Insight and Concrescence

According to Whitehead, any cognitive process is a special case of 'Concrescence'. Unlike most traditional combinatory processes, Concrescence is not a localized event, but one in which the entire given universe is implicated, to greater and lesser degrees of relevance. Since a given subject is part of that universe, it, too, becomes an ingredient in a novel Concrescence. Hence, the 'subject' of a cognition is not constant throughout the development of the process, but is itself transformed, as well, into a new 'subject', that emerges at the completion of the Concrescence. Under routine conditions, the growth of the subject therein is minimal enough that it seems to maintain identity through the course of the process. On the other hand, Whitehead thereby also explains how moments of Insight can be so overwhelming absorbing for its subject--the subject itself is a constituent in the rapid synthetic processes that are transpiring, and, it is only in retrospect that the subject-object detachment, that yields the object of Insight, occurs.