On Unity (1975-1999)

"If physics leads us today to a world view which is essentially mystical, it returns, in a way, to its beginning, 2,500 years ago. […] Eastern thought and, more generally, mystical thought provide a consistent and relevant philosophical background to the theories of contemporary science; a conception of the world in which scientific discoveries can be in perfect harmony with spiritual aims and religious beliefs. The two basic themes of this conception are the unity and interrelation of all phenomena and the intrinsically dynamic nature of the universe. The further we penetrate into the submicroscopic world, the more we shall realize how the modern physicist, like the Eastern mystic, has come to see the world as a system of inseparable, interacting and ever-moving components with the observer being an integral part of this system." (Fritjof Capra, "The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism", 1975)

"In our very distant future we are likely to find that there is only one energy, which has manifold expressions, depending on the state of consciousness that interacts with the energy. However, we presently have a scientific foundation which has already segmented and delineated uniquely different energy characteristics as perceived by our biological senses, and by our extended instrumentation senses. Thus we must continue along the path already laid down by our scientific forebearers, until we have reached the level of consciousness where the unity can be known." (William Tiller, "New Fields, New Laws", 1977) 

"Mathematical physics represents the purest image that the view of nature may generate in the human mind; this image presents all the character of the product of art; it begets some unity, it is true and has the quality of sublimity; this image is to physical nature what music is to the thousand noises of which the air is full […]" (Théophile de Donder, 1977)

"The branch of modern science called cybernetics gives us concepts that describe the evolutionary process at both the level of intracellular structures and the level of social phenomena. The fundamental unity of the evolutionary process at all levels of organization is transformed from a philosophical view to a scientifically substantiated fact." (Valentin F Turchin, "The Phenomenon of Science: A cybernetic approach to human evolution", 1977)

"An autopoietic system is organized (defined as a unity) as a network of processes of production (transformation and destruction) of components that produces the components that: (a) through their interactions and transformations continuously regenerate and realize the network of processes (relations) that produce them and, (b) constitute it (the machine) as a concrete unity in the space in which they exist by specifying the topological domain of its realization as such a network." (Francisco Varela, "Principles of Biological Autonomy", 1979)

"Mathematics is not a branch of aesthetics. The mistake, which is common enough, probably stems from the requirement of aesthetic unity but is not identical with that unity." (J K Feibleman,"Assumptions of Grand Logics", 1979)

"An autopoietic system is organized (defined as a unity) as a network of processes of production (transformation and destruction) of components that produces the components that: (a) through their interactions and transformations continuously regenerate and realize the network of processes (relations) that produce them and, (b) constitute it (the machine) as a concrete unity in the space in which they exist by specifying the topological domain of its realization as such a network." (Francisco Varela, "Principles of Biological Autonomy", 1979)

"Autopoietic organization simply means processes interlaced in the specific form of a network of productions of components which realizing the network that produced them constitutes it as a unity." (Francisco Varela & Humberto Maturana "Autopoiesis and cognition: The realization of the living", 1980)

"The relations that define a system as a unity, and determine the dynamics of interaction and transformations which it may undergo as such a unity constitute the organization of the machine." (Francisco Varela & Humberto Maturana "Autopoiesis and cognition: The realization of the living", 1980)

"Analogies, metaphors, and emblems are the threads by which the mind holds on to the world even when, absentmindedly, it has lost direct contact with it, and they guarantee the unity of human experience. Moreover, in the thinking process itself they serve as models to give us our bearings lest we stagger blindly among experiences that our bodily senses with their relative certainty of knowledge cannot guide us through." (Hannah Arendt, "The Life of the Mind", 1981)

"By content, therefore, we mean the composition of all the elements of the object in their qualitative determinacy, their interaction and functioning, and the unity of the object's properties, intrinsic processes, relations, contradictions and trends of development. Content is not all that is 'contained' in an object." (Alexander Spirkin, "Dialectical Materialism", 1983)

"The unity of form and content presupposes their relative independence and the active role of the form. The modification of form involves reorganisation of the relations within the object. This process takes place in time and through contradictions." (Alexander Spirkin, "Dialectical Materialism", 1983)

"The ecological principle of unity in diversity grades into a richly mediated social principle; hence my use of the term social ecology." (Murray Bookchin, "What Is Social Ecology?" , 1984)

"The applications of knowledge, especially mathematics, reveal the unity of all knowledge. In a new situation almost anything and everything you ever learned might be applicable, and the artificial divisions seem to vanish." (Richard W Hamming, "Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics", 1985)

"Organization denotes those relations that must exist among the components of a system for it to be a member of a specific class. Structure denotes the components and relations that actually constitute a particular unity and make its organization real." (Humberto Maturana & Francisco J Varela, "The Tree of Knowledge", 1987)

"The dynamics of any system can be explained by showing the relations between its parts and the regularities of their interactions so as to reveal its organization. For us to fully understand it, however, we need not only to see it as a unity operating in its internal dynamics, but also to see it in its circumstances, i.e., in the context to which its operation connects it. This understanding requires that we adopt a certain distance for observation, a perspective that in the case of historical systems implies a reference to their origin. This can be easy, for instance, in the case of man-made machines, for we have access to every detail of their manufacture. The situation is not that easy, however, as regards living beings: their genesis and their history are never directly visible and can be reconstructed only by fragments." (Humberto Maturana & Francisco J Varela, "The Tree of Knowledge", 1987)

"Autopoietic systems, then, are not only self-organizing systems, they not only produce and eventually change their own structures; their self-reference applies to the production of other components as well. This is the decisive conceptual innovation. […] Thus, everything that is used as a unit by the system is produced as a unit by the system itself. This applies to elements, processes, boundaries, and other structures and, last but not least, to the unity of the system itself." (Niklas Luhmann, "The Autopoiesis of Social Systems", 1990)

"And you should not think that the mathematical game is arbitrary and gratuitous. The diverse mathematical theories have many relations with each other: the objects of one theory may find an interpretation in another theory, and this will lead to new and fruitful viewpoints. Mathematics has deep unity. More than a collection of separate theories such as set theory, topology, and algebra, each with its own basic assumptions, mathematics is a unified whole." (David Ruelle, "Chance and Chaos", 1991)

"Mathematics has deep unity. More than a collection of separate theories such as set theory, topology, and algebra, each with its own basic assumptions, mathematics is a unified whole. Mathematics is a great kingdom, and that kingdom belongs to those who see." (David Ruelle, "Chance and Chaos", 1991)

"The scope of Theories of Everything is infinite but bounded; they are necessary parts of a full understanding of things but they are far from sufficient to reveal everything about a Universe like ours. In the pages of this book, we have seen something of what a Theory of Everything might hope to teach us about the unity of the Universe and the way in which it may contain elements that transcend our present compartmentalized view of Nature's ingredients. But we have also learnt that there is more to Everything than meets the eye. Unlike many others that we can imagine, our world contains prospective elements. Theories of Everything can make no impression upon predicting these prospective attributes of reality; yet, strangely, many of these qualities will themselves be employed in the human selection and approval of an aesthetically acceptable Theory of Everything. There is no formula that can deliver all truth, all harmony, all simplicity. No Theory of Everything can ever provide total insight. For, to see through everything, would leave us seeing nothing at all." (John D Barrow, "New Theories of Everything", 1991)

"The unity of mathematics is due to the logical relation between different mathematical theories. The physical theories, by contrast, need not be logically coherent; they have unity because they describe the same physical reality." (David Ruelle, "Chance and Chaos", 1991)

"Every culture has a shared pattern of thinking. It is the cement that holds a culture together, gives it unity. A culture's characteristic way of thinking is imbedded in its concept of the nature of reality, its world view. […] A change of world view not only brings about profound cultural changes, but also is responsible for what historians call a ‘change of age’. An age is a period of time in which the prevailing world view has remained relatively unchanged." (Russell L Ackoff,"Re-Creating the Corporation", 1999)