Concluding remarks

This concluding chapter highlights one physiological principle that shines through the discussion of human physiology: the emergence of control through the cooperative, collective action of different entities. Studying physiology is about more than gaining facts. It is also about gaining an outlook that can see, analyse, and appreciate the action of cooperative systems. It is an outlook that fully acknowledges the importance of understanding at the molecular level, but that can still retain a focus on what the molecules are for. In this respect, physiology connects more than most with our deepest questions about what it is to be human.