Holons: Structures that Connect Us

In Arthur Koestler’s book, The Ghost in the Machine, he introduces the concept of a holon. Koestler sees holons as a way to reconcile the atomistic and holistic approaches to subjects such as behavioral and Gestalt psychologies, making sense of linguistic problems, and as a way to think about evolution. He suggests that the way we talk about parts and wholes fails. Parts are traditionally viewed as a fragment, incomplete on its own. A ‘”whole” is something that is complete on its own and needs no further explanation. Neither of these in any absolute sense exist anywhere. All we find are sub-wholes or things which display characteristics of parts and wholes depending on how you view them. In this book he focuses on the holon and the organism (whether biological or social). Koestler understands organisms to be a multi-levelled hierarchy of semi-autonomous sub-wholes, branching into sub-wholes of a lower order, and so on. Any particular sub-whole at any level of the hierarchy is a holon.

A perfect example is the individual. If we look inward, to the space that is bounded by our skin or our minds the default assumption is “Yeah, I am a whole, individual person.” However, once I look outside I am reminded that I’m simply one part in various groups or hierarchies. I am a brother and a son in my family. I am a part of a group of friends. I’m a part of the population of Mesa, Arizona, etc. According to Koestler, all life must be hierarchically structured. If it wasn’t this way everything would be complete chaos.

Several different types of interlocking hierarchies structure complex societies. At the top is what he calls the “control hierarchies”. Examples include the government, bosses, or other authority figures controlling the hierarchies. He suggests that old cities and towns also function or grow in hierarchical structures–they function as any other living organism would. The term “holon” can be applied to any stable biological or social sub-whole. Organelles and homologous organs, he says, are evolutionary holons. Morphogenetic fields are ontogenetic holons. Fixed action patterns or sub-routines are behavioral holons. Words and phrases can be linguistic holons. Individuals, families, communities, and nations are social holons.

Hierarchies and Holarchies

Traditional hierarchies, Koestler says, have a certain element of dissectability. You can easily discern the parts in single hierarchies or in a single, bounded holon.

In the picture of a hierarchy shown above there is a clear order to which group/person is placed where. The individual or group with the most authority is placed at the top. For example we could place the federal government in the topmost box/node, with the state governments in the middle boxes/nodes, and the city governments in the smallest boxes/nodes. Keep in mind that this relation between federal, state, and city governments is a holon. However, each individual node is also a holon in its own right and is a part of other holons as well. The topmost box is simply the focus node. Instead of the federal government, the state government could be the focus node. It would be placed in the topmost box, with the county governments in the middle boxes, and the city governments in the smallest ones.

Each separate box plays a specific role or function. The precision in this chart is because there is both cohesion and separation between the different holons. Each node works with the other nodes in a clearly defined manner. Other types of holons, such as those in families or clans are not defined simply by their function. What actions these social groups or social holons take depend on both the complex interactions between the parts/individual nodes but also on the interactions with other holons as a whole. So, we can dissect a complex whole into its composite holons but we cannot reduce it to a sum of its parts nor can we predict its properties from those of its parts.

Koestler calls the way groups of holons relate to each other holarchies. Holons are both parts and wholes because they are always a part of larger hierarchies. Every holon contains sub-hierarchies within it. Thus holons are simultaneously self-contained wholes to the parts that make them up and dependent parts of the larger holons they are a part of. So, each holon is a single reference point within a larger holarchy.

For example, take the initial hierarchical example of the government: federal-state-county-city. This holon interacts with other holons such as the holon federal-state2-county2-city2 or the holon federal-state2-county2-city3. Imagine breaking it down to a chart such as this:

We can break down the relations to individual holons. Imagine the topmost box being mayor with the four equal boxes below it including things like city manager, city attorney, finance director, etc. Each job could be moved to the topmost box and be the authority figure node with other people below them the center or focus of the holon is changed. For example, if my grandpa was placed in the topmost box, my dad would go below him and me below my dad. The holon could shift. Instead my dad is now in the topmost box with me right below him and my son below me. If my grandpa was mayor of his city he would be in both the governmental holons mentioned previously and in the family holon that I just mentioned. The two holons are now in direct interaction with each other. And, despite being able to infinitely breakdown each holon group to all of its constituent parts, the holon at the center of attention cannot simply be reduced to a some of its parts. The social holon of my family cannot be reduced to only the members of my immediate family. It is nested within other holons. Nor can we predict the properties the holon has simply from the parts of that holon.

Returning to the three-tiered governmental holon, for the holon to be able to function each individual part must be able to function on its own. It must be able to operate as an autonomous, self-reliant unit. While it is subject to control from above, it must also have a certain degree of independence and take unforeseen hurdles in stride without having to ask the higher authority for instructions. Otherwise communication would be overloaded and none of the systems could function. So each government, federal, state, and city, can function on their own but take instruction from the authority above them. They must be self-assertive. This requires a strict equilibrium or system-in-balance to maintain. Each constituent must adhere to the functional rules of the holon while having the capability of strategic flexibility in order to account for variance. The systems-in-balance is central to Shlomo Shoham’s personality theory. These tendencies are a fundamental and universal characteristic of both social and individual holons. No person or group is an island–they are a holon. They are a Janus-faced entity, who looking inward, sees themselves as a self-contained unique whole, but looking outward sees themselves as a dependent part.

“The point first to be emphasized is that each member of this hierarchy, on whatever level, is a sub-whole or holon in its own right; a stable, integrated structure equipped with self-regulatory devices and enjoying a considerable degree of autonomy or self-government. Cells, muscles, nerves, organs, all have their intrinsic rhythms and patterns of activity, often manifested spontaneously and without external stimulation; they are subordinated as parts to the higher centers of the hierarchy, but at the same time function as quasi-autonomous wholes. they are Janus-faced. the face turned upward, toward the higher levels, is that of a dependent part; the face turned downward, towards its own constituents, is that of a whole of remarkable self-sufficiency.”

Koestler, Janus: A Summing Up, p. 27.

This is the bare essence of a holon. I will be trying to use the holon as a tool to think about universality and the Monad to try to make sense of the interconnectedness of everything. The next part will be on a complementary idea: Graham Priest’s gluons.