Wholeness and Centers

Overarching conceptual scheme from The Nature of Order where a whole makes its parts, which are called centers, and centers intensify each other.

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

thinker

method

Mirror-of-the-self experiment
implements
Experimental protocol developed by Alexander in the 1970s: subjects compare two configurations and choose which is more like their eternal self, yielding consistent cross-cultural agreement.

framework

Wholeness as Nested System of Centers
related_to
Alexander's quasi-mathematical definition of wholeness as a recursively nested system of living centers displaying local symmetries, approximating the overall gestalt of a configuration
Theory of Wholeness (centers and life)
related_to
The concept of wholeness as a system of centers at all scales, from Book 1; used as the structural basis for living process.
Fifteen Properties of Living Structure
extends
The set of geometric properties that appear in all living structure: levels of scale, strong centers, boundaries, echoes, gradients, deep interlock and ambiguity, local symmetries, roughness, inner calm, not separateness, and others.

chapter

Chapter 8: The Mirror Of The Self
extends
This chapter introduces the mirror-of-the-self test as an empirical method to measure living structure and explores its connection to human self and real liking.
The Existence Of An I
uses
Chapter 3 of Book 4 'The Luminous Ground', presenting the concept of the I and the reality of relatedness between self and world.

artifact

The Nature of Order, Book One (2002)
introduces
Book where Alexander defines wholeness, centers, and the fifteen fundamental properties; primary source for this paper.

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

Centers are above all, labile, they are foci of wholeness, they are not things, but regions, qualities, focal points of centeredness.quote0.863
Key definition capturing the non-atomic, relational nature of centers as fields rather than objects.
Wholenessconcept0.855
Alexander's core concept rejecting the idea that a whole consists of parts; instead, a whole makes its parts (called 'centers').
The wholeness of any portion of the world is the system of larger and smaller centers, their connection and overlap.claim0.836
Definitional claim that clarifies how wholeness is constituted.
Centers within a whole intensify each other, resulting in a profound and lively whole.claim0.834
Alexander's core mechanism explaining how the Fifteen Properties function to create living wholes.
Centers are labile foci of wholeness, not things, and are ideally suited to enhance and enlarge the whole while being fused into it.claim0.834
Definitional claim about the nature of centers and their role in unfolding.
A thing which has the field of centers always does make a person near it feel more whole.claim0.824
Preciousness of Centersconcept0.821
The quality of a center that intensifies when it helps a larger center; the vital core of every center.
Centersconcept0.821
Primary entities of wholeness that arise from configurations and are activated in space; they have different levels of strength or coherence and are intensified by relationships with other centers.