Digby’s answer was to say that the wholeness comes from the system being functionally interdependent and integrated.
- Digby’s answer to the fundamental question:
- What is it that unites the parts of a system into a living individual? was the precursor to the biological concept of functional integration:
- wholeness comes from the system being functionally interdependent and integrated.
- the activities in one part of the system are brought about
- by a cause external to the part where it occurs (interdependence);
- and the mutual workings of the parts account for the behaviour of the system as a whole,
- making this activity internal to the entire system (integration).
- Here is an example using an Elephant
- An elephant’s heart pumps blood only because it’s supplied with
- energy from the digestive system,
- oxygen from the respiratory system, and
- support from the skeletal system.
- All those bits working in tandem is what makes it possible for an elephant to walk around doing elephant things.
- An elephant’s heart pumps blood only because it’s supplied with