This article was sent to me yesterday by my friend who introduced me to integral thought, WIE and indirectly to gaia (then zaadz). It really helped me understand these important terms better. It's also very relevant to a discussion we are having over on the
is_there_a_god? podSee
here for the full article.
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Fred Kofman is founder and president of Leading Learning Communities , a consulting organization. He has a PhD in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and was a professor of management accounting and control systems at MIT's Sloan School of Management. He is one of the original members of Peter Senge's Center for Organizational Learning at MIT and a member of the Integral Institute Business Branch.
Note: Although the raw material for this essay comes from my conversations with Ken Wilber, the ideas stated here do not necessarily represent his position. I am merely trying to explain my understanding and reflections about his model. To find Wilber's own perspective on the following topics, the reader can read a Shambala interview posted at wilber.shambhala.com ). I want to acknowledge Wilber's great generosity and patience. He has spent many hours tutoring me on the intricacies of his thinking. It has been beautiful and humbling to explore the awesome architecture of the integral philosophy illuminated by the heart and mind of one of its most brilliant lights.
Holons, Heaps and Artifacts
(And their corresponding hierarchies)
In order to understand the meaning of whole/part in Wilber's model, it is fundamental to distinguish four kinds of entities: individual holons, social holons, artifacts and heaps. According to Wilber, for each one of these entities the part/whole relationship means something different, and the hierarchy of progressive transcendence and inclusion means something different—and has a different correlation with physical size. Wilber has stated these ideas in several places ( Sex, Ecology and Spirituality and Integral Psychology , for example), but he hasn't organized them in a single text. Wilber's fullest discussion of heaps, artifacts and holons occurred in the dialogues leading to this essay (and in the Shambala interview cited above). My goal in this note is to articulate his ideas and derive some of their implications.
I also hope to correct some of the common errors that many readers of Wilber's theory tend to make. The distinctions between individual holons, social holons, artifacts and heaps are subtle yet fundamental. Equally significant are the differences between hierarchies of each one of these entities. That is why overlooking them is easy; and dangerous.
A holon is an entity which can be seen as a whole in itself and, simultaneously, as a part of a larger whole. In SES Wilber did not make sharp distinctions between sentient and non-sentient holons. The first ones (such as atoms, molecules, cells, etc. and galaxies, planets, eco-systems, tribes, etc.) are what he calls simply "holons"; the second ones (which he doesn't address specifically in SES) he calls "artifacts" (anthills, spider webs, automobiles) and "heaps" (rocks, puddles, dunes). In SES, Wilber simply focused on part/whole relationships and the transcend-and-include nature of hierarchies, so his implicit restriction of the term holon to sentient holons has generated some confusion.
Fig 1: Sentient and Non-Sentient Holons In p. 36 of that book, for example, Wilber states that sets are "mathematical holons that are arranged in a transfinite hierarchy, an infinite holarchy." He also uses elsewhere the hierarchy of letter, word, sentence, paragraph and text as a holonic example of transcend and include. These illustrations make a point about hierarchies of non-sentient holons, but they don't use the terms "holon" and "holarchy" rigorously. (By Wilber's own definition, sets, letter, words, sentences, and other linguistic objects are not sentient holons but artifacts.) Although he did make clear his definitions on holons and holarchies in other sections of the book, many people have misunderstood and misapplied these concepts. This is unfortunate since it can lead to great confusion, and dangerous ethical ideas—ideas that have rather frightening social and political implications.
Furthermore, the first of Wilber's twenty tenets usually drives people to an unwarranted conclusion. The tenet states that "Reality as a whole is not composed of things or processes, but of holons." The incorrect inference is that every thing that exists in Reality is a holon. This is not the case; or at least, not what Wilber is trying to convey. There are lots of things that exist in reality that are not (sentient) holons such as heaps and artifacts. These things can be embedded in networks of whole/parts relationships; it's just that the hierarchical inclusion means something totally different for heaps, for artifacts and for holons. We shall see that a holon is not just anything that can be seen simultaneously as a whole in itself and as a part of a larger whole. (Perhaps the incorrect interpretation of the first tenet stems from the understanding that anything and everything can be seen as a whole and a part of a larger whole.) Although that is a necessary condition, it is not sufficient. According to Wilber's definition, in addition to being whole and part a holon (i.e., a sentient holon) must have interiority or consciousness.
Many people confuse different types of holons and create hierarchies that mix them with "unpleasant and confusing" consequences—as Wilber warns in page 89 of SES. For example, one can think of parts and wholes merely in terms of physical or relational inclusion, one can see individual holons as juniors of a social holon, subjects to its unlimited authority, or one can subtly fall into the reductionistic attitude of equating a holon with its exterior surfaces, denying its interior dimension. (For a more detailed discussion see SES p. 90.). Once consciousness falls out of the picture, the integral system collapses and becomes a reductionistic farce of its true self.
Even restricting analysis to sentient holons, there is still widespread confusion amongst readers of Wilber about the difference between individual and social holons. These are two fundamentally different types of holons and need to be kept separate to avoid confusion. When people conflate these two holons and write (pseudo-)holarchies such as "individual, family, community, nation, humanity", they are incurring in a mistake with serious philosophical and practical consequences...
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November 2009 
Nicole
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One reason this myth has endured is that it has been adopted by psychics and other paranormal pushers to explain psychic powers. On more than one occasion I've heard psychics tell their audiences, "We only use ten percent of our minds. If scientists don't know what we do with the other ninety percent, it must be used for psychic powers!" In 
"I cured with the power that came through me. Of course, it was not I who cured, it was the power from the Outer World, the visions and the ceremonies had only made me like a hole through which the power could come to the two-leggeds." 
