Nature has two types of changes
Type 1 Change: Change that is so gradual it is almost not perceptible to the eye
Type 2 Change: Change that is discontinuous, things seemingly stay the same for a long time but dramatically shifts when change happens.
I-Ching, the book of changes might have been a simple framework used by the elders to help predict environmental changes resultant of interactions between the broad categories of Water, Earth, Wood and Fire. It could be speculated the intent was to avoid starting initiatives during natural cycles that are counter productive.
It is likely given the long lapse of time between the originators (people who knew what it was used for) and subsequent users (people who don’t know its intended use), it became shrouded in mysticism and used for spiritual and divination purposes instead. Another explanation for the conflation of function and mysticism can be attributed to the intertwine between nature and of religion.
Nature and space
Nature provides a really vast space for all its creatures. In this space, majority of changes fall into the type 1 category. Given the thorough lack of sensory stimulation for prolonged periods of time, all sense of personal identity inevitably disintegrates. It can speculated man through sheer boredom sets himself apart by putting up walls to shield himself from the vastness of nature. He does so by setting rules and norms, making music and engaging in drama with other men.
Ali the Bedouin huddled over his iPhone to stave off boredom while riding his camel across the unchanging landscape
The desert in the canyon is observed to be flooded after sudden huge volume of rain
Type 1 change a dramatic landscape that formed slowly overtime through gradual erosion of soil