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by Max Power on May 30th, 2006

Max Power

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Do humans have instincts, or are all our actions a result of our environment?

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  • by Hellaphunt's Skynet on May 30th, 2006

    Hellaphunt's Skynet

    Both. Every animal has instinct. Being taught is supplement to instinct. I believe we all definetly have an instinct for survival and procreation. Here what wiki has to say:

    Instinct is the inherent disposition of a living organism toward a particular behavior. Instincts are generally inherited patterns of responses or reactions to certain kinds of stimuli. In humans they are most easily observed in behaviors such as emotions, sexual drive, and other bodily functions, as these are largely biologically determined. Instinct provides a response to external stimuli, which moves an organism to action, unless overridden by intelligence, which is creative and hence far more versatile. Since instincts take generations to adapt, an intermediate position, or basis for action, is served by memory, which provides individually stored successful reactions built upon experience. The particular actions performed may be influenced by learning, environment and natural principles. Generally, the term instinct is not used to describe an existing condition or established state.

    Examples can more frequently be observed in the behavior of animals (most in the less intelligent species), which perform various activities (sometimes complex) that are not based upon prior experience, such as reproduction, and feeding among insects. Other examples include animal fighting, animal courtship behavior, internal escape functions, and building of nests.

    It is debatable whether or not living beings are bound absolutely by instinct. Though instinct is what seems to come naturally or perhaps with heredity, general conditioning and environment surrounding a living being play a major role. Predominately, instinct is pre-intellectual, while intuition is trans-intellectual.

    Wiki:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct

    Basic human needs precipitate each of our instincts and Maslow had something interesting to say concerning needs:http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/maslow.htm

    Comments

    • Great answer.

      Marky Mark

      by Marky Mark on February 22nd, 2010

    • Humans, according to the research of scientists, have NO instincts. Our early ancestors did, but they have been bred out.

      Young green sea turtles innately know to crawl from the shore to the water after hatching. This is INSTINCT. Humans do not have natural behaviors like this. All "instincts" which people may tell you, are not truly instincts but actually learned responses to stimuli.
      Most of those are reflexes which are NOT the same as instincts.

      We have responses and learned responses. For example, babies squeezing a finger is a response to something being in their hand. An instinct to squeeze a finger would mean babies would be running around to find a finger to squeeze and would not let go unless forced to. They would then search for another finger on instinct. As for "sucking," this is a reflexive response from a stomach being empty and telling the brain through stimuli that it is hungry.

      Sex is a drive. Not an instinct. Think about it. We need sex ed in school, we look to peers and ask parents to figure out sex. It is learned. You have no innate knowledge of sex when you are born.

      Hominids had instincts because their ancestors from which they evolved (and were still closely linked to) DID have instincts. Hominids kept some of the instincts from their primate ancestors. However, MODERN DAY HUMANS DO NOT HAVE INSTINCTS. This is a scientifically proven fact. Any other comments that humans do have instincts are, in actuality, misinformed opinions.

      Technus the Ghost Master of Technology

      by Technus the Ghost Master of Technology on January 3rd, 2012

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