I have to agree with the author's faulting of esr's metaphors, but I'm not sure pyramids quite fits. Complex systems are tough. Thankfully, Yochai Benkler's now

I have to agree with the author's faulting of esr's metaphors, but I'm not sure pyramids quite fits. Complex systems are tough. Thankfully, Yochai Benkler's now rather famous Coase's Penguin has a much lengthier technical analysis of how these sort of systems are organized: http://www.benkler.org/CoasesPenguin.html http://www.benkler.org/CoasesPenguin.html