , a c r i s i s of percept ion . Liketh e c r i s i s in physics t h a t arose a f t e r Planck ' sd iscover ies , our presen t cr i s es der ive from th e f a c tt h a t we are applying concepts of an outda ted worldview, i e . a mechani s t i c world view, to a r ea l i t y t ha tcan no longer be understood in those terms.We l i v e today in a g loba l ly in te rconnec ted world, inwhich b io log ica l , psychologica l , soc ia l , andenvironmental phenomena are a l l i n t e r re l a t ed andin te rdependent . While t h i s has always been so , and wasrecognized by the anc ien t s , only r ecen t ly has 20thcentury man been forced through ci rcumstances toacknowledge h is in te rdependence , h is pos i t ion as butone component in th e fabr ic of nature .At th e l eve l o f s oc i a l s t r uc tu r e , we are witness ing thedevelopment of networks and networks of networks.Computers are providing some of th e communication l inkst ha t make t h i s poss ib le on a scale never before dreamedo f . General Systems Theory has become an exci t ingf i e ld of research and i n q u ~ r y . A ll systems are seen tobe composed of systems. The forces between systems arethemselves sys tems. General systems theory examinesthe behaviour of organizat ions , such as corporat ions .It i s a pr inc ip le of systems theory, fo r example, t ha ta l l boundaries are porous . A corpora t ion i s now seento be an i n t e r a c t ive system ra the r than an e n t i t y untoi t s e l f . It i n t e r a c t s with the surrounding community,and the community a f fec t s it. The c e l l membrane i s nota boundary separa t ing the in s ide o f the ce l l from theou ts ide , bu t is in s tead a porous boundary where thesetwo phases are connected. Simi la r ly , my skin is notrea l ly th e boundary between what i s me and what i s myenvironment. My body and my environment are mutual lype rvas ive . There i s no sharp l ine o f demarkationsepara t ing t h a t which i s me from t ha t which i s not me.


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These ideas can have a s ign i f i c a n t e f f e c t upon ours tudy o f phys io logy , o f na ture , o f ourse lves . Theyr ep resen t no t only an i n t e l l e c t u a l achievement , theylead to an exper ience , to a way o f l i f e , to r e tu rn to an a tu r a l orde r fo r ourse lves , fo r our envi ronment , fo rour r e l a t i ons .L et us begin by looking a t th e language o fr e l a t i o n sh i p . We w i l l a l so examine how these ideashave inf luenced th e way sc ience i t s e l f i s conducted .We w i l l a l so look more c lose ly a t quantum mechanics.We w i l l do t h i s so t h a t we can do something t h a t hasno t been done e l sewhere- -we w i l l bu i ld up a p ic tu r e o fl i v ing mat te r from quantum mechanical pr inc ip l e s . Wew i l l then look a t ano ther unique p i c t u re o f l i v ingmat te r , based on energy. Afte r we have t he seperspec t ives under our be l t s , we w i l l be able to morefu l ly apprec ia te what has been l ea rned abou t thei n t e r a c t ing systems wi th in ourse lves .

REFERENCES CITED1 . Capra, F . , 1975. THE TAO OF PHYSICS. Shambhala,Boulder , 33 0 pps .2 . Capra , F ., 1982. THE TURNING POINT: SCIENCE,SOCIETY, AND THE RISING CULTURE. Simon & Schus te r , NewYork.3. Planck, M., 1901. Uber das Gesetz derEnerg ieve r t e i lung in Normalspektrum. Annalen derPhysick 4 :553.4. Mai t land , J . , 1980. A phenomenology o f fasc ia .Somatics , Autumn, 1980, pp. 15-21.

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An Introduction to Whole Systems