The Whole Is Less Than Parts. Is It True

"The sum of the parts (masses) is always greater than the whole". Does it always hold true in both fission and fusion reaction?

In fission a nucleus breaks up, into two nuclei, with emission of neutrons. In fission for energy to be released, the sum of masses of the products needs to be less than the mass of the original nucleus. It is this difference in mass which is converted into energy in accordance with the relation E =m*c^2.In case of fusion two light nuclei combine to form one heavier nucleus. In this case the mass of the heavier nucleus is less than the sum of the combining nuclei. And again the difference in masses gets converted into energy in accordance with the relation E=m*c^2.So your statement is true only for fusion.

What are some examples in which "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts"?

Lol. You are. I am. Any sufficiently complex system creates "emergence", which is really nothing else but a fancy term and a tautology and explains absolutely nothing. It has the merit of pointing out the fact though.Sufficiently complex systems create something new, that is not inherent in the parts. Simplest example is water.The behaviour of a water molecule can not be deduced from the behaviour of oxygen or hydrogen.The behaviour of water can not be deduced from a single water molecule. One molecule does not flow, nor does it expand below 4 degrees.The way water is incorporated into most natural systems can not be deduced from the behaviour of water.And so it goes up and up, layer after layer.In the end: the water wars that are starting to happen can not be deduced from Oxygen and Hydrogen.Another neat example is the emergence of consciousness in a sufficiently complex mind. Mind is emerging in a sufficiently complex brain. Brain is emerging in a sufficiently complex nerve system. Nerves are......We are extremely bad at seeing this happening. We take emerging phenomena as a "thing". Life, mind, thought....... these are not things.They emerge from a system and die off when the system loses the complexity to create them.Very hard to fit this into a scientific mind set. Yet, once you see it, lots of things fall into place, you have a big AHAAAAAAA moment, and wonder why you never saw it before. No going back after that.

Explain the whole greater than the sum of its part. What does that mean?

In mathematics, as Mark Horton implies, a whole equals the parts that make it up. For instance, if you weighed an automobile and then took it car apart, making made sure you saved the gasoline and other liquids, and weighed all the parts and fluids separately, the weight of the whole would be equal to the sum of the weights of all the parts. This is well-established in math. But in dynamic systems (such as The Beatles), the interaction can produce something far greater that what the individual parts could achieve. This happens in many well-functioning organizations.It can also happen that an organization might not function well, and because of psychological issues, ego, sexual harassment, or other disruptive forces, that combination of workers can end up achieving less than they might as individuals.

Is the whole really greater than the sum of its parts?

It can be. This is something that is discussed in ‘emergence theory’, a section of philosophy.Emergence theory discusses entities which are composed of smaller elemental parts, but the larger entity exhibits characteristics or traits that the smaller entities do not. A classic example of this is water.Water is composed of only two things: hydrogen and oxygen. But when you combine the two elements together, you get properties which neither hydrogen nor oxygen have. As an example, water has the unique property of becoming less dense as it cools (water hits its maximum density at ~4 degrees Celsius). This property is not found in either hydrogen, nor oxygen, both of which become more dense as they get colder. Thus, water has properties beyond simply the summation of the properties of hydrogen and oxygen.The human mind is often considered a much more complex example of emergence. A single neuron is not conscious. Not are 100, or 1000. But when you put enough of them together in the right combination, you can get a conscious thinking being.

What does the phrase "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" mean?

I love this quote.Of course everyone has already answer it in a simple meaning. I want to add some special aspect of this answerFor example you and your sexy girlfriend go to someplace alone which no one is there for the first time, what happen? Your heartbeat goes up, your brain repeatedly said “Oh my god, no I cannot do it, no no…but I will do it anyway”. But hey, if your crush is only made of a great bunch of atoms, how can you even do such thing to those atoms?This is interesting, atom has no “sexy” property, that property only comes to exists when atoms form into special formation that creates the form of your girlfriend. BAMM, now those atoms have “sexiness” property."The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" mean like that. When you connect more objects in a way, there will be a system emerge. That system somehow hold new properties that does not exist in those object that form the system. Those atoms form your sexy girlfriend, connect them again in new way and reduce some atoms, you get an Apple which does not have “sexiness” property but it has “sweetness” property. More apple connect with a shop, you have a grocery store which now have a lot more properties like income, expense, customer…Please notice that there are 3 things you need to remember: connect, more objects and way. Those 3 things are required to make a bunch of objects emerge into something. You cannot have two people without any strong relationship call couple, you cannot have only one people to call nation, and you cannot have a company that have no title and job decription to people in there, regardless how friendly they areTo summarize, quantity change quality. This universe is not a linear place when you add more of something, it will be the same number. Add more of something can transform those things into one thing new that no one can even think of. Oh, and our thought is also the emergence of billions of neurons connects to each other in strange way that contain properties like “thinking” or “stupidity”