by Hugh M. Lewis

A very important form of alternative, applied system from a human systems standpoint are a class of such systems that we can refer to as "anti-structural" as they have social and behavioral performance value that is symbolically structured in a manner to mark transitions, maintain normal boundaries, and to successfully mediate change and manage what can be referred to as "marginalizing" experiences that tend to otherwise destabilize and undercut the normal sense of order of human systems. The neat thing about human anti-structural system are that humans were in fact doing these systems quite naturally and universally, even long before the elaboration of very sophisticated working systems of production.

Anti-structure and the need for periodic anti-structure are human universals, and are tied to the symbolic organization of the human brain and behavior. Alternative systems themselves are extensions of the same capacities towards fantasy, mythologization, and creative play. The nature of play changes as we grow--very young infants have no boundary between fantasy and reality, and can easily slip back and forth. As we mature, our play takes on more sophisticated and convoluted forms, becoming loaded with symbolic baggage and constrained by certain needs for a minimal sense of realism to keep the play interesting. When a child outgrows a fantasy or a game, that child no longer has the same interests and the child's needs for anti-structure are no longer being met in a simplistic manner as before.

The capacity and need for human play is a demonstration of the innate human need and interest for anti-structural systems or mechanisms in the course of every-day life. We are psychological dependent upon these anti-structurally systems, and without them we would all soon slip into a form of mass mania and atomistic neurosis/psychosis. The fact that psychosis and neurosis are such common features of human society, especially modernized, post-industrialized societies, is not only a measure of the alienation achieved by such systems, but a function of the failure of anti-structural systems to effectively mediate and modulate life experiences for the individuals entrapped in such societies.

General Systems Essays, Vol. I