| Self
Our human body is the important "locus" of our self. The word locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". The self is a key construct broadly referring to the representation of one's identity. Current views of the self in psychology speak of the self as playing an integral part in human motivation, cognition, affect, and social identity. The self has been seen as a product of episodic memory, but not of all memory. Researchers do not agree about how long episodic memories are stored in the hippocampus. Some researchers believe that episodic memories always rely on the hippocampus. Others believe the hippocampus only stores episodic memories for a short time, after which the memories are consolidated to the neocortex. Others believe that memories transit to the subconscious mind, a place where we can tune to when the need arises. Rupert Sheldrake and Carl Jung explain that one (self) is also the universe, complete and at one with All That Is.
Every cell in our body, including the neurons in the brain, and their connectivity with our extended self can be compared with that of a computer that can use software programming to run locally resident programs and memory, but also has the capability to tune to wider area and expanded networks, such as the worldwide network, with memory and content that reside outside.
Firmly grounded in current scientific knowledge, James Grier Miller’s “Living Systems” shows how biological and social systems are organized and operate at each of seven hierarchical levels: cells, organs; organisms; groups (families, committees, working groups, etc.); organizations (communities, cities, corporations, universities, multinational corporations, etc.); societies or nations; and supranational systems.
Miller’s work admirably portrays the scientific side of the physical construct of living systems while ignoring their vitality, the “animal magnetism,” (Mesmer), the “morphic fields” (Sheldrake), and the “mumia” (Paracelsus) that give life to all systems.
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