Holism (from Greek ὅλος holos “all, whole, entire”) is the idea that natural systems (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) and their properties should be viewed as wholes, not as collections of parts. This often includes the view that systems function as wholes and that their functioning cannot be fully understood solely in terms of their component (more…)

[Pitman, V. (2006) The Nature of the Whole: Holism in Ancient Greek and Indian Medicine(Indian Medical Tradition), Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi.]: It is frequently assumed that the holistic approach is inherent only in non-western medical systems. In this book Vicki Pitman traces holism in the Hippocratic foundations of western medicine. Holism is a concept (more…)

My professional experience was working for NOAA, first in the National Ocean Service, then the National Environmental Satelite, Data and Information Service (at a data center). The first experience was very positive and I came into contact with very forward looking and productive groups, the initial stages of forming FEMA and NOAA (more…)

I thought this might help clarify…… Ecological Economics Volume 70, Issue 6, 15 April 2011, Pages 1121–1128 The relationship between resilience and sustainability of ecological-economic systems Sandra Derissena, Martin F. Quaasa, Stefan Baumgärtnerb Abstract Resilience as a descriptive concept gives insightinto the dynamic properties of an ecological-economic system. Sustainability as a normative concept captures basic ideas of intergenerational justice (more…)