Emergence and Reduction in Michael Polanyi (Ii) (Report‪)‬

4. The problem of reduction of fundamental physical entities Polanyi states that the development of higher levels is an emergent process and that these higher levels cannot be reduced to the lower ones. However, even if, according to Polanyi, someone accepts that there are emergent levels, it would not follow that every higher level entity is emergent. For example, the question arises: what is the situation in the field of physics with respect to such fundamental entities as the hydrogen atom? Are they really irreducible? Is the hydrogen atom not reducible to a proton and an electron, according to Polanyi?