Holism and consciousness

What does holism have to do with psychology? For that matter, what is holism? The old tale about an elephant and several blindfolded people, touching different parts of the elephant while trying to determine what they're touching, comes to mind. One person touches an ear, another a tail and another a foot. Each exclaims what it is they're touching. Each is wrong, because only a small part of the whole – the elephant – is being touched. In fact, we can never understand the whole from any individual part. That contradicts the definition of holism.

Again, we must ask: What does holism have to do...