“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” - Aristotle

This statement reminds me of cooking, where combining flour, sugar, cocoa powder, butter, milk and baking powder together creates a fantastic chocolate cake. It is almost like magic, where the end result is not in any way close to the ingredients. Though each ingredient contributes to the taste, smell and texture of the cake, taken separately, they are sweet, sour, bitter and bland, not always recommended to be consumed uncooked. Here, the whole is enabled with greater qualities and capabilities that surpass the summation of the individual components.

The phrase, though attributed to Aristotle, wasn't explicitly stated in any of his works. The concept is believed to have derived from his philosophical ideas of holism, emergence and the nature of wholes. Aristotle’s writings explain how the qualities of entities emerge from the interactions of their parts. This concept paved the way for understanding emergent properties, conveying the idea that the qualities exhibited by the whole system cannot be understood or found by examining its individual parts. 

What does this phrase really mean to us at Apurva.ai? 
Here are some thoughts shared by the team.

* Gestalt Psychology explores how perception is not the sum of individual sensory stimuli alone but is also influenced by the organisation and configuration of all the stimuli in a meaningful pattern.

Applying the statement to Apurva.ai and its relevance in today’s times, Vyjayanthi Mala, Chief Orchestrator elaborated on how technology has shrunk the world so much that everyone lives in a virtual connected world, but are siloed more than ever. Adding on to this point, Rachana KG, Growth Lead, stated that everyone is now globally connected by nature as well as by nurtured economic and financial systems.

Our Mission Leader, Anand Rajan, offered the example of the human body, the most profound example according to him. “At the most granular level, the ability of atoms joining together to form molecules, which then combine to form various body parts. In response to external threats like viruses, these components unite to tackle the issue.” He further explained how it was not a mathematical summation for him, but rather, a unique synergy emerges that cannot be produced by any single part in isolation. He claimed that to abstract this to a system, there is a need for conducive environments where there is space to come together, and collaborate. The synergy of give and take between different parts within the system is also witnessed. “The idea that individuals themselves can’t create the emergence but when you have this conducive condition of synergy, collaboration, then the most phenomenal aspect called emergence happens. We all aspire to solve and design for emergence.” 

At Apurva.ai, we are constantly awed by the emergence, held together by parts and whole. How? Tiny units of knowledge in the form of text, videos, audios and more result in a comprehensive, combined knowledge infrastructure, forming the whole. The whole here offers deeper, wider insights, built with various perspectives of actors and experts in the ecosystem. And the end result is the emerging collective wisdom. Furthermore, the added layer of exponential technologies at Apurva.ai, opens doors to define and shape the delta of ‘whole’ and ‘sum of parts’ more than ever. How do you see the unfolding of the phrase in today’s world?

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