The word "heterarchy" was coined by pioneering neurophysiologist W.S. McCulloch in the 1940s to describe the functioning of the reticular activating system in the brain stem, which unconsciously determines what we pay attention to.

In a heterarchy, control of the entire system is flexibly passed from one subsystem to another by a consensus among subsystems about what needs are most urgent at the moment. The subsystem with the strongest need assumes control, creating a temporary hierarchy of values and functioning. When that need is satisfied, or another need emerges as more salient, control is passed to another subsystem, creating a different temporary hierarchy.

Natural heterarchical functioning is distorted when any kind of inflexible hierarchy of beliefs or values restricts or interferes with this natural functioning. "Shoulds," "musts," "have tos," and "cant’s" are the most common offenders. However, excessive environmental stresses and conscious goals, including a variety of "self–improvement" programs, can also have the same kind of destructive unbalancing effect.

Balance, both mental and physical, is maintained by understanding and respecting how a heterarchical system functions, and balance can be restored by working to remove anything that imposes rigid and distorting limitations on this natural, and mostly unconscious, functioning.