Holism and mechanism - chapter seven:

Until we as a species finally bridge the dualistic gap, and in that bridging restore a unified creative relationship with the living milieu, our best humanistic intentions might still be on a trajectory to hell.

In June of this year I addressed the topic 'Toward Ecological Civilisation - It It Too Late?' to a conference convened by the Centre for Process Studies. I suggested that a human metanoia was required - a fundamental transformation of not only mental constructs, but ultimately of identity.

Einstein's two mental constructs

For years we have been aware that after he read 'Holism and Evolution' (1926) Albert Einstein purportedly predicted that two mental constructs would inform the thinking of the 21st century; his concept of 'Relativity', and Jan Smuts' concept of 'Holism'. How are we doing?

Meanwhile ten years later, in the preface to the third edition of the book (1936) Smuts had observed:

"(Holism) has added a new word to the dictionary, and ... opened up a new viewpoint both in science and philosophy ... the deepest need of our time both in human affairs and in knowledge is indicated by the concept of Holism .... Our race and our civilisation are to-day confronted with the alternatives of integration or disintegration ... Holism points the way to the former as against the latter alternative. It therefore supplies a clue not only for philosophy but also for a programme of action."

Think about it, one hundred years ago Smuts was writing this seminal work, offering a new frame of reference to inform our practice. And yet today his warning of a world confronted by disintegration appears to be the prevailing reality of the day.

Science and Holism

Thankfully the scientific world, especially informed by the insights of the new physics, studies into complexity and emergence, and confronted by the quandaries of quantum physics, is gradually waking up to the value of Smuts' profound insights. 'Quantum holism' points to points to possibilities of furthering research into unified field theory.

Yet to emerge, and more urgently required than abstract theoretical modelling, is Smuts' suggested 'program of action'. It is desperately wanting applications to ecology, economics, and social and political organisation. Yet our global political and economic leadership appears to be largely stuck in a quagmire of anachronistic left/right ideologies under the guise of nationalism. The political and commercial oligarchs, unable to face the pressing complex global challenges, exacerbate the challenges in their of ego-fuelled hubris. Why is this?

Elvis Presley's 'trap'

In his famous song Elvis Presley sings:

"We're caught in a trap, I can't walk out. Because I love you too much, baby. Why can't you see What you're doing to me ... "

Yes, we too are caught in a trap, and it is, contrary to Einsteins 'relativity' and Smuts' 'holism', at root, a predominant mental construct of mechanistic materialism.

Holism - centenary celebration

That is why in the Holos Earth Academy's preparation for a 2026 Festival of Holism, to celebrate the centenary of the publication of 'Holism and Evolution', we are running a series of monthly interactive seminars to extract the book's wisdom, chapter by chapter.

This coming Wednesday, 16 July @ 19h00 CET, in a free on-line webinar, we will examine chapter seven, 'Mechanism and Holism'. To join us and receive the pre-reading and Zoom link, e-mail Info@holos.earth , or text us here on messaging.

Materialism and personal worth

As Elvis sang, we are still 'caught in a trap'. And the essence of that 'trap' is how we identify our personal worth as humans. In the materialistic viewpoint, beyond the core requirement of survival, it seems all about quantifiable performance - competition - the struggle for domination of material resources or other ego-endorsing symbols of success. This, essentially fear-based mentality, is sourced in a Darwinian struggle for the 'survival of the fittest'. We battle to transcend from that essentially destructive paradigm to the holistic and relativistic perspective of the 'thriving of the fittest relationships'.

Exploitation of the need for esteem

In his 'hierarchy of needs' Abraham Maslow identifies the need for 'self-esteem' as a precursor to the striving for self-actualisation. Our materialistic and mechanistic frame of reference has rendered us vulnerable to the exploitation of that need by our political masters and the commercial barons with whom they are in league.

The machine itself, be that the huge structures shown above used for gouging into the earth for minerals, or super-computers used for mining exploitable data, is an extension of the ego-based need for control - at root a futile striving for certainty in a dynamical world.

Predators and prey

Now the political and economic bullies of this world rely increasingly on computer driven mechanistic hardware to impose their will - agendas still informed by the 'survival of the fittest' paradigm that inadvertently considers humanity as consisting of predators and prey.

Freedom and evolution

In chapter seven of 'Holism and Evolution' Smuts reveals a profound insight; in organic evolution development is characterised by an increasing measure of freedom. Participants, be they cells or organisms, enjoy increasing autonomy, the capacity to self-regulation, but their surviving and thriving is determined by the quality of their cooperative interaction with their living milieu - the greater whole.

This is fundamentally different from mechanistic structures where the parts or components constituting the entity have no agency; they are governed by simple linear, cause-and-effect dynamics. Why then do we still remain insidiously stuck in that materialistic and mechanistic frame , albeit with it largely being invisible?

Dualism versus a unified creative emergent stream

Smuts suggest that our thinking is still dualistic - harking back to the Cartesian dichotomy where the scientifically measurable 'res extensa', represents 'reality', and the subjective non-measurable 'res cogitans' largely represents fantasy. It is this dualism that is bridged in chapter seven of the book, 'Mechanism and Holism', offering a coherent description that has come to be known as ontological monism. Simply put; matter, life and mind, are not disparate phenomena; they are manifestations, at different levels of emergence, of one creative evolutionary stream.

Until as a species we finally bridge that dualistic gap, and in that 'quantum leap' in awareness restore a creative relationship with the living milieu, our best humanistic intentions are still likely to keep us on a trajectory to hell.

Right vs left distraction

What this suggests is that the current rightwing backlash to the strident so-called leftwing demands of critical race theory (CRT), the Woke agenda, diversity/inclusion/equity (DIE), might be informed by a gut response to the left agenda being caught in the same mechanistic/materialistic trap. With the concept of relative deprivation, by demanding equal access to the same material resources with access measured by relativistic distribution, it perpetuates the dysfunctional mechanistic/materialistic paradigm.

There is hope

But there is hope - paradigms do change - even, as Thomas Kuhn showed, with scientific paradigms. The 15/16th century European Renaissance showed that, the radical paradigm-breaking abolishment of slavery (thanks to the moral political sensibility of Britain in 1833) also demonstrated that.

Modernism and desensitisation

Meanwhile the growing manifestation of brutality in the world, with political assassinations, wars, accusations of genocide, shows that in the age of modernism, our reliance on mechanistic science to resolve existential issues, served to highjack our human sensibility. It has undermined our capacity to appreciate and respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences.

Holism - beyond the abstraction

Holism, Smuts said, is more than an intellectual concept: its a way of seeing, thinking and responding, and it holds the capacity for regenerative programs of action that might yet convert our current trajectory to disintegration to on of growing integration.

We exist because of life's holistic process. We are not machines. We are so much more than material form. Ultimately, since we are embedded in life's creative holistic process, we are potentially conscious embodiments of it. That is the mission of the Holos Earth Academy - that is what we are examining coming Wednesday 16 July.

For the pre-reading and Zoom link e-mail Info@holos.earth or text me on messenger.