Thought and act conflate structure with order, thus if we see some pattern then it is assumed that things are running smoothly and that change, if it comes at all, will be gradual. If structure and order are considered interchangeable, moreover, then chaos and disorder are similarly conflated. In so doing, we create a conceptual field in which structure serves as a metaphor for stability and familiar patterns are reproduced and exchanged, explaining to a great extent the essential conservatism of human activity. The point is that if we are to bring to the level of consciousness the underlying assumptions about one structure or another in order to inform practical choice, we must first thoroughly explore the meanings and implications of structures. Structure in state societies like our own is not equated simply with order but with rank order: the ubiquitous structural image is that of hierarchy. And yet, what is most complex is not hierarchy but the play between hierarchy and heterarchy: across space, through time, and in the human mind.
