2+2=5?

In addition to the Zero Sum issue discussed in the previous post, one of the big questions is whether or not Bulk is reductionist in nature.  A reductionist believes that a complex system is essentially a sum of its parts.  If you understand the actions and reactions of the individual parts, you can, therefore, build a model of the entire complex system.  There is a certain logic and comfort to this approach if you have a hard time with some of the more spiritual concepts of faith and determinism.  Reductionism relies on a concept of linear causality (things happen for a reason and in ways that can be described and understood). 

Religion tends to be non-reductionist as it posits that the nature of things is caused by a set of rules we cannot always understand.  Monotheistic sects (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) teach that this is because of the will of God, which cannot always be understood by Man.  Taoism, on the other hand, just says its because there are things we cannot understand (and get over it).  

So here is where we get a little freaky on this.  After a lot of discussion (with and without aforementioned brown liquor), the discussion is hovering around a non-linear form of reductionism. 

Whoa Nelly, don't those two words "non-linear" and "reductionism" contradict each other?   Our answer is yes and no (or as the lawyers like to say, "it depends").  In our construct (again, a work in progress), the energy (Bulk) is created, destroyed, and reactive in both quantitative and qualitative ways.  The reductionist thinks that its all quantitative, but we just haven't looked hard enough at what we are calling qualitative data.  The holistic view is that what we think is that without all of the data, we cannot understand and map the system and we cannot have all of the data because it is beyond our ability to comprehend. 

So the question I pose to you is whether there is a middle ground.  Can we build a non-linear reductionist model of Bulk that assumes that we can understand enough of the parts to get the big picture without relying on non-definable externalities (deus ex machina) to make the ends meet?  I look forward to your comments, thoughts, criticisms, rants, and posts. 

Larry