Tag: holon

I am Adam Matryoshka

The human species is not simply a bunch of rugged individuals all living on a blue marble orbiting the sun but a single entity. And for the fun of it, I will refer to this creature as ADAM and that ADAM lives amongst 8.7 million other species of plants and animals here on the third rock from the sun.

That we, as individual discrete organisms, are actually microorganisms within the greater macro-organism, ADAM. Which is also a species-level micro-organism consisting of some 3.8 million parts working together within Mother Nature, or what some might call Biofilm Earth.

Mother Nature(Earth) is a holobiont, and we(ADAM), too, are a holobiont. And who knows, maybe even our cells and microbes within us are also holobionts. Like a Matryoshka doll all the way down. Holobiont refers to an organism and its symbiotic partners (typically microbial) together as a single biological entity. The concept underscores the idea that the macro-organism and its microorganisms are so interconnected that they operate functionally as a single unit. The term “holobiont” derives from “holo-” (meaning whole or entire) and “biont” (meaning living entity). The combined term suggests an integrated system where the host organism and its associated microbial communities interact in ways that influence each other’s fitness, development, and evolution.

ADAM is simultaneously a discrete whole as well as a part of a larger whole. ADAM can be understood as the constituent part–wholes in and of a hierarchy. ADAM is a subsystem within a larger system, simultaneously evolving while also a part of a greater evolving system composed of other species as well.

ADAM is, by definition, a holon. Holons are self-reliant units with a degree of independence and can handle contingencies without asking higher authorities for instructions. Holons are simultaneously subject to control from one or more of these higher authorities. Holons are stable forms that can withstand disturbances and are intermediate, providing a context for the proper functionality of the larger whole.

I want to present a better, more accurate, simpler, more holistic understanding of how something like the black plague, Spanish flu, or our most recent species-level event that just happened is not spread by an invisible viral particle or a demon but through quorum sensing and mirror neurons. Basically, it is a communication system used by what I will refer to as bacteria(INDIVIDUAL HUMANS) to monitor and respond to changes in population density by altering gene expression. Essentially, it’s a way for bacteria(HUMANS) to “talk” to each other and coordinate their behavior, much like individuals in a large crowd of discrete species adjusting their actions based on the number of other species around them. This coordinated behavior allows human populations to act as multicellular entities in certain contexts.

That, what we are experiencing in these species-level pandemics is a coordinated event orchestrated by our species host, or ADAM and his immune system, to cleanse HIS body(the whole of humanity) of its diseased and dying cells(individuals) within the context of the holobiont(Adam), that is living as an individual species(holon) within a greater holobiont we call Mother Earth.

The Virtue of Thinking Virtually

Which came first, the physical computer or the virtual computer?

A holon (Greek: ὅλον, from ὅλος, holos, ‘whole’ and -ον, -on, ‘part’) is something that is simultaneously a whole in and of itself, as well as a part of a larger whole. In other words, holons can be understood as the constituent part–wholes of a hierarchy. -wikipedia

I look at the internet and all of the infrastructure that makes it all happen. And what I see is a virtual world that is based on the physical world that we live in. That is, we have virtualized much of our lives to free up time to do things we were too busy for before just to survive. This should mean that we should be able to look at something like Google in its totality and make predictions about certain unseen things in our natural/physical world.

Which led me to another question now that we have virtual computers. Did we ever need physical computers in the first place?

The simple answer is yes. And it seems reasonable to conclude that we needed the physical thing by which to model the virtual thing. And ultimately there does need to be a physical machine layer as a foundation beneath virtual machines. However, virtual machines are just software and a virtual computer can run within a virtual machine.

I know, I know…Couldn’t it be virtual machines all the way down?

A virtual computer is an emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures that provide the functionality of a physical computer. They provide a substitute for a real machine. They provide the functionality needed to execute entire operating systems without the need for additional hardware.

All that to say…I think that there is a lot more going on in the physical world than we are aware of. I think this way because of the model we have created that we call the internet and all of its physical and virtual infrastructure.

This brings me to another question…

Is there such thing as a ruling class? An elite society of people that might be metaphorically considered the owners of the farm we live on.

Though I cannot point my finger at one or name the names of what would functionally be a governing body of sorts, I do believe there is justification for believing in one. Here is my thinking.

Ever heard of Docker containers and Kubernetes?

Basically, cloud computing and container orchestration, at least in my opinion demonstrate to me that there is a governing body above all the nations on this thing we call Earth, even if it is not in the form of human creatures.

In my opinion, when we look at our computers/smartphones we are looking at the surface of that example. Kind of. At least it is representative of existence as we know it, even if it is only one visible factor of many; some unseen but just as real.

In this scenario, we are the programs that run on the hardware we call computers. To the programs running on that hardware computer, that physical box is its universe. Now let’s put a whole bunch of these hardware computers into the cloud.

Back in the day, this was called grid computing. It was rooms filled with physical servers that were all self-contained containers each filled with many resources that were being completely underutilized. Now if there were only some way to pool all of these resources into one large bucket or container. And the cloud was born.

And so now, based upon resources needed that grid or cloud of machines can virtually, like literally virtually become hundreds of virtual computers utilizing only the resources they need at any given time. The leftover resources remain usable in the cloud. And each of these virtual computers is now called a container. They serve our favorite applications.

But how is all of this controlled? Layers upon layers of ones and zeroes.

From the perspective of the containers(states/nations) that serve the programs/applications(people), there is an orchestration that takes place. An orchestration(Kubernetes) that the applications are completely oblivious to, yet completely necessary for the form and function of that application. Kubernetes(conductor) is the chief god that orchestrates and serves the lesser god Docker(container) who in turn serves the people(application).