Louisville Process Theology Network

Our Holistic Function

“Scientifically, the holistic function of our brains allows us to look at the whole rather than the parts. Doctors in integrative medicine advocate the need to look at the whole person in terms of their biological, psychological, spiritual, and social domains. To truly heal someone, the holistic function of these doctors tells them to look at everything working as a whole. ·  

The holistic function appears to be partly related to right-brain function and may be related to the blocking of sensory information that occurs during practices such as meditation or prayer. This leads to an experience of things being considered as a whole. ·  

Of course, the sense of wholeness can vary. In fact, there may be a unitary continuum of human experience and thought, including the emergence of the sense of wholeness.

The concept of God as a unifying force is important to the sense of wholeness. In addition, there is a need to consider the individual characteristics of God as a part of the whole. This sense of wholeness is also an important element in the creation of social cohesion. ·  

The opposite of the holistic function is the reductionist function, which is related to left-brain function and is located in the temporoparietal junction. This function attempts to break down things into their parts. ·  

The causal, abstract, binary, holistic, and reductionistic functions of the human brain all help us to process the enormous amount of data coming into our brains from the external world.”

See also Newberg and Waldman, on “How God Changes Your Brain.”