A system is composed of parts, yet it cannot be understood by only looking at its parts. We need to work with the whole of a system, even as we work with individual parts or isolated problems. From a systems consciousness, we understand that no problem or behavior can be understood in isolation. We must account for dynamics operating in the whole system that display themselves at different times. Only then can we realize that what looked like chaos reveals inherent order or that paired electrons that refuse to act individually exhibit a wholeness.
As our traditional analytic skills narrow our field of awareness and prevent us from seeing the total system we move deeper into the details instead of comprehending the wholeness of the system. Yet, at the quantum level it does not help to analyze thıngs in more detail (Durr, 2007).
Philosophers and scientists described their own ways of understanding the wholeness for many centuries. As the German philosopher Heidegger states we need a 'dwelling consciousness' to understand the whole phenomenon. When we dwell with a problem we move quietly into our senses, away from our analytic skills. We look for images, words and patterns that surface and try to pick impressions and to notice how something feels.
The great German philosopher Goethe applied his genius to the problem of seeing the wholeness of nature. He tried to understand any phenomenon in terms of its relationship to other phenomenon. According to Goethe, we should move from interrogation to receptivity and be open to what is occuring. Only then can we allow ourselves to be influenced by a whole that we can't see. We can dwell with the phenomenon and feel how it makes itself known to us (Wheatley, 2007).
