The Strange Order of Things: Life, Feelings, and the Birth of Cultures
19.99 €
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The Strange Order of Things: Life, Feelings, and the Birth of Cultures
19.99 €
How and why did culture emerge? How did art and philosophy, religion and morality, economics and science emerge? In answering these questions, our first thought is that the ability to think rationally distinguishes human beings from all other creatures on Earth. However, this explanation completely ignores the role that our feelings and emotions play in motivating the individual and entire groups of people who ultimately create and shape culture. But that's not all: we believe that cultural practices are only accessible to humans, creatures with high levels of cognitive ability, and inaccessible to, for example, mammals or birds.
These claims are refuted in his groundbreaking paper "The Strange Order of Things" by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio. The scientist argues that feelings are inseparable from homeostasis, a process that can be found in absolutely any organism and that allows living things not only to preserve themselves, but also to evolve and thrive. Homeostasis is what connects us to the primordial broth in which the first living organisms on Earth originated. Thus, we are not without surprise to discover that bacteria and single-celled creatures devoid of intelligence have been regulating their existence for billions of years, following the same pattern that humans use to build culture, and that the human unconscious is rooted deeper than we ever realized.
These claims are refuted in his groundbreaking paper "The Strange Order of Things" by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio. The scientist argues that feelings are inseparable from homeostasis, a process that can be found in absolutely any organism and that allows living things not only to preserve themselves, but also to evolve and thrive. Homeostasis is what connects us to the primordial broth in which the first living organisms on Earth originated. Thus, we are not without surprise to discover that bacteria and single-celled creatures devoid of intelligence have been regulating their existence for billions of years, following the same pattern that humans use to build culture, and that the human unconscious is rooted deeper than we ever realized.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series Elements 2.0.