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One concept that has interested me throughout the course is the relationship between internal and external hierarchy. We've talked about the nervous system being distributed, not dependent on any leader but the synchronization and coordination of multiple parts. On the other hand, it seems that we constantly create external hierarchies- in corporations, schools, government, and even families. An the other hand, the best "hierarchies" are also distributed systems- for example, a democracy rather than a dictatorship. Still, why is our brain so focused on hierarchy? In addition, yesterday we discussed the fact that hierarchy is inherent to culture which involves selectively assigning meaning, and so hierarchy may, in fact, be inevitable in our external worlds. How does our brain, which lacks hierarchy, accept this? Is external hierarchy created to satisfy the lack of internal hierarchy? Do individuals need to feel as though they have a place within hierarchy- is that how one comes to know thy self?

Also, I wonder if there might be some heirarchy between the congitive unconscious and the storyteller. It seems that the omnipresence and obscurity of the cognitive unconscious gives it a kind of power- it's beyond our control and understanding.