Pull a rung out

How can you tell what is 'higher' in a sequence without just asserting it?

Pull a rung out: Wilber's thought experiment for telling higher from lower in a holarchy. Left: a ladder of five rungs from Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, bottom to top subatomic particles, atoms, molecules, cells, organisms, each containing the one below but not vice versa. Right: the same ladder after the molecules rung has been pulled out and destroyed. The rungs above it, cells and organisms, are gone and drawn as dotted outlines; the rungs below it, atoms and subatomic particles, are untouched. A bracket reads: what went with it is higher, what stayed is lower. Below, Wilber's tenet 9 sentence, his thought-experiment question and his rule, all from chapter 2.
Pull a rung out: Wilber's thought experiment for telling higher from lower in a holarchy Left: a ladder of five rungs from Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, bottom to top subatomic particles, atoms, molecules, cells, organisms, each containing the one below but not vice versa. Right: the same ladder after the molecules rung has been pulled out and destroyed. The rungs above it, cells and organisms, are gone and drawn as dotted outlines; the rungs below it, atoms and subatomic particles, are untouched. A bracket reads: what went with it is higher, what stayed is lower. Below, Wilber's tenet 9 sentence, his thought-experiment question and his rule, all from chapter 2. WILBER WIKI · A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT FROM THE TWENTY TENETS Pull a rung out Wilber's test for telling higher from lower in any sequence: destroy one kind of holon and see what else goes with it. A HOLISTIC SEQUENCE higher organismscontain cells cellscontain molecules moleculescontain atoms atomscontain subatomic particles subatomic particles each contains the one below · not vice versa THE THOUGHT EXPERIMENT · DESTROY ALL THE MOLECULES atoms subatomic particles organismscontain cells cellscontain molecules moleculescontain atoms moleculespulled out and destroyed pulled out organismscontain cells cellscontain molecules organismsneeded cells cellsneeded molecules gone with it so they are higher exist without molecules exist without molecules untouched so they are lower ◇ the ladder and the pulled rung are this wiki's picture; the sequence, the test and the result are Wilber's “Destroy any type of holon, and you will destroy all of the holons above it and none of the holons below it.” Ken Wilber, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (1995), ch. 2, tenet 9 “What other types of holons would be destroyed if we destroyed this type of holon?” Ken Wilber, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (1995), ch. 2, tenet 9 “…destroy the particular holon, and everything else that is also destroyed is higher; those holons not destroyed are lower.” Ken Wilber, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (1995), ch. 2, tenet 9 Source: Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (1995), ch. 2, tenets 4, 5 and 9 · the sequence is Wilber's own example Redrawn from his description; not a reproduction of a published figure · ◇ marks this wiki's own device SEEDS OF RENAISSANCE · WILBER WIKI
Wilber's example of a holistic sequence: subatomic particles, atoms, molecules, cells, organisms. Each contains the one below it, and not the other way round. Run the thought experiment on a copy. The question is: what other types of holon would be destroyed if we destroyed this type? Pull out molecules: destroy every molecule in the universe. Everything above goes with it. Cells are made of molecules; organisms are made of cells. Nothing below is touched. Atoms and subatomic particles can exist without molecules. What went is higher, what stayed is lower: that is all "higher" means here. The settled frame, before and after, with Wilber's own sentences. This is the shareable image.

How can you tell what is "higher" in a sequence without just asserting it? Wilber's answer in the twenty tenets is a thought experiment. Take a sequence where each member contains the one before: subatomic particles, atoms, molecules, cells, organisms. Then destroy one kind of holon and see what else goes.

"Destroy any type of holon, and you will destroy all of the holons above it and none of the holons below it."

Ken Wilber, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (1995), ch. 2

Destroy every molecule and cells go too, and so do the organisms made of them. Atoms and particles carry on. "…destroy the particular holon, and everything else that is also destroyed is higher; those holons not destroyed are lower" (SES, ch. 2). The sequence, the test and the result are Wilber's. The ladder and the pulled rung are this wiki's picture. More: Holarchy.

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