## Highlights - Bill Devall and George Sessions, representing the movement known as deep ecology, point out that “this is the work we call cultivating ecological consciousness, the insight that everything is connected,” which Jack Forbes explains as perceiving ourselves as “being deeply bound together with other people and with the surrounding nonhuman forms of life in a complex interconnected web of life, that is to say, a true community. All creatures and things [are] brothers and sisters. From this idea comes the basic principle of non-exploitation, of respect and reverence for all creatures.”5 ([Location 575](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=575)) - And the infamous Second Law of Thermodynamics added a dismal conclusion: the direction of time’s arrow is downward. Physical processes, like the inkdrop, always go from more ordered (the inkdrop) to less ordered (dispersed throughout the water). The universe may be a giant clockwork, but the clock is winding down . . . and will eventually run out. ([Location 652](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=652)) ## New highlights added August 24, 2022 at 12:23 AM - That is, evolution proceeds irreversibly in the direction of increasing differentiation/integration, increasing structural organization, and increasing complexity. It goes from less ordered to more ordered. But obviously, the direction of this time’s arrow was diametrically opposed to time’s arrow in the (known) physiosphere: the former is winding up, the latter is winding down. ([Location 684](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=684)) ## New highlights added August 28, 2022 at 3:18 PM - For the general claim, remember, of evolutionary systems theory is that there have now been discovered basic regularities, patterns, or laws that apply in a broad fashion to all three great realms of evolution, the physiosphere and the biosphere and the noosphere, and that a “unity of science”—a coherent and unified worldview—is now possible.14 They claim, in other words, that “everything is connected to everything else”—the web of life as a scientific and not just religious conclusion. ([Location 744](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=744)) - To be a part of a larger whole means that the whole supplies a principle (or some sort of glue) not found in the isolated parts alone, and this principle allows the parts to join, to link together, to have something in common, to be connected, in ways that they simply could not be on their own. Hierarchy, then, converts heaps into wholes, disjointed fragments into networks of mutual interaction. When it is said that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” the “greater” means “hierarchy.” It doesn’t mean fascist domination; it means a higher (or deeper) commonality that joins isolated strands into an actual web, that joins molecules into a cell, or cells into an organism. ([Location 811](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=811)) - There are first letters, then words, then sentences, then paragraphs, but not vice versa. Atoms join into molecules, but not vice versa. And that “not vice versa” constitutes an unavoidable hierarchy or ranking or asymmetrical order of increasing wholeness. ([Location 832](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=832)) - And so systems theorists tend to say: within each level, heterarchy; between each level, hierarchy. ([Location 858](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=858)) - is precisely because the world is arranged holarchically, precisely because it contains fields within fields within fields, that things can go so profoundly wrong, that a disruption or pathology in one field can reverberate throughout an entire system. And the cure for this pathology, in all systems, is essentially the same: rooting out the pathological holons so that the holarchy itself can return to harmony. ([Location 885](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=885)) - The cure does not consist in getting rid of holarchy per se, since, even if that were possible, it would simply result in a uniform, one-dimensional flatland of no value distinctions at all ([Location 888](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=888)) - Rather, the cure of any diseased system consists in rooting out any holons that have usurped their position in the overall system by abusing their power of upward or downward causation. ([Location 891](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=891)) - in pathological hierarchy, one holon assumes agentic dominance to the detriment of all. This holon doesn’t assume it is both a whole and a part, it assumes it is the whole, period. On the other hand, in pathological heterarchy, individual holons lose their distinctive value and identity in a communal fusion and meltdown. This holon doesn’t assume it is both a whole and a part, it assumes it is a part, period. It becomes only instrumental to some other use; it is merely a strand in the web; it has no intrinsic value. ([Location 914](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=914))  ## Highlights - Bill Devall and George Sessions, representing the movement known as deep ecology, point out that “this is the work we call cultivating ecological consciousness, the insight that everything is connected,” which Jack Forbes explains as perceiving ourselves as “being deeply bound together with other people and with the surrounding nonhuman forms of life in a complex interconnected web of life, that is to say, a true community. All creatures and things [are] brothers and sisters. From this idea comes the basic principle of non-exploitation, of respect and reverence for all creatures.”5 ([Location 575](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=575)) - And the infamous Second Law of Thermodynamics added a dismal conclusion: the direction of time’s arrow is downward. Physical processes, like the inkdrop, always go from more ordered (the inkdrop) to less ordered (dispersed throughout the water). The universe may be a giant clockwork, but the clock is winding down . . . and will eventually run out. ([Location 652](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=652)) - That is, evolution proceeds irreversibly in the direction of increasing differentiation/integration, increasing structural organization, and increasing complexity. It goes from less ordered to more ordered. But obviously, the direction of this time’s arrow was diametrically opposed to time’s arrow in the (known) physiosphere: the former is winding up, the latter is winding down. ([Location 684](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=684)) - For the general claim, remember, of evolutionary systems theory is that there have now been discovered basic regularities, patterns, or laws that apply in a broad fashion to all three great realms of evolution, the physiosphere and the biosphere and the noosphere, and that a “unity of science”—a coherent and unified worldview—is now possible.14 They claim, in other words, that “everything is connected to everything else”—the web of life as a scientific and not just religious conclusion. ([Location 744](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=744)) - To be a part of a larger whole means that the whole supplies a principle (or some sort of glue) not found in the isolated parts alone, and this principle allows the parts to join, to link together, to have something in common, to be connected, in ways that they simply could not be on their own. Hierarchy, then, converts heaps into wholes, disjointed fragments into networks of mutual interaction. When it is said that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” the “greater” means “hierarchy.” It doesn’t mean fascist domination; it means a higher (or deeper) commonality that joins isolated strands into an actual web, that joins molecules into a cell, or cells into an organism. ([Location 811](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=811)) - There are first letters, then words, then sentences, then paragraphs, but not vice versa. Atoms join into molecules, but not vice versa. And that “not vice versa” constitutes an unavoidable hierarchy or ranking or asymmetrical order of increasing wholeness. ([Location 832](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=832)) - And so systems theorists tend to say: within each level, heterarchy; between each level, hierarchy. ([Location 858](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=858)) - is precisely because the world is arranged holarchically, precisely because it contains fields within fields within fields, that things can go so profoundly wrong, that a disruption or pathology in one field can reverberate throughout an entire system. And the cure for this pathology, in all systems, is essentially the same: rooting out the pathological holons so that the holarchy itself can return to harmony. ([Location 885](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=885)) - The cure does not consist in getting rid of holarchy per se, since, even if that were possible, it would simply result in a uniform, one-dimensional flatland of no value distinctions at all ([Location 888](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=888)) - Rather, the cure of any diseased system consists in rooting out any holons that have usurped their position in the overall system by abusing their power of upward or downward causation. ([Location 891](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=891)) - in pathological hierarchy, one holon assumes agentic dominance to the detriment of all. This holon doesn’t assume it is both a whole and a part, it assumes it is the whole, period. On the other hand, in pathological heterarchy, individual holons lose their distinctive value and identity in a communal fusion and meltdown. This holon doesn’t assume it is both a whole and a part, it assumes it is a part, period. It becomes only instrumental to some other use; it is merely a strand in the web; it has no intrinsic value. ([Location 914](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=914))  ## Highlights - Bill Devall and George Sessions, representing the movement known as deep ecology, point out that “this is the work we call cultivating ecological consciousness, the insight that everything is connected,” which Jack Forbes explains as perceiving ourselves as “being deeply bound together with other people and with the surrounding nonhuman forms of life in a complex interconnected web of life, that is to say, a true community. All creatures and things [are] brothers and sisters. From this idea comes the basic principle of non-exploitation, of respect and reverence for all creatures.”5 ([Location 575](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=575)) - And the infamous Second Law of Thermodynamics added a dismal conclusion: the direction of time’s arrow is downward. Physical processes, like the inkdrop, always go from more ordered (the inkdrop) to less ordered (dispersed throughout the water). The universe may be a giant clockwork, but the clock is winding down . . . and will eventually run out. ([Location 652](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=652)) - That is, evolution proceeds irreversibly in the direction of increasing differentiation/integration, increasing structural organization, and increasing complexity. It goes from less ordered to more ordered. But obviously, the direction of this time’s arrow was diametrically opposed to time’s arrow in the (known) physiosphere: the former is winding up, the latter is winding down. ([Location 684](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=684)) - For the general claim, remember, of evolutionary systems theory is that there have now been discovered basic regularities, patterns, or laws that apply in a broad fashion to all three great realms of evolution, the physiosphere and the biosphere and the noosphere, and that a “unity of science”—a coherent and unified worldview—is now possible.14 They claim, in other words, that “everything is connected to everything else”—the web of life as a scientific and not just religious conclusion. ([Location 744](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=744)) - To be a part of a larger whole means that the whole supplies a principle (or some sort of glue) not found in the isolated parts alone, and this principle allows the parts to join, to link together, to have something in common, to be connected, in ways that they simply could not be on their own. Hierarchy, then, converts heaps into wholes, disjointed fragments into networks of mutual interaction. When it is said that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” the “greater” means “hierarchy.” It doesn’t mean fascist domination; it means a higher (or deeper) commonality that joins isolated strands into an actual web, that joins molecules into a cell, or cells into an organism. ([Location 811](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=811)) - There are first letters, then words, then sentences, then paragraphs, but not vice versa. Atoms join into molecules, but not vice versa. And that “not vice versa” constitutes an unavoidable hierarchy or ranking or asymmetrical order of increasing wholeness. ([Location 832](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=832)) - And so systems theorists tend to say: within each level, heterarchy; between each level, hierarchy. ([Location 858](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=858)) - is precisely because the world is arranged holarchically, precisely because it contains fields within fields within fields, that things can go so profoundly wrong, that a disruption or pathology in one field can reverberate throughout an entire system. And the cure for this pathology, in all systems, is essentially the same: rooting out the pathological holons so that the holarchy itself can return to harmony. ([Location 885](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=885)) - The cure does not consist in getting rid of holarchy per se, since, even if that were possible, it would simply result in a uniform, one-dimensional flatland of no value distinctions at all ([Location 888](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=888)) - Rather, the cure of any diseased system consists in rooting out any holons that have usurped their position in the overall system by abusing their power of upward or downward causation. ([Location 891](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=891)) - in pathological hierarchy, one holon assumes agentic dominance to the detriment of all. This holon doesn’t assume it is both a whole and a part, it assumes it is the whole, period. On the other hand, in pathological heterarchy, individual holons lose their distinctive value and identity in a communal fusion and meltdown. This holon doesn’t assume it is both a whole and a part, it assumes it is a part, period. It becomes only instrumental to some other use; it is merely a strand in the web; it has no intrinsic value. ([Location 914](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWKRAM4&location=914))