Whisp: Moving from hierarchical models to topological models offers some aid to understanding the management of requisite variety or subsidiarity. From any position we can see more detail and contours of the landscape and as the distance from our position increases the perceivable landscape loses detail, contours seem flattened until they reach our horizon of vision.
Our position determines the number of choices available to us. So we will frequently need to ask someone else at another position to make certain decisions because they have access to more information relevant to that decision. The information is within their horizon but not mine.
One insight that becomes more understandable for me with this shift from hierarchy to topology is that-- positions higher in a hierarchy must make requests of positions lower in the hierarchy BECAUSE the higher position lacks the information (variety) for some decisions. Asking for help necessitated by lack of required information is symmetric between levels. The lower levels will need help from above simply because they lack information that is over their horrison. And the higher level will need to ask for help from the lower levels simply because only the lower levels have access to that information.
Homeostats are mechanisms for mutual help based upon access to required information or choices.