Does a person have instincts

What is instinct

An instinct is a behavior that is laid down by genes and occurs in response to unforeseen events. This need toto adapt and survive.

So, the bird reacts to the squeak and the appearance of the chick and begins to feed it. She does not need to learn this or analyze what is happening. Therefore, cuckoo cubs feel great in other people's nests.

Are there more complex instincts

Speaking of instincts, often lead for example, not some simple reactions like flowers turning towards the sun, but complex behavioral patterns. These include the instinct for self-preservation, survival, migratory and even killer instinct. But here everything is not so simple.

Instinct is a mandatory program. But even if we talk about animals whose behavior must obey these innate patterns, you can see some contradictions. For example, female hamsters are supposed to raise offspring, but sometimes eat their own children.

Scientists conducted an interesting experiment on pregnant rats: they were launched on a space shuttle, and a couple of days before giving birth they were returned to Earth. As a result, the behavior of newborn astronauts differed from the control group. If they were placed in an aquarium with their back down, they simply fell to the bottom without even making an attempt to roll over. But the earthlings turned over to swim out: even in the womb, they learned about gravity, which does not exist

in space.

Living beings do inherit certain reactions. But the more complex the latter, the more plastic they are.

Do humans have instincts?

There is no consensus, because the concept of instinct can be approached in different ways. Extreme points: a person cannot have instincts due to free will, or we are completely dependent on biology beings with predetermined (deterministic) behavior. One of the most compromising points of view is instincts There is, but are not realized in the same way as in animals.

IN different from animals, human instincts can change, which is why some scientists call them differently - instinctive behavior. They are learned responses that gradually become what we call intelligent behavior.

For example, when a child learn to walk, then instinctively goes to the call of the parents. But the more signals he receives from the environment, the faster he learns to respond to stimuli in a meaningful way: he begins to wonder if he really needs to see mom and dad right now. Gradually, the behavior becomes more complex and new reactions appear. As they grow older, they will transform and eventually become part of conscious actions, not instincts.

Is it possible to justify human behavior by the presence or absence of instincts

No. Let's look at an example of sexual behavior, which can also be considered an instinct. Each biological species has one marriage system, and its representatives cannot choose another. Primates live in so-called harems: one male, several of his females and their offspring of different ages. The male is interested in preserving his genes, so he can kill a cub from another family that has nailed it.

And we have something in common with primates. Scientists from Canada figured outthat children die at the hands of stepfathers 120 times more often than at the hands of their own fathers. It sounds scary. And it's ridiculous. After all, many of us were raised by non-native people, and for some reason we remained alive.

And here's the thing: according to a study, out of 1,000,000 foster children, 324 were killed. That is, in more than 999 out of 1,000 cases, the stepfather was a caring and gentle parent - which means that he retreated from the marriage system. That is, he acted against instinct, which should be impossible. It turns out there is something else. And this - free will.

If we refuse from the idea of ​​free will, because everything is subject to our biology, then we cannot be objective researchers, scientists. After all, it turns out that our conclusions are determined by the inherent biological program.

free will does not denyevolution and animal nature of man. Our brain obeys the laws of physics, chemistry and neural connections that gave us this free will. Because if it were not so, then there would be no idea of ​​instincts that govern our minds.