IMO, one of the most damaging conceits to our understanding of how nervous systems function is the idea that nervous systems behave in a series of sequential discrete processes. The idea that neuron a emits a particle that activates neuron b then returns to homeostasis is a naive at best metaphor for nervous system (or organismal) construction. The idea of cells as assembly lines cranking out products in response to orders coming in doesn’t capture the actual mechanics or complexity of organismal/nervous system function.
Instead, a better metaphor may be of large number of systems in tension with one another, systems which transmit information not by transfer but by manipulating the push/pull between the systems. Whether it’s manipulating tension across a membrane or homeostasis across a group of cells, the mechanic is more about maintaining the proper amount of tension between systems than managing the assembly lines.
It’s the same kind of inter-system tension we see in nearly all physical sciences, from ecosystems to weather systems.