Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

ENFORMATIONISM

A philosophical worldview or belief system grounded on the 20th century discovery that Information, rather than Matter, is the fundamental substance of everything in the universe. It is intended to be the 21st century successor to the ancient worldviews of Materialism and Idealism. An Update from Bronze Age to Information Age. It's also a Theory – of – Everything that covers, not just matter & energy, but also Life & Mind & Love.

  Post 138.  October 7, 2024

  Holism and Evolution

     Complexity and Coordination

In material science, Synthesis merely means to combine simple things into more complex compounds. But in philosophy, it means a combination of ideas to form an integrated cohesive theory or system of ideas. Since empirical scientists are often dismissive of theoretical philosophy, Smuts was aware that his theory might be pejoratively labeled “extra-scientific⁸, as giving it a metaphysical and not a scientific explanation”. Which it was at first, although the notion of Holism was quickly adopted by New Age thinkers to encompass a variety of Eastern religious & philosophical concepts and doctrines. Mainstream Science though was slower to think holistically. Yet, in 1950, Ludwig von Bertalanffy, an Austrian biologist, proposed General Systems Theory. He noted that living organisms do not obey the dis-integrative second law of thermodynamics, but instead are characterized by negative entropy : a positive tendency toward order. Eventually, in the 21st century, the principle of Holism emerged again in Complexity Science⁹, which studies composite systems, from organic cells to civil societies. Yet, “complex phenomena are hidden, beyond masking by space and time, through non-linearity, randomness, collective dynamics, hierarchy, and emergence”. Unfortunately, theoretical holistic sciences are still on the margins of mainstream science with its practical & marketable results.

Although he wanted his theory to be accepted by scientists, Smuts did use the term “holism” in a metaphysical sense : “as an ontological principle/process inherent in nature”¹⁰ This usage is similar to Newton and Einstein referring to Gravity as a causal principle instead of a material substance. Here, a philosophical Principle is similar to a Natural Law. But, even though raised as a Christian, Smuts did not specify the implicit lawgiver. He did go on to note that Holism is “no more ultra-scientific than are life and mind”. In the final chapter, Smuts does subtly hint at a more theological interpretation of his theory : “Nature or the Universe is sometimes metaphorically spoken of as a Whole, or The Whole. Sometimes it is even personified, and the trend of Evolution then becomes the Purpose of some transcendent Mind”. However, for his own scientific purposes, he clarifies :  “Holism as an inner-evolving principle of direction and control in all Evolution is enough”. But then he goes on to use the term “spiritual” to characterize the higher functions of Energy & Causation that mysteriously emerge in the human Psyche.

Smuts felt the need to explain how his principle of Holism is different from materialistic Mechanism. He asks, “is life only a more refined mechanism, a mechanism of a higher type, but still a mechanism?” He then notes that “Mechanism . . . is a phase, an earlier phase of Holism”. A Mechanism is merely a system of parts working together to perform some function or to output a product. However, philosophically, the mechanism is not the material structure, but the logical program of action. So, he asserts that “the structure of mind is not mechanistic, nor is that of life”. Instead, mind & life are the functional outputs, products, and effects of a unified and goal-oriented creative process. The mental and animated features of a brain & body are not found in any of the material components of the system. Those abilities are “more than” the sum of the work-ing parts. Holism doesn’t just add, it multiplies.

8. Extra-scientific :
   He used “extra” and “ultra” where we today would use the term “super-natural”.

9. Complex Systems :
  “Complexity arises in any system in which many agents interact and adapt to one another and their environments. Examples of these complex systems include the nervous system, the Internet, ecosystems, economies, cities, and civilizations. As individual agents interact and adapt within these systems, evolutionary processes and often surprising "emergent" behaviors arise at the macro level. Complexity science attempts to find common mechanisms that lead to complexity in nominally distinct physical, biological, social, and technological systems.”
https://www.santafe.edu/about/overview

10. Metaphysical Principle
   “Smuts (1926) defined Holism as “the ultimate synthetic, ordering, organ-izing, regulative activity in the universe which accounts for all the structural groupings and syntheses in it, from the atom and the physic-chemical structures, through the cell and organisms, through Mind in animals, to Personality in man”
___Guy duPlessis
https://philarchive.org/rec/DUPTUO

Note : The scientific worldview was radically changed in the 1920s, as Smuts was writing his book, from classical to quantum and  from static & eternal to dynamic & tempo-rary. Between the great wars,1919 to 1939, the methods of science were forced to change from purely reductive & objective to include holistic & subjective features of Reality. By that I mean, 21st century Science, while remaining wary of religious dogma, can no longer ignore the philosophical implications of a creation event and the metaphysical aspects of sub-atomic Physics.

Complexity without Coordination
is Chaos

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