Instinctive Humans!

[Mr Master]

All right, so this has come up in the Religious thread, and worth sharing.

Instinct!
From the Merriam-Webster website
Main Entry: 1in·stinct
Pronunciation: \ˈin-ˌstiŋ(k)t\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin instinctus impulse, from instinguere to incite; akin to Latin instigare to instigate
Date: 15th century

1 : a natural or inherent aptitude, impulse, or capacity <had an instinct for the right word>
2 a : a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason b : behavior that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level

Do humans have instincts? Are they born knowing how to do certain things? I tend to think not so much; what instincts we have are easily ignored by individuals, making me think they're not unalterable, and different humans react differently to the same primal stimuli, making me think that, while we do develop complex and specific reactions, they're not pre-programmed, not inherited.

Humans aren't physically a supreme species. There's creatures out there faster, tougher, better muscle mass, etc. So we're not physically superior. But mentally? Oh, hell, yes. Because we have such a large and complex brain, I tend to think our species has down-developed it's inherent, classically-defined instincts, and has instead become complex enough that we actually learn things well enough that they can operate like instincts do in other creatures. We can learn to or choose to ignore what instincts we do have, and we can train ourselves to react at the "below the conscious" level to a wide variety of stimuli. They do it in the military all the time, for just one example.

That's my basic idea on on the subject. Now, please: concur, disagree, give your reasons. Our instinct is to discuss!

 

[Alex]

We're not born to know everything as soon as we breath air. Just as most baby mammals learn how to hunt and survive from their parents, baby humans are exactly the same thing. Social interactions can help, but a majority of our learning itself comes from our parents. Just like with other mammals.

We may not inherent all of the knowledge from our parents just by being born, but we do get our instincts from somewhere. Ever get a bad feeling from a situation that seems normal, and then everything bad that can happen does? That feeling in our stomach is telling us to get out of that situation, our instincts. We aren't taught that normal situations could be a bad situation, so how do we know that it is?

You've pretty much simplified everything I said in the other thread, MM. xD

I do have one thing to add; not every animal is born with instincts. We have a cat, Eric, who was born on a farm. Born feral, he was roughly three months old when my mom got him. He is now a few years older. The eldest of our male cats, you would he would be the alpha male. Wrong. Our kitten, Loki, who was barely three months when we got him as well, instantly became the alpha as soon as he stepped into our house. You can tell that he was introduced to humans, because as soon as we picked him up he started purring and he had quite the tummy for a kitten. A me-first kitten, he swats at the other cats so he can eat first. And Eric is the last to eat, always.


EDIT:

It's natural to look for an explanation, not to believe in a higher power. To want to believe and to actually believe are two different things. And as you said, religion was used as a tool to explain things that they didn't have knowledge about- but that has nothing to do with having the "instinct" to believe in something. Alpha males exist as leaders and instinct- if you are a follower- is to follow them but you don't have to believe in all the things they do. That's the choice and not the instinct. You can follow someone but you don't have to actually believe in them or the things they do because that is your choice. Just like it's the choice to follow them as well.

I missed your post at first. Sorry. xD

You misinterpreted my post, again.

I never said it was to believe in a higher power, but to explain. The human nature itself is to instinctively explain why things happen; we question and wonder about things that are beyond reason at time. I simply said it was a way to explain things, nothing more or less.

And I wasn't talk about alpha males in human society, I was talking about alpha males in, say, prides as an example to an animal's dedication to a higher 'power', for protection for protecting. Though, a human male does have the instincts to protect his own 'pride' per-se. He gets a job to feed and take care of his family. He will also be the overprotective dad, even if as a teenager, he was the very same as his daughter's boyfriend. My dad was the same way; he had back up girlfriends while he was with girlfriends. Yet he would never want me to be with a man like that, nor would he allow it if I was still under 18. And look at human mothers; those who know something is absolutely wrong with the pregnancy, even if the doctors tell them otherwise, still know something is wrong. And most of the time, they are right. How? There is nothing physically nor mentally wrong and by a naked eye, it looks as though everything is, in fact, all well and good. And yet, they still KNOW something is wrong. Just like animal mothers as well.

The definitions for instincts that MM posted in fact can be defined as a person who would, say, believe in God without logic or actual reason. They believe to believe and that is fine, but that is also without logic or actual facts or proof at times. That's what faith is. To believe in something that you cannot see, hear, nor see, but still believe with every ounce of your being and without actual reason.

 

[dramamine213]

There are something we are born knowing without learning.

Like laughing. Babies who've never seen or heard someone laugh know how from very early on, even when family and parents have bot laughed around them.

Also swimming. Babies can do that at birth, but some how forget by the time they age some. I think it's from not exposing the baby often, but this is just a thought.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

Don't yell at me, Alex! D: Jk, I understand what you are getting at but the last part of your post is about "blind faith," which I think is very stupid. Blindly following something is a way to get yourself killed/hurt/disappointed. But I still think there is reasoning behind blind faith just like faith as well. But I agree with what you have said.​

 

[Alex]

Don't yell at me, Alex! D: Jk, I understand what you are getting at but the last part of your post is about "blind faith," which I think is very stupid. Blindly following something is a way to get yourself killed/hurt/disappointed. But I still think there is reasoning behind blind faith just like faith as well. But I agree with what you have said.​

My grandma asked me a series of questions one time. She asked me if people threatened to burn down my house to denounce God, would I. I told her no, I wouldn't. She asked me if people threatened to hurt me, would I denounce him then, and I said no, I wouldn't. She then asked me if they threatened to kill my family, would I denounce God then, and I said yes, I would. She then proceeded to scream at me, because apparently that was the wrong answer to her. Mind you, I was in the second or third grade at the time.

With that in mind, faith is still believing in something that can seem hopeless to believe in at times. It doesn't matter how much faith you have, whether it is a little or an extremist amount, like my grandmother. It is faith none-the-less, no matter how small or big it is, or what you believe in when it comes to something of actually believing in. That's the wonderful and most horrible thing about faith.