Holons
A holon (from the Greek holos=whole and on=entity) is something that is simultaneously a whole and a part. The term was originally proposed by Arthur Koestler.Viewed from the perspective of larger things, it is a part. Viewed as an entity in its own right, it is a whole which has parts. And at its own level, it has some "reality" of its own. From this viewpoint, everything is a holon. So a holon isn't a special thing, per se, but a thing (any thing) seen from a holistic perspective.
When you consider reality as made up of holons, it can be viewed as a hierarchy of small things making up larger things -- atoms, molecules, cells, organisms, etc. But that hierarchy is in no way as linear as it first looks. Things are more complex than that. For example, I can be divided into cells -- or into facets of my personality -- or various organic processes -- etc. Likewise, I am part of a community and part of the gravitational mass of Earth and part of the story of this wiki and...
See also:
- protocol stack
- heterarchy