The Strange Order of Things Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures

he Strange Order of Things is a pathbreaking investigation into homeostasis, the condition of regulating life within the range that makes possible not only the survival but also the flourishing of life. Antonio Damasio makes clear that we descend biologically, psychologically, and even socially from a long lineage that begins with single living cells; that our minds and cultures are linked by an invisible thread to the ways and means of ancient unicellular life and other life-forms; and that inherent in the very chemistry of life is a powerful force, a striving toward life maintenance that governs life in all its guises, including the development of genes that help regulate and transmit life. The Strange Order of Things offers us a new way of understanding the world and our place in it.