Holons

A holon is something that is simultaneously a whole and a part.

Viewed from the perspective of larger things, it is a part. Viewed as an entity in its own right, it is a whole which has parts.

Everything is a holon. So a holon isn't a special thing, per se, but a thing (any thing) seen from a holistic perspective.

When you consider reality as made up of holons, it can be viewed as a hierarchy of small things making up larger things -- atoms, molecules, cells, organisms, etc.

But that hierarchy is in no way as linear as it first looks. Things are more complex than that. For example, I can be divided into cells -- or into facets of my personality -- or various organic processes -- etc. Likewise, I am part of a community AND part of the gravitational mass of Earth AND part of the story of this wiki AND....