Homeostatic feeling

[5][6][7] Neuroscientist Derek Denton called these motivating homeostatic feelings "primordial emotions" and defined them as "the subjective element of the instincts, which are the genetically programmed behaviour patterns which contrive homeostasis.

There are two constituents of a primordial emotion—the specific sensation which when severe may be imperious, and the compelling intention for gratification by a consummatory act.

This opposes the view put by Edelman and others that consciousness emerged after the development of cognitive processes such as the ability to create a scene from diverse sensory inputs.

[10] Antonio and Hanna Damasio, too, observe, "It is likely that homeostatic feelings were the inaugural phenomena of consciousness in evolution ..."[11] and they propose that "homeostatic feelings were selected [by evolution] because the spontaneous information they provided regarding the current state of life regulation conferred extraordinary advantages to the respective organisms.

The ‘knowledge’ carried by conscious homeostatic feelings enabled overt guidance of life regulation.