Back	Holism by EE

What is Holism?
From Embodied Expeditions - June 2021

Holism and all things holistic keep rising in terms of buzzword value. But unlike most buzzwords, this idea means something complex, deep, powerful and potentially life transforming.

Many people who could be called New Age are using this label to describe pretty much whatever they’re into: tarot, energy healing, questionable interpretations of ancient religious traditions, the latest health-trend thing, quantum mysticism, etc. Some of these may definitely fit the “holistic” label, but the problem is that just calling one practice, one religious philosophy or one product “holistic” is missing the point entirely.

Holism is a psychological, philosophical (and yes, even “spiritual”) lens we can use to see as many dimensions, factors, influences or components of reality as possible, at once. Thus there is an enormous variety of practices that can fit under the umbrella of “holism” because it is a giant tent under which to fit anything real and valuable, from any perspective. Ultimately, holism is a way of being and doing that can be applied to an enormous variety of ideas, practices and technologies.

Holism is the refusal to reduce reality to any single perspective. Instead it takes the best of all of them, discards the worst, and weaves those strengths together into a whole which is stronger, more powerful, more resilient, more flexible and adaptable than any of the component parts (which is a tall order). And that’s where holism gets its name: from its insistence on retaining the whole; the maximum number of perspectives on reality, along with the insights and power each brings to the table.

People love to stick to their comfortable, pet dogmas and point their fingers at “the evil other.” Holism is a way to bridge as many of these divides as possible and to help people up and out of the rigid compartments they’ve placed themselves in. By seeing the whole, we can recognize where a person is most located in that whole and help them to understand the parts of the whole they are missing (with compassion and good boundaries, of course: some people don’t want to expand their minds and hearts).

For instance, if a person is stuck in a pre-rational, religious perspective of the world, we might slowly introduce them to ideas or experiences that cause them to question their rigidly held beliefs: such as questioning Biblical myth from a scientific, skeptical, empirical perspective. It’s possible for someone to believe in the value of a religious myth without believing it is literally true, and this is where we can gently guide such a person. With modernist and postmodernist belief systems, it gets significantly more complex, but the main idea here remains the same.

A simpler, more concise way to put all this is…

Reality is not based in:

•The instinct to survive (“Primordial/Animal”)

•Animistic interrelationship with nature. (“Magic”)

•The will to power, victory or success. (“Impulsive/Egocentric”)

•Overarching authorities, religions, social or political movements and governments. (“Mythic”)

•Matter, logic, reason, facts, physics, chemistry, biology, evolution and economics (“Modern”)

•Private interior stories, biases, narratives, history, culture, psychology, sociology and anthropology. (“Postmodern”)

Reality cannot be reduced to any of these, because it is always already all of them, at all times. Holism is among many other things, a return to philosophy. Only philosophy is equipped to navigate such a complex, dynamic metaphysics.

So holistic philosophy can also be called:

•Integral philosophy (or integrative): because it seeks to integrate everything into a larger, more coherent and cohesive whole

•Anti-reductionism: because it refuses to allow complex topics to be reduced to one field of study, one philosophy or one lens on the world.

•Post-postmodernism: because it comes after postmodernism and seeks to integrate the best of modernism with the best of postmodernism, while discarding the downfalls of these perspectives.

•”Ontological flooding”: this is a abstract term which essentially means “thinking about reality (what exists) in a complex way, instead of a reductive way (“ontological bracketing”). Ontological flooding is looking at all explanations for a phenomenon and weaving them together instead of having them compete against each other for “the one true explanation”.

“What can we do with holism?” Now this is the million-dollar question. The most amazing part of holism is what we can do with it. Holism isn’t just a fancy mental toy we can use to get high and escape our troubles (“whoooooah maaaahn, trippy multidimensional map!”). As Alfred Korzybski said, “the map is not the territory". The holistic map of reality can be directly applied to almost any area of human activity.

There is:

•Holistic (or Integrative) Medicine

•Holistic Psychology, Neuro-psychology, Bio-psychology

•Holistic Ecology, Permaculture & Agro-ecology

•Quantum computing

•Urban Planning

•Systems Theory, Science & Engineering (which includes an enormous number of disciplines)

And this is just the beginning. As more professionals, academics, scientists and technicians come to understand the value of holism, the more interdisciplinary studies such as these will increase in scope and number. As more people realize that nothing exists in a vacuum and that everything is connected with and influenced by everything else, we will see more bridges built across areas of knowledge. Eventually, these bridges will become a web.

So without getting into the complex technical details of the philosophy, this is holism in a nutshell. Holism is not an excuse to sweep pseudo-science under the rug, or a way to rake in money for quack services or products. This is precisely why we need to understand what holism is, so we can question anyone who is using this title or label for themselves.

Holism isn’t another phase of the lofty, unquestionable guru. “Holistic Gurus” are just as capable of being charlatans or frauds as any other type of guru. Holism is an invitation to think, feel and intuit much more deeply into yourself and your world. Holism is the end of the Age of the Guru and the beginning of the Age of the Philosopher.

Don’t stop questioning your assumptions.

Source: www.embodiedexpeditions.com/writings