Organism, Organic, Organ-
[ˈɔr·ɡəˌnɪz·əm], [ɔrˈɡæn·ɪk], [ˈɔr·ɡən]
Related terms: Holobiont, Life-forms, Politics of Symbiosis, Spores, Symbiosis
»[An organism is] a living entity that interacts with the rest of the world. But more reductionist than holobiont. Organisms are holobionts, but holobionts are not always organisms.« [*]
The term »organism« describes a complex structure of interdependent and subordinate elements whose relations and properties are largely determined by their function in the whole. The binary relationship between mechanism and organism is mirrored by the dualism of inanimate and animate. In the Critical Zone, we have to resolve this problematic twofold set-up that ultimately removes agency from »inanimate« entities like water, glaciers, rocks, etc. In the terrestrial sense, we are simultaneously organisms ourselves and a part of a larger organism, the holobiont. When we refer to something occurring »organically«, we imply that it arose from the given circumstances. However, these given circumstances don’t occur arbitrarily, but are related to invisible processes we have never acknowledged.