individuals that make up societies. On this view, the social level of organization arises out of the interaction of lower- level entities. But invisible forces operate in both directions; one’s degree of social integration or isolation (at the higher level) can have profound influence on one’s mental and physical health (at the lower level). Just how these forces operate—in both directions—is one of the main themes of this book.
A recurring theme is the human need for connection. As we have explored this fundamental need, it has become clear that it can be satisfied in part by connections not necessarily to other human persons, but to other minds. Since the minds of others are in part of our own construction, connections to a higher being, or to our pets, or even to a transcendent order underlying the world, can fulfill part of what we strive to attain. Indeed, such non-human attachments can share the character of human connection: we can feel valued by our pet (just as we can feel validated in a social relationship), we can have an intimate dyadic relationship with God (just as we can be intimate with a close friend), and we can feel a sense of belonging to the universe (just as we can feel that we belong to social group). This explains how different, even contradictory, notions of a relationship to God, for instance, can lead different people each to find meaning in such a relationship: finding God on the downtown bus versus encountering God in the purposeful unfolding of the natural order.
The ideas of symmetry, complementarity, coordination, and co- regulation also run through several of our essays. Regulation of biological systems is often maintained through
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paired systems of biological checks and balances; when one system is activated, the other tends to restore equilibrium. For instance, one set of muscles flexes the arm, and an opposing set extends it. We have seen that the sympathetic and parasympathetic components of the autonomic nervous system—the system that makes us breathe and that makes our heart pump—operate in this way, and that chronic stimulation of some systems, like overstretched elastic bands, lose their ability to spring back. The notions of observing a behavior and performing that behavior not only are conceptually similar, they may be rooted in a common set of neurological structures which may, in turn, help us to understand how we can perceive another human being as being /ike us, but not us. Anthropomorphism is the belief that other minds mirror our own; this colors the way we perceive the world and the other actors in it, a mechanism that allows us to simulate getting under the skin of the other person.
Happiness and loneliness are perceptions about our place in the world that profoundly affect our physical bodies and our social relationships. Religious beliefs, too, can have profound effects on health and physical well- being, working through the same biological mechanisms that in health maintain equilibrium.
Unseen, yet powerful, forces regulate social behavior. Empathy, for instance, contributes to the regulation of social interactions. Synchronous behavior points to a phenomenon that makes the individual feel subsumed by the group, feeling part of a larger, organic whole. These behaviors can be as disparate as “the wave” at a sports stadium or congregational prayer at a church service. Shared feelings of
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