A Different Look at Homeostasis

intermediate3 min readsystems theory · business · psychology · biology

Damasio describes homeostasis as regulation that keeps living systems within ranges compatible with survival and flourishing. The excerpt extends this idea by analogy to people and organizations adapting their goals after change, with feelings as one source of feedback.

THE IDEA

A Different Look at Homeostasis

In his book The Strange Order of Things, Antonio Damasio explores the role of homeostasis in evolution. He explains that homeostasis “ensures that life is regulated within a range that is not just compatible with survival but also conducive to flourishing, to a projection of life into the future.” He further clarifies the concept by saying, “Homeostasis refers to the process by which the tendency of matter to drift into disorder is countered so as to maintain order but at a new level, the one allowed by the most efficient steady state.”[2]

The author extends this biological idea to adaptation after a breakup, job change or other disruption. People can reconsider what they want, finding that living alone, moving to a smaller house or changing jobs suits them better. Organizations and countries also adjust to changed conditions. In those cases, homeostasis is an analogy: collective goals and deliberate choices are not the same mechanism as physiological regulation.

Damasio argues that feelings act as the key to understanding the biological role of homeostasis. Our feelings are a feedback loop that provides information to our body system about how we are doing. You have to be able to monitor the adjustments and responses to make changes that put you back on track. We do this through the value judgment of feelings. After a disaster, for instance, homeostasis does not need to (and frequently doesn’t) return the system to its previous state. Instead, it’s more useful to think of homeostasis returning a system to a place where it “feels good” under new conditions.

Therein lies the potential of homeostasis. How systems define themselves as “feeling good” will have a huge impact on their ability to adapt to stress and change. In biological systems, feelings are a critical component of how we assess problems. When your blood glucose drops, you feel terrible, which causes behavior that seeks to bring you back to where you feel OK. But that level of OK is a range, and Damasio’s idea is that homeostasis normally keeps us at the end of the range that allows us to develop. As variables under- and overshoot and external conditions change, systems can never stop making adjustments. Homeostasis is never a static state.

When to use it

Personal resilience after trauma: Using feelings as guides to establish a new, sustainable emotional baseline rather than longing for a past state.
Change management in business: Leading teams through restructuring by focusing on a flexible vision of success that adapts to market shifts.
Public health policy: Designing interventions that help communities adapt to new environmental or social conditions by aiming for a 'flourishing' range, not just survival.
Chronic illness adaptation: Patients learning to interpret bodily feedback to find a lifestyle and treatment plan that maximizes quality of life within new limits.

FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE

In practice

Recovering from a Breakup

After a breakup, someone may gradually find contentment with different priorities. The author uses homeostasis as an analogy for finding a workable state under changed conditions rather than recreating the old relationship.

Organizational Response to Market Shift

A company facing a market disruption restructures or develops a different product line. This illustrates adaptation to changed conditions; describing it as homeostasis is an analogy, not a claim that the company has a biological regulatory system.

Adjusting after Job Loss

After losing a job, someone reassesses their finances and explores different work. Their plans may aim at a different but workable life rather than a return to the previous job.

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A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Put it to work.

In what area of your life are you currently adjusting to a new normal, and how can you reframe your goal from returning to the old state to finding a new 'feels good' equilibrium?
Think of a recent challenge. What feelings served as feedback about your state, and what adjustments did they prompt?
How might an organization you're part of benefit from redefining what 'feeling good' means in response to external pressure?