Feeling & Knowing: Making Minds Conscious

by Antonio Damasio

Overview

From one of the world’s leading neuroscientists: a succinct, illuminating, wholly engaging investigation of how biology, neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence have given us the tools to unlock the mysteries of human consciousness

“One thrilling insight after another ... Damasio has succeeded brilliantly in narrowing the gap between body and mind.” —The New York Times Book Review

In recent decades, many philosophers and cognitive scientists have declared the problem of consciousness unsolvable, but Antonio Damasio is convinced that recent findings across multiple scientific disciplines have given us  a way to understand consciousness and its significance for human life.  

In the forty-eight brief chapters of Feeling & Knowing, and in writing that remains faithful to our intuitive sense of what feeling and experiencing are about, Damasio helps us understand why being conscious is not the same as sensing, why nervous systems are essential for the development of feelings, and why feeling opens the way to consciousness writ large. He combines the latest discoveries in various sciences with philosophy and discusses his original research, which has transformed our understanding of the brain and human behavior.
 
Here is an indispensable guide to understand­ing how we experience the world within and around us and find our place in the universe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524747558
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/26/2021
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	463,280
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.60(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

ANTONIO DAMASIO is University Professor, David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Philosophy, and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
 
antoniodamasio.com

Read an Excerpt

IN THE BEGINNING WAS NOT THE WORD
 
In the beginning was not the word; that much is clear. Not that the universe of the living was ever simple, quite the contrary. It was complex from its inception, four billion years ago. Life sailed forth without words or thoughts, without feelings or rea­sons, devoid of minds or consciousness. And yet living organisms sensed others like them and sensed their environments. By sensing I mean the detection of a “presence”—of another whole organism, of a molecule located on the surface of another organ­ism or of a molecule secreted by another organism. Sensing is not perceiving, and it is not construct­ing a “pattern” based on something else to cre­ate a “representation” of that something else and produce an “image” in mind. On the other hand, sensing is the most elementary variety of cognition.
 
Even more surprising, living organisms re­sponded intelligently to what they sensed. Respond­ing with intelligence meant that the response helped the continuation of their life. For example, if what they sensed posed a problem, an intelligent response was one that solved the problem. Importantly, how­ever, the smartness of these simple organisms did not rely on explicit knowledge of the sort our minds use today, the sort that requires representations and images. It relied on a concealed competence that took into account the goal of maintaining life and nothing but. This non-explicit intelligence was in charge of curating life, managing it in accordance with the rules and regulations of homeostasis. Ho­meostasis? Think of homeostasis as a collection of how-to rules, relentlessly executed according to an unusual manual of directions without any words or illustrations. The directions ensured that the pa­rameters on which life depended—for example, the presence of nutrients, certain levels of temperature or pH—were maintained within optimal ranges.
 
Remember: in the beginning no words were spo­ken and no words were written, not even in the exacting manual of life regulations.
 
 
THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
 
I know that talking about the purpose of life can cause some discomfort, but considered from the innocent perspective of each living organism, life is inseparable from one apparent goal: its own main­tenance, for as long as death from aging does not come calling.
 
Life’s most direct path to achieving its own main­tenance is by following the dictates of homeostasis, the intricate set of regulatory procedures that made life possible when it first bloomed in early single-cell organisms. Eventually, when multicellular and multisystem organisms became all the rage—that was about three and a half billion years later—homeostasis was assisted by newly evolved coor­dinating devices known as nervous systems. The stage was set for those nervous systems to not just manage actions but also represent patterns. Maps and images were on their way, and minds—the feeling and conscious minds that nervous systems made possible—became the result. Gradually, over a few hundred million years, homeostasis began to be partly governed by minds. All that was needed now for life to be managed even better, was creative reasoning based on memorized knowledge. Feel­ings, on the one hand, and creative reasoning, on the other, came to play important parts in the new level of governance that consciousness allowed. The developments amplified the purpose of life: survival, to be sure, but with an abundance of well-being derived in good part from the experience of its own intelligent creations.
 
The goal of survival and the dictates of homeo­stasis are still at work today, both in single-cell creatures such as bacteria and in ourselves. But the kind of intelligence that assists the process is dif­ferent in single cells and in humans. Non-explicit, non-conscious intelligence is all that the simpler and mindless organisms have available. Their intel­ligence lacks the riches and the power generated by overt representations. Humans have both kinds of intelligence.
 
As we discuss life and the kinds of intelligent management that different species rely on, it be­comes clear that we need to identify the menu of specific and distinct strategies available to those creatures and give names to the functional steps they constitute. Sensing (detecting) is most basic, and I believe it is present in all living forms. Mind­ing is next. It requires a nervous system and the creation of representations and images, the critical component of minds. Mental images flow relent­lessly in time and are infinitely open to manipula­tion so as to yield novel images. As we will see, minding opens the way to feeling and conscious­ness. There is not much hope of elucidating con­sciousness if we do not insist on distinguishing these intermediate steps.
 
THE EMBARRASSMENT OF VIRUSES
 
The mention of intelligent but unminded compe­tences makes me think of the tragedy we have been living through and of the unanswered questions that pertain to viruses. In spite of our success in man­aging polio and measles and HIV and coping with the inconvenience and dangers of the seasonal flu, viruses remain a major cause of scientific and medical humiliation. We are negligent in our preparation for viral epidemics, and we are ignorant when it comes to the science we need in order to speak about viruses clearly and deal with their consequences effectively.
 
We have made great progress in understanding the role of bacteria in evolution and their interdependence relative to humans, which is largely ben­eficial to us. The microbiome is now a part of how we understand ourselves, but nothing comparable holds for viruses. Our troubles begin with how to classify viruses and understand their role in the gen­eral economy of life. Are viruses alive? No, they are not. Viruses are not living organisms. But then why do we talk about “killing” viruses? What is the sta­tus of viruses in the big biological picture? Where do they fit in evolution? Why and how do they wreak havoc among real living things? The answers to these questions are often tentative and ambiguous, which is surprising given how much viruses cost in human suffering. Comparing viruses and bacteria is most informative. Viruses do not have energy metabolism, but bacteria do; viruses do not produce energy or waste, but bacteria do. Viruses cannot initiate movement. They are concoctions of nucleic acids—DNA or RNA—and some assorted proteins.
 
Viruses cannot reproduce on their own, but they can invade living organisms, hijack their life systems, and multiply. In brief, they are not living but can become parasitic of the living and make a “pseudo” living while, in most instances, destroying the life that allows them to continue their ambiguous existence and promoting the manufacture and dissemination of “their” nucleic acids. And on that point, in spite of their nonliving status, we cannot deny viruses some fraction of the non-explicit variety of intelligence that animates all living organisms beginning with bacte­ria. Viruses carry a hidden competence that manifests itself only once they reach suitable living terrain.

Table of Contents

Before We Begin . . . 1

I. On Being . . . 11
In the Beginning Was Not the Word · The Purpose of Life · The Embarrassment of Viruses · Brains and Bodies · Nervous Systems as Afterthoughts of Nature · On Being, Feeling, and Knowing · A Calendar of Life
 
II. About Minds and the New Art of Representation . . . 33
Intelligence, Minds, and Consciousness · Sensing Is Not the Same as Being Conscious and Does Not Require a Mind · The Contents of Minds · Unminded Intelligence · The Making of Mental Imagery · Turning Neural Activity into Movement and Mind · Fabricating Minds · The Minds of Plants and the Wisdom of Prince Charles · Algorithms in the Kitchen

III. On Feelings . . . 69
The Beginnings of Feeling: Setting the Stage · Affect · Biological Efficiency and the Origin of Feelings · Grounding Feelings I · Grounding Feelings II · Grounding Feelings III · Grounding Feelings IV · Grounding Feelings V · Grounding Feelings VI · Grounding Feelings VII · Homeostatic Feelings in a Sociocultural Setting · But This Feeling Isn’t Purely Mental

IV. On Consciousness and Knowing . . . 111
Why Consciousness? Why Now? · Natural Consciousness · The Problem of Consciousness · What Is Consciousness For? · Mind and Consciousness Are Not Synonymous · Being Conscious Is Not the Same as Being Awake · Consciousness (De)Constructed · Extended Consciousness · With Ease, and You Beside · The Real Wonder of Feelings · The Priority of the World Within · A Gathering of Knowledge · Integration Is Not the Source of Consciousness · Consciousness and Attention · The Substrate Counts · Loss of Consciousness · The Cerebral Cortices and the Brain Stem in the Making of Consciousness · Feeling Machines and Conscious Machines

V. In All Fairness: An Epilogue . . . 185
 
Notes and References . . . 195
Other Readings . . . 215
Acknowledgments . . . 217
Index . . . 221

Editorial Reviews

03/29/2021

Neuroscientist Damasio (Descartes’ Error) sets out to demystify the nature of consciousness in this erudite yet accessible study. He proposes that human consciousness is built upon a series of developments that evolved to ensure homeostasis, the conditions necessary to continue an organism’s life. Homeostasis applies to even the simplest life forms, and Damasio argues accordingly that consciousness is not an exclusively human trait; he grants a type of consciousness to ants and bees, and debunks the exceptionalist view of humankind that “diminishes nonhumans,” which he characterizes as “deeply flawed.” Damasio also explores what consciousness does: in his view, it is the mechanism that allows humans to adapt to threats to their homeostasis, and therefore ensures a greater chance of overcoming those threats. Among the many asides are references to myth and literature (a close reading of Emily Dickinson’s “Poem XLIII” reveals it as “making penetrating observations on the human mind,” for example), an investigation of artificial intelligence and its limitations, and a mention of the Jerome Kern song “I Won’t Dance” (to prove that feelings are “hybrids of mind and body”). Damasio’s investigation of the “hard problem” of consciousness successfully produces a credible theory—one that’s worth checking out. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Here the master scientist unites with the silken prose-stylist to produce one thrilling insight after another . . . Damasio has succeeded brilliantly in narrowing the gap between body and mind.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Damasio’s concise, precise, and lucid prose effectively convey the core insight he has distilled over decades (2): that affect—encompassing, emotions, feelings, motivations, and moods—is central to understanding what we do, how we think, and who we are.”
—Science

“Damasio writes lucid prose clearly addressed to a popular audience. Even better, the book is concise and helpfully divided into dozens of short chapters, many only one or two pages. Make no mistake, however; Damasio is a deep thinker familiar with multiple disciplines, and this is as much a work of philosophy as hard science. Readers familiar with college level psychology and neuroscience will discover rewarding insights.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“So much of what novelists and poets write about touches on the centrality of feeling, especially on the polar opposites of feeling joy or suffering. I think great books, and movies too, touch on humanity so deeply. Their topics are the ones I chose for my research.”
—The Boston Globe
 
“There is something seductive about the succinct, almost literary, chapters and Damasio’s unabashed wonder at and reverence for the concept of consciousness—although he believes it can be explained using the disciplines known to us, he is no less in awe of its mechanisms. It is clear, for example, that Damasio holds in reverence the fact that our bodies can both experience feelings and modify those feelings within the same vessel. And often, this awe shines through in charming, allusive, whimsical sentences.”
—Undark

From the Publisher

10/01/2020

From world-famous neuroscientist Damasio (it all started with Descartes' Error) relies on recent discoveries in neurobiology, psychology, and AI to explain what consciousness really is.

Library Journal

2020-11-21
The renowned neuroscientist delivers a short but definitely not superficial investigation of consciousness, widely but wrongly looked on as mysterious.

Damasio—the chair of neuroscience and professor of psychology, neurology, and philosophy at USC, where he heads the Brain and Creativity Institute—emphasizes that he has no patience with efforts to solve the “hard problem”—i.e., explaining how the mass of neurons in the physical brain generates conscious mental states. His reason: They don’t, at least not by themselves. While the brain plays an indispensable role, it requires input from “non-neural tissues of the organism’s body proper.” At the simplest level, our physical senses provide feelings, and our memory provides context that our sense of self integrates into what we experience as consciousness, which the author defines as “a particular state of mind resulting from a biological process toward which multiple mental events make a contribution,” Feelings, writes Damasio, “provide the mind with facts on the basis of which we know, effortlessly, that whatever else is in the mind, at the moment, also belongs to us. Feelings allow us to experience and become conscious. Homeostatic feelings are the first enablers of consciousness.” Refreshingly for a professor of neuroscience, Damasio writes lucid prose clearly addressed to a popular audience. Even better, the book is concise (180 pages of main text plus notes and references) and helpfully divided into dozens of short chapters—e.g., “The Embarrassment of Viruses,” “Nervous Systems as Afterthoughts of Nature,” “Turning Neural Activity Into Movement and Mind,” “Algorithms in the Kitchen”—many only one or two pages. Make no mistake, however; Damasio is a deep thinker familiar with multiple disciplines, and this is as much a work of philosophy as hard science. Readers familiar with college level psychology and neuroscience will discover rewarding insights, many of which the author covered in his last book, The Strange Order of Things (2018).

Penetrating observations and speculations for scientifically inclined readers.

Kirkus Reviews