Triholonics is a systems science based on the study of holons.
The term holon is a combination of the word Holos-, which means whole and the suffix -on, which means particle or part. Thus a holon is a whole, that is simultaneously a part of a larger whole. The term was coined by Arthur Koestler in his book The Ghost in the Machine.
In the diagram below the darker dotted lines represent a holon; it is both contained as well as containing. An atom is an example of a holon as it is both a whole to other parts like protons, electrons, neutrons, quarks, etc, as well as being a part of a molecule. It’s nothing but holon turtles all the way down baby!
A system is an abstract concept which just means a group of things that are arranged and related so that they work together to create something which is more than the sum of their parts. Anything from the computer that you’re using to read this page from through to your body and our planet are systems. A system is just a hierarchy of holons.
Systems science is an interdisciplinary field that studies the properties and dynamics of systems. The purpose of systems science is to understand different phenomenon through the lens of systems. All of the sciences; physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, psychology etc; can be explored through the lens of systems science.
To date, the holon has mostly been explored through the lens of a Cartesian worldview — a way of seeing shaped by dyads: subject and object, mind and matter, true and false, right and wrong. This binary habit of thought assumes that things are best understood by splitting them into two opposing parts. Even the idea of a holon — something that is both a whole and a part — has typically been treated within this dualistic frame.
A holon is usually defined as any whole that contains parts, or any part that belongs to a larger whole. From this, we get two familiar perspectives: the whole-holon and the part-holon. These two roles have been widely discussed, but they are often treated as distinct and external — as if a holon is sometimes one and sometimes the other, depending on how we look at it.
But if we take a step back, something more interesting appears.
The holon does not merely alternate between being whole and part — it is always both at once. And more than that: it is a holon of holons — the very relationship between partness and wholeness is itself part of a larger, recursive pattern. What we’re seeing is not just a structure between two poles, but a third-order recognition: that the holon is self-referential.
This simple shift in perspective transforms the holon from a static unit in a hierarchical model into something more dynamic and alive. It is not just a bridge between scales — it is a pattern that contains and sustains itself. The move from a dyadic to a triadic frame doesn’t just add a new piece — it changes the nature of what is being seen.
In this view, the holon is no longer just a conceptual tool within systems thinking. It becomes something more fundamental: a living logic through which identity, context, and transformation are continuously held together. What seemed like an abstract idea turns out to reflect something real and vital — a deep pattern that may help us see how coherence, change, and participation actually unfold in the world.
It may be one of the most significant ideas we’ve never heard of.
Whilst the concept of a holon is a constructed distinction I believe this triadic pattern is inherent in the architecture of living systems. Purpose, choice, and agency as well as self-referentiality and cognition are all examples of 3-term systems. None of these are possible within a dyadic system as 2-term causality (ie. simple stimulus-response pairings) is not capable of free will or novelty.