Natural Intelligence & The Logic Of Consciousness

Throughout his illustrious decades-long career, Antonio Damasio has been at the leading edge of science`s enduring quest to unravel the mysteries of the human mind. Now, drawing on a lifetime of groundbreaking research as well as the newest findings of neurobiology, Damasio seeks to move the debate about the origins of consciousness from the world of high-level cognition and abstract reasoning into the wondrous realm of interoception-the human body`s own internal monitoring system. At the heart of his argument is the revolutionary idea that homeostatic feelings-those primal sensations intrinsically tied to our survival such as hunger, thirst, pain, and well-being-are the foundation of conscious experience, not only central to the body`s effort to maintain its physical health but carrying with them the initial glimmers of subjectivity, the very first sense of a "self." Here Damasio redefines consciousness as a natural solution to the problem of life regulation in complex, vulnerable organisms and along the way wrestles with the notion of sentience in plants and bacteria; considers the social phenomena of politics, religion, and commerce through the perspective of homeostasis; and addresses the rise and risks of artificial intelligence and its mimicry of the conscious mind. A probing synthesis of neurobiology, evolutionary science, and philosophy from one of the most notable leaders in his field, Natural Intelligence & the Logic of Consciousness offers readers a scientifically rigorous and profound re-examination of what it means to be alive and aware.