Holoscience

First post: Why this blog?

We are living in a time of unprecedented worldwide transition that is at once promising a better life for all and threatening the survival of Western civilization. The urge to know everything has brought us to a point where the more knowledge we obtain, the more knowledge we need in order to handle the increasingly complex world that we have created. The promise of modernity as well as its ideological premises are in a fragile state, and people are finding that quantity of knowledge, money, or freedom does not itself make life worth living. Instead, people are realizing that the urge to know everything has to be accompanied with the urge to understand how everything fits together; that the desire for ever more comfortable living should not supplant life’s simplicity; and that unrestricted freedom for all, especially when uncoupled from responsibility, has ushered in an era of decadence that could well lead to the collapse of Western civilization.

My desire to contribute to the dialog around these issues stems from my having experienced a transition in my life that resembles what I just described: As a small child I began flipping through the atlas even before I could read, and soon after began reading the encyclopedia, naively believing that I could thereby learn everything there was to know about the world. Later on I became interested in philosophy, and more recently in alternative medicine. Common to all my activities was the objective of connecting with some sort of ‘complete’ vision of the world. This desire continues to inform my daily existence and has been the most enduring motivational force throughout my life.

In philosophy the mechanistic paradigm, which we learned at school and continue to teach our kids, has long been discredited, and is surviving simply for the lack of an alternative. Cutting-edge ideas from physics are regularly touted as just about to usher in a new world order. New holistic paradigms, breakthroughs in consciousness studies, and spiritual paths are sprouting like weeds. All this is promising, but this global paradigm shift is still in its infancy: the new world-view is more compelling than the old, but it is still vague and blurry. At the same time, the geopolitical situation in which we find ourselves is worrisome, and time might soon run out for Western civilization, because we have inherited a world-order that is based on outdated cultural and political ideals.

My intention is to make a humble contribution to the shift in consciousness from a mechanistic to some sort of living, ‘holistic’, or ‘integral’ paradigm by articulating the latter in greater detail and precision than has been done thus far. This requires bringing together under one platform seemingly independent ideas emerging out of disparate disciplines, defining how they relate to each other, and articulating the reality that is implied thereby. This will require a multifaceted approach consisting, first, of the study of the scientifically accessible world in the traditional, ‘objective’ manner and, second, the study of consciousness from a subjective perspective. Finally and most importantly, it will require going beyond science and psychology to philosophy and metaphysics in order to formulate a coherent picture of the world. Forays into politics will remind us that theory must not lose its connection to everyday life.

In order to achieve this objective I will be exploring a wide variety of topics which, when considered together, will serve to clarify and refine the emerging world-view. On the way I will be looking at important philosophical issues, revolutionary ideas, little-known or under-appreciated books, and other interesting tidbits. Enjoy the journey!

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