The Ink-Pot and the Palette

I suppose one could say that we are all individually all three things, that is to say, each human is a bundle of smaller systems, an individual, and a component in a larger system, at the same time. If I thought about it too long, my brain might melt out my ears, though. It's like the Egyptian view of the human being: I could never keep all the different souls each of us is supposed to have straight in my head. :D