[FLPERMACULTURE] The Holonic Shift and How to Take Part in It

[Mesa Allen (Phebe Gustafson)]

Hi everyone,
Below is an essay that I used to guide the discussion of one of the 
Joanna Macy DVD series that concluded last Monday evening here at 
EcoVillage. It's a good systemic perspective on how to enable the shift 
in consciousness necessary to bring about what Joanna calls "The Great 
Turning" from the industrial growth society to a life-sustaining 
civilization. See the guidelines at the end for ways we can, as 
individuals, promote this shift. They're very interesting. Consider, 
also, how we might apply them to our community. (See www.joannamacy.net 
and go to "Living Systems)


The Holonic Shift and How to Take Part in It

All living systems--be they organic like a cell or human body, or 
supra-organic like a society or ecosystem--are holons. That means they 
have a dual nature:  As both systems and subsystems, they are wholes in 
themselves and, simultaneously, integral parts of larger wholes.

In this step-wise organization of living systems, emergence is a 
universal and striking feature. At each holonic level new properties and 
new possibilities emerge, which could not have been predicted. From the 
respective qualities of oxygen and hydrogen, for example, one could 
never have anticipated the properties that emerge when these elements 
interact and make water.

 From the systems perspective, mind or consciousness arises by virtue of 
feedback loops that permit living systems to self-correct, adapt and 
evolve. Self-reflexive consciousness seems to emerge only at the level 
of humans and some other large-brained mammals. Here the system's 
internal complexity is so great that it can no longer meet its needs by 
trial and error. It needs to evolve another level of awareness in order 
to weigh different courses of action; it needs, in other words, to make 
choices. Decision-making brings about self-reflexivity.

Self-reflexive consciousness does not characterize the next holonic 
level, the level of social systems. In tightly-knit organizations with 
strong allegiances, one can sense an "esprit de corps" or group mind, 
but this mentality is still too weak and too loose for direct response 
on its own behalf. The locus of decision-making remains within the 
individual, susceptible to all the vagaries of what that individual 
considers to be of "self-interest". Yet might not survival pressures 
engender a collective level of self-interest in choice-making--in other 
words self-reflexivity on the next holonic level?

Fearful of fascism, we might reject any idea of collective 
consciousness. It is important, therefore, to remember that 
self-organization of open systems requires diversity of parts. A 
monolith of uniformity has no internal intelligence.  Healthy social 
systems require a plurality of views and the free circulation of 
information. The holonic shift does not sacrifice, but instead requires, 
the uniqueness of each part, the distinctiveness of its functioning and 
its perspective.

It would seem that such a holonic shift is necessary for our survival. 
Since Earth's carrying capacity is limited, and since the ecosystems 
supporting us are threatened with collapse, we must learn to think 
together in an integrated, synergistic fashion, rather than in 
fragmented and competitive ways. Present modes of collective 
decision-making, like the ballot-box or consensus circles, are simply 
too corruptible and too slow for the swift, responsive self-guidance 
that we as societies need now.

In what ways can we help? How can we as individuals promote a holonic 
shift and take part in it? The following guidelines are composed in 
collaboration with my colleagues in the Work That Reconnects, and 
offered to invite further reflection.

1. *Attune to a common intention*.  Intention is not a goal or plan you 
can formulate with precision. It is an open-ended aim: May we meet 
common needs and collaborate in new ways.

2. *Welcome diversity*. Self-organization of the whole requires 
differentiation of the parts. Each one's role in this unfolding journey 
is unique.

3*. Know that only the whole can repair itself*. You cannot "fix" the 
world, but you can take part in its self-healing. Healing wounded 
relationships within you and between you is integral to the healing of 
our world.

4. You are only a small part of a much larger process, like a nerve cell 
in a neural net. So *learn trust*. Trust means taking part and taking 
risks, when you cannot control, or even see, the outcome.

5. *Open to flows of information from the larger system*. Do not resist 
painful information about the condition of your world, but understand 
that the pain you feel for the world springs from interconnectedness, 
and your willingness to experience it unblocks feedback that is 
important to the well-being of the whole.

6. *Speak the truth of your experience of this world*. If you have 
persistent responses to present conditions, assume that they are shared 
by others. Willing to drop old answers and old roles, give voice to the 
questions that arise in you.

7. *Believe no one who claims to have the final answe*r. Such claims are 
a sign of ignorance and limited self-interest.

8. *Work increasingly in teams *or joint projects serving common 
intentions. Build community through shared tasks and rituals.

9. *Be generous with your strengths and skills*, they are not your 
private property. They grow from being shared. They include both your 
knowing and your unknowing, and the gifts you accept from the ancestors 
and all beings.

10. *Draw forth the strengths of others* by your own acknowledgment of 
them. Never prejudge what a person can contribute, but be ready for 
surprise and fresh forms of synergy.

11. *You do not need to see the results of your work*. Your actions have 
unanticipated and far-reaching effects that are not likely to be visible 
to you in your lifetime.

12. Putting forth great effort,* let there also be serenity *in all your 
doing; for you are held within the web of life, within flows of energy 
and intelligence far exceeding your own.
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