“The more we study the major problems of our time, the more we come to realize that they cannot be understood in isolation. They are systemic problems, which means that they are interconnected and interdependent.” (Capra 1996, 3)

Capra (1996, 6, 29, 30) in ‘The Web of Life’ notes the passing of the mechanistic paradigm and heralds the ascendancy of the ecological paradigm based in a holistic worldview in which the world is seen as an integrated whole rather than a dissociated collection of parts. Pioneered by biologists, the ecological paradigm is synonymous with systems thinking whereby the essential properties of an organism, or living system, are properties of the whole, which none of the parts have. Here the focus is on basic principles of organization rather than the building blocks or properties.  More...