From Being to Doing: The Origins of the Biology of Cognition

by Humberto R. Maturana

At the beginning of the last century, physicists revolutionised the scientific view of the world. Today biologists are radically transforming our understanding of the processes of life and cognition. Probing the mysteries of the mind, they have been able to prove that, in the act of knowing, the observer and the observed, subject and object, are inextricably enmeshed. The world we live in is not independent from us; we literally bring it forth ourselves. One of the protagonists of this new kind of thinking is the internationally renowned neurobiologist and systems theorist Humberto R. Maturana who was interviewed for several weeks by Bernhard Poerksen, journalist, and communication scientist. In this book, they explore the limits of our cognitive powers, discuss the truth in perception, the biology of love, and give, all in all, an introduction to systemic thinking that is down to earth, imaginative, and rich in anecdote.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Nonfiction, Biology, Neuroscience

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2004

About the author

Humberto Maturana is a Chilean biologist. Many consider him a member of a group of second-order cybernetics theoreticians such as Heinz von Foerster, Gordon Pask, Herbert Brün and Ernst von Glasersfeld.

Maturana, along with Francisco Varela and Ricardo B. Uribe, is particularly known for creating the term "autopoiesis" about the self-generating, self-maintaining structure in living systems, and concepts such as structural determinism and structure coupling. His work has been influential in many fields, mainly the field of systems thinking and cybernetics. Overall, his work is concerned with the biology of cognition

Reviews

[Braeden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent follow-up to "The Tree of Knowledge." Where that book can be quite abstract, this book —and the interviewer's continual pressing for examples— provides ample space to lay out concrete descriptions, which I found helpful to construct a comprehensive understanding of Maturana's views.

[Gabriel Acosta-mikulasek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow and deep reflective read

[Heiki Eesmaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found it highly repetitive. DNF @ 33 %.

[Adler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful. Awakening. To read again and again.

[Christian Moore-Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, full of wisdom and interesting ideas.