Organismic: No Central Command

An organismic system has no top boss—not even the brain. It isn't that the senses collect data and send them up to the brain, and then the brain analyzes the data and sends the conclusions and orders down. Nope. Our systems are an example of distributed intelligence, with plenty happening in a loop that never gets close to the brain: adjustments to your gait or breathing rhythms, release of endocrines by your gut, mysteries of the vagal nerve, intelligence in the heart—these are all examples of 'decision processes' that happen throughout the body. Even more important than where decisions get made is how—it is a constant, looping, bartering and chivying and maybe quarreling and peace-making that is in flux. There is no top boss. Nope. Not even the brain. It is almost all done by committee.