Regarding each of us playing different roles/fulfilling archetypes:
I believe the universe follows a natural progression of forms as it develops. Each dominant form carves a niche in reality based on it's nature, creating a vacuum of sorts for another form to rise into dominance. This idea stemmed from my observations and knowledge of evolution - where the idea of competing forms is already present. A species will have a trait which leads to it dominating a space, until that dominance has an effect on said space, opening up a new niche for another species to move into and dominate.
A while ago I tried putting these into a cycle of character archetypes which described an overarching pattern of the universe. As everything is emergent phenomena, understanding where we are in the unfolding cosmic evolution gives us insight into what we will face in the future. By the cycle I created/defined, I saw that we were at the end of the trickster's dominance, and leading into the fool's, which leads into beginning of the next cycle.
For reference, I define the trickster and fool as two types of liars. A trickster will come up to you with a warm smile and try to sell you a bridge. A fool will go "A bridge?! That sounds like a great investment!" while secretly recording the entire conversation. With this in mind, I point to the sociopaths who rise to the top of our societal pyramid, and then to the rise of technology, to include all the steps we're taking towards brain-to-brain communication.
Interesting, I tend to think of the fool as the one that disregard the notion of bridges entirely and ponder on why we were trying to get across in the first place. :)
This is my definition of the fool as well. The fool is he who has stuck his head outside of Plato's Cave to take a look at the real world. With this knowledge, the universal joke becomes apparent, and the fool can only laugh along with it. Thus, the fool does not get caught up in the games of the culture, where the trickster is dominating. When confronted with the trickster, the fool smiles knowing he has the joker up his sleeve.