Many uses for one idea

Just as there are many "units" for measuring ordered and/or disordered energy, like joules, calories, kilowatt hours, cubic feet of natural gas, and gallons of gasoline, so in the world of multilayer complex systems there are many uses for (i) the distinction between correlations that look inward and outward from a boundary, as well as for (ii) the three broken-symmetry boundaries of most direct interest to multi-celled organisms.

Illustrating the connection between distinctions that go by many different names might help folks concentrate on what is, and is not, important about the distinctions themselves.

In the latter case, for example with helpful suggestions on idea-driven aspects of personality from Robert Cloninger's book, consider the trichotomy:

Where else might one find this trichotomy being put to use?

For the in/out-ward looking subsystem-correlation direction consider instead the dichotomy:

Where else might one find this dichotomy already coming in handy?

Different words, same underlying distinctions. Perhaps the world is not as simple or as complex as we think, given that in each case the challenge is not "which column" but instead "how to strike a balance".