Some more examples of inherited fears: like someone else mentioned we don't have to be taught to fear snakes, spiders, and perhaps most recently rats. I think that inherited fear came as recently as the black plague. Also ever get a feeling of dread as a cloud passes over you and casts you in a shadow? Thats from the days when prehistoric raptors and flying reptiles were big enough to swoop down and carry us mammals away.

From what I've read (I'm far from being a scientist) is the higher the animal is in classification, the fewer instincts they display.

Is it instinctual? Can you 'learn' not to look in the direction of a sudden sound?

@Dave75 According to what I have read, instinct is something animals have no control over.

I'm still learning and reading. Definitely not an expert on any scientific matters.

Would you care to elaborate?

All animals have instincts, why would humans be any different?

But when they occur at the wrong time, it does prick my conscience…

Have Hardon
Will Travel

Thank you. Your two cents have inflated to a nickel

Interesting thoughts. From what I've been reading though, it sounds like humans have very few instincts. Suckling is one. I'm not convinced about yawning and children hand grasping. They seem more like reflexes to me, but I'm no scientist.

@AstralSmoke I’m no scientist either. I think the previous generation was sold on Skinner materialism and that our bodies should be understood as machines and that all behavior is learned behavior. Are reflexes supposed to be learned behaviour?

My son could flip himself over on the bed his first day home from the hospital. There wasn’t enough time for him to have learned that, and what would have been the motivation? IMO that was instinctive knowledge that he came with. A new calf can very soon romp around and play—obviously instinctive behavior. A bird dog puppy will automatically point birds from a very early age. Why should humans be that much different from our animal cousins?

@WilliamFleming Good points. I believe it has to do with our developed brains that leave instincts out in the cold. Interesting about your son!

Can you give me some examples?

@AstralSmoke The web is replete with them. I grabbed five more or less at random:

Emotional contagion
Yawning
Fear of snakes
Tribal loyalty
Revenge

@Coffeo I'm not convinced the ones you listed are instinctual, except yawning. The other four are learned behaviors, are they not?

@AstralSmoke what are you getting at here, tabula rasa?

@AstralSmoke I think we may be getting to definitions of instinct. It's all learned, some of it very long ago.

@recluse No, I'm not an opponent of being born with a clean slate. I believe in evolution and know we are animals that share a lot of things with other animals. I believe our instincts have been extremely diminished due mostly impart to a brain size/capabilities.

To me, it's probably more a problem with word meaning. Instinct can be defined in at least two ways. The definition of an instinct I'm looking at allows the organism no choice. Every member of a species has the same response to a certain influence, migration by birds, butterflies, and other flying 'things' for instance.

Why so? Hormones maybe?

Thanks. I’ll have to view them later. On my phone at the moment.

Well, humans are animals, so I guess it's a mute point whether you call them animal instincts or human instincts. My question does apply to humans only though. Sucking is an instinct, at least as far as I understand the meaning. Can't think of too many others though. I'm not sure how scientists would approach the love aspect.

I'm having a little confusion over reflex and instinct though. Many things I've read use loose terminology like the instinct is a reflexive condition or something similar.

I appreciate your input!

Since you have studied this, perhaps you can clarify a couple of terms. This is something I am curious about and have found several 'overlapping' definitions. The words 'instinct' and 'reflex' are often used together, interchangeably. How do you define these two words? To me, they are not the same, but it is confusing the way they can be used.

@AstralSmoke that's the problem with words and definitions their meanings can have a tendency to drift into each other

@AstralSmoke I would say that an instinct is something that you were born with and the reflex is something that is learned like the burn reflex

@Drsmash253 This is an article I read this morning: Wise Silence: Reflex vs. Instinct; [demafizik.blogspot.com]

This article broke it down like this: "The uniqueness of the instinct is contained in the large complexity of the performed actions. While reflex, typically, causes activity of one organ; instinct, typically, causes a large number of cooperating activities of various organs. In other words, it's fair to say that reflex represents a reaction of one organ while instinct represents a reaction (behavior) of the whole organism."

I'm still researching. Do you have any sources you think are pertinent to this topic?

@AstralSmoke

"Reflexes are stimulus-driven behaviours. They cannot be spontaneous. They has to be something in the outside world that triggers them. They are usually reasonably simple behaviours that don't last long.

Instincts are not necessarily evoked by stimuli. They can be responsible for spontaneous behaviours, and could be more complex behaviours that last longer periods of time."

I think that drives are bundles of instincts.

@cava I was following you until that last sentence. I think you went over a speed hump and threw me out of the back of the pickup

I think that as we develop our instinctual responses become organized under the broader categories of life & death drives/forces (following Freud) These drives are not directed toward any conscious aim or desire which is why in some (such as the anorexic) these drives can become compulsions.

Instinct is emotional?

@AstralSmoke instinct IS emotion

@AstralSmoke at least that is a thought I have considered for decades

I've thought about the snake scenario. My kids, when younger, weren't afraid of snakes at all. They wanted to catch them and play with them. It has been a cautionary learning curve for them.

Suckling and grabbing I agree with.

@AstralSmoke if your ancestors survived the last ice age in Northern Europe, could it be that the fear of snakes was bred out of them? I’m not much afraid of snakes myself, but I’ve never known a person with African ancestry who was not very leery of snakes.

On the right track. Care to clarify what it means to you?

@AstralSmoke no, this is your topic