" Why was having images so important? What did having images really accomplish? The presence of images meant that each organism could create internal representations based on its ongoing sensory descriptions of both external and internal events. Those representations, generated within the organism’s nervous system but with the cooperation of the body proper, made a world of difference to the particular organism in which such processes took place. Those representations, which were accessible only to the particular organism, were able, for example, to guide movement of a limb or of the whole with precision. Image-guided movements—guided by visual, sound, or tactile images—were more beneficial for the organism, more likely to produce advantageous results. Homeostasis was improved accordingly and with it survival. "

― António R. Damásio , The Strange Order of Things: Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures