Holon

The term holon was first coined by Arthur Koestler in 1967. This article was inspired by Kurt Cagle's article, The Living Graph: Holons and the Four-Graph Model.

A holon is something that is simultaneously a whole in and of itself, as well as a part of a larger whole. Holons are things that exist as both wholes and parts of larger systems at the same time.  Holons have a dual nature in that they function independently by one set of rules while at the same time they contribute to the functioning of the larger system in which they exist.

The notion of the holon provides a framework for describing complexities which exist when trying to describe the connections between things. By understanding the notion of the holon one can understand and describe connections better by understanding the distinction between the perspective of the "part" as distinct from the perspective of the "whole".

A classic example used to explain the notion of a holon is the cell in a human body.  A cell in the human body is a whole and everything that makes up that cell. But that cell is also part of some organ such as the heart as distinct from some other cell that is part of the liver.

Another excellent example of a holon is the Lego block. I have used the Lego analogy before. A Lego block is at the same time a stand alone unit and a part of what you used that Lego block to build.

My interest in the holon relates to the core pattern of information within an XBRL-based report which I refer to as the information block. An information block is a derived information artifact.  My poking and prodding of XBRL-based reports has revealed this universal pattern of information which exists in XBRL-based financial reports submitted by public companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Each report is a combination of technical and logical artifacts. The following describes the hierarchy of the logical pattern which I have observed:

  • Report (logical artifact, also set of XBRL technical artifacts)
    • Network (XBRL technical artifact)
      • Hypercube (XBRL technical artifact)
        • Information Block (logical artifact)
          • Fact (logical artifact)
An information block is a holon.  Why is this important? This is important because the notion of the information blocks enables the untangling of the inconsistently represented technical artifacts and logical business oriented artifacts that don't have unique identifiers such that they can be reorganized into consistent meaningful and recomposable logical artifacts and worked with effectively:
  • Report (logical artifact)
    • Artifact (logical artifact)
      • Information Block (logical artifact)
        • Fact (logical artifact)
This has ramifications for not only XBRL-based financial statements; this has ramifications for what people are referring to as the enterprise knowledge graph, closing books used to prepare financial statements, audit bundles used to attest to financial statements, analysis models used to analyze financial statements, and the electronic spreadsheet.

The current bucket brigade can be turned into an industrial process.  Accounting is purpose built to be a closed deterministic system. To understand this correctly; you must also understand Atomic Design Methodology.


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