Wholeness
For millennia, humanity has projected its perception of reality onto nature and woven it into stories—the mountain reaching toward the heavens, the sun as a life-giving force, and the forest whispering ancient wisdom. These interpretations are not mere myths but expressions of an intuitive grasp of wholeness—the idea that the universe and everything within it is connected, continuously unfolding as part of an undivided whole, a process of becoming.
In modern times, our perspective has been shaped by a tendency to categorize, individualize, and separate—an approach that profoundly influences how we understand the world and our connection to it. We have relied on isolation to reason, generalization to analyze, and fragmentation to comprehend reality, breaking it down into discrete components. This reductionist approach has led to remarkable scientific discoveries, revealing hidden layers of reality through the elegance of mathematics; however, this progress has come at a cost—it has diminished our appreciation of wholeness and our intrinsic place within it, leaving the universe perceived as a mere collection of separate objects governed by fixed mechanical laws.
However, scientific discoveries reveal a different picture. The universe is not a static collection of isolated parts but a dynamic, relational, and evolving structure. Coherence and order do not arise from independent building blocks but emerge through the interplay of relationships within the whole. This perspective, grounded in physics and cosmology, challenges us to reconsider causality, time, and the role of our participation as conscious observers.
A New Science Rooted in Wholeness
Wholeness speaks to the origin of the universe—not just as a starting point from which it emerges, but as an ongoing, active process. It invites us to view the universe as a dynamic unfolding, a deeply interconnected, relational, and coherent state of existence where differentiation and diversity do not fragment the whole but instead enrich it. The parts are unique, distinct, and unrepeatable, yet they remain inseparable and inherently connected to the whole. In our paper, Wholeness in Foundational Cosmology, we propose that wholeness is the intrinsic nature of the universe.
We are compelled to reconsider the foundations of science, the nature of its components, and our role as observers. Instead of merely asking how things behave, we must also ask why—what is their role within the whole? What constitutes reality? Wholeness integrates scientific inquiry with context and meaning. The observer looks at its relationship with the observed, and consciousness itself, that is intrinsically our experience of the whole, may be a fundamental part of this unfolding cosmic process.
When guided by wholeness, science transforms both research and our perspective. It becomes more than the pursuit of intellectual knowledge—it becomes an exploration that includes what it means to be human in our apprehension of the cosmos. It recognizes that our models and languages shape not only our inquiries but also how we perceive reality. Mathematical equations, poetic investigation, and contemplative experiences all play a role in deepening our understanding of the universe.
The Thread Connecting Us to the Cosmos
In Hebrew, the word shelemoot (wholeness/completeness) comes from the root shalem (complete), which also gives rise to shalom (peace). This linguistic closeness is just one example that suggests a profound truth— harmony in both nature and society requires wholeness.
The journey toward wholeness is not only a scientific quest but a human one. And in rediscovering the universe as an interconnected whole, we may also open new pathways and methodologies to learn about the foundations of science, life, and us.
"As we try to understand the cosmos itself, beyond the study of its parts, wholeness is not an idea that can be grasped solely from thought. It is necessary to invoke our sense of connection." (Wholeness in Foundational Cosmology)
