Sunday, March 20, 2011

PARTS and WHOLES



“PARTS and WHOLES evolve in consequence of their relationship, and the relationship itself evolves. These are the properties of things that we call dialectical: that one thing cannot exist without the other, that one acquires its properties from its relation to the other, that the properties of both evolve as a consequence of their interpenetration” (Levins and Lewontin 1985:3).

It is the eloquence with which such bias is expressed that makes it so compelling ... that is, corroborates my belief ... that is, the belief that enables my mind, in its relentless inquiry into self, other, and their boundaries (if any) to enjoy repose and the unique satisfaction of binding together diverse ideas in a unified package. Well, unified? Or at least cinched up with the "thread that runs so true" so that in at least some little corner of the growing global thermodynamic chaos, my personal "maelstrom of perpetual disintegration and renewal" has a thought. That is, my brief seeming local negation of entropy enjoys a unique state for a few seconds (and that's all it takes) that I am one with the truth I seek. That is, I experience a hypergnostic surge of confidence that I am or were or will be. All vanity.