"A pathbreaking investigation into homeostasis, the condition of that regulates human physiology 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 primitive life-forms; and that inherent in our very chemistry 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."--Supplied by publisher.

Part I: About life and its regulation (homeostasis). On the human condition ; In a region of unlikeness ; Varieties of homeostasis ; From single cells to nervous systems and minds -- Part II: Assembling the cultural mind. The origin of minds ; Expanding minds ; Affect ; The construction of feelings ; Consciousness -- Part III: The cultural mind at work. On cultures ; Medicine, immortality, and algorithms ; On the human condition now ; The strange order of things.