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Holistic is defined as "emphasizing the importance of the whole
and the interdependence of its parts", or "concerned with wholes
rather than analysis or separation into parts".
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=holistic&r=67
The principles of holism, therefore, are often in contradiction
with the foundations of medical science, since science tends
to focus on breaking down complex systems into their components
and analysing them independently of each other. This is
evident in the tendency toward increased specialization in
the medical profession. A foot doctor who specializes in
conditions of the foot may overlook contributing causes
to a specific condition from other systems of the body if
they fall outside his area of focus.
A description of the scientific method, from the site of Jose
Wudka, a member of the Physics Department at UC Riverside, will
demonstrate some of the inherent difficulties:
"
1. Observe some aspect of the universe.
2. Invent a tentative description, called a hypothesis, that
is consistent with what you have observed.
3. Use the hypothesis to make predictions.
4. Test those predictions by experiments or further observations
and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between
theory and experiment and/or observation.
"
http://phyun5.ucr.edu/~wudka/Physics7/Notes_www/node6.html#SECTION02121000000000000000
The key to the difficulty of this approach, from the holistic
point of view, is that it starts with 'observation' of an 'aspect'
of the whole. This observation is done from the outside in, so
to speak, rather than from the inside out. When this is done
with a relatively simple inorganic 'aspect', such as noting that
a rock falls to the ground, this may easily yield some useful
information, such as the concept of gravity. When the system
is organic and complex, however, those who favor holism argue
that the whole of the living system being observed, such as a
human being, has more inherent wisdom than can be gained by
analysing a single part or symptom. Additionally, even science
has come to recognize that the act of observing changes what is
being observed, as in the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of
Quantum Mechanics, which states that:
"...the act of observing changes the observed in fundamental way."
From the collected 'laws of physics' website of Erik Max Francis:
http://www.alcyone.com/max/physics/laws/u.html
Another key difference is that, by its nature, the scientific
method seeks out repeatable phenomena and seeks to address
the phenomena in the same way. The result is that everyone
takes aspirin for a headache. The holistic approach is more
prone to look at differences between headache sufferers, and
therefore recognize more easily that one person is experiencing
a tension headache, which might best be treated with massage,
while another has high blood pressure, which might best be
addressed by a change in diet. So much for the simplicity of
one treatment for all patients.
These essential differences between the two approaches give
rise a number of fundamental 'tenets', which may vary in
content from one expression to another, but which are founded
in the same principles.
The website of Jonathan Isaac Robison PhD, MS, hosts a .doc
file in which "The major tenets of the traditional health
promotion model are contrasted with those of a more holistic
approach", in which the two are contrasted in the following
areas:
Focus
Traditional
Disease: Main objective is to identify and eliminate biomedical
risk factors for physical disease
Holistic
Health: Main objective is to address the interconnected web of
genetic, social, emotional, spiritual, and physical factors that
contribute to health.
Please see the document for these other areas:
Emphasis
Motivation
Primary Assumption
Professional Role
Change Process
http://www.jonrobison.net/Reinventing-2.doc
or see this page to download the file:
http://www.jonrobison.net/holistic.html
Also, note the inclusion of the 'spiritual' factors which
contribute to health. Since spiritual factors aren't, by
nature, easily observable by other than the patient, such
things are routinely excluded from a scientific approach.
The Natural Therapy website, run by Dr. Shoshana Margolin
M.A., N.D., P.M.D., C.C.N, of the Holistic Health Center
in New York, has a page in which he elaborates on what he
calls the 'Four Pillars of Holism', those being:
"TOTALITY, INDIVIDUALITY, SPECIFICITY and SOURCING"
"Totality refers to the principle of Holism which acknowledges
the multi-dimensionality of the person - not only the body as
a complete unit (not a conglomerate of parts!) but also the
inter-linking of body, mind and soul. Consequently, both
diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are coordinated with
this principle in mind."
Please see this page for a full discussion of these principles:
http://www.naturaltherapy.com/holism.htm
In practice, the principles of holism require a much greater
degree of attention to the individual and his interaction
with the universe, than to the mere symptoms of his condition.
See the discussions under 'individuality' and 'sourcing',
above. The patient's history, lifestyle, belief systems,
diet, personal feelings and subjective experience of the
condition for which he is being examined are all likely to
be more carefully explored in an initial session with a
holistic practitioner. Also, the holistic practitioner is
more likely to follow the principle that the patient is
closest to the condition and, by implication, more
knowledgeable about it than the practitioner, in some
ways. And rather than seeing themselves as the 'authority'
on the condition, the holistic practitoner is more prone
to recognize that the 'author' of both the health and the
illness which manifest in a patient is life itself. They
are therefore more likely to attempt to access the
'unconscious' realm of the patient's psyche, given that
it is this same realm that somehow manages to maintain
a person's blood pressure, temperature, and a thousand
other variables which contribute to a healthy condition,
all without direction from the conscious mind.
A relevant discussion of the use of homeopathy, a holistic
therapy, in approaching mental illness was provided in
another question I answered:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=229822
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Searches done, via Google:
"major tenets" holistic
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holism "basic tenets"
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"scientific method
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