Do Humans Have Instincts??

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by Racoon

I was in agreement with Yes response too IN. (at first??)
Thats not instinct though. We are not genetically programmed to be on top of high roofs!
Thats common sense. Fear. learned behaviour

My friend really rode me on this... I need PROOF (so I can shut him up!

The visual cliff experiment is an old, well known child psyche experiment similar to what Infinitenow describes. It’s not really meant to demonstrate that human beings have or don’t have innate instincts, rather to shed light on how, when, and why we develop visual depth perception. It presupposes that any human infant capable of perceiving a drop will try to avoid it.

You might better argue the case for human beings having inborn instincts by first reaching a consensus that animals with similar neuroanatomy do, then asking how human beings could not also have them. There’s a popular consensus that human beings and other primates’ nervous systems are “upgrades” of primitive ones similar to those in less intelligent animals, so human beings should retain their instincts.

I think there’s a tendency among people with limited knowledge of Biology and Zoology to over-ascribe complicated behaviors in all animals to “instincts”. For example, many people believe that dogs, monkeys, and human beings have an inborn fear of snakes, despite numerous studies that show that animals raised in captivity lack this sensible aversion.

So, while I think human beings, like nearly all animals, have instincts, both human beings and other animals have fewer instincts than is popularly believed.

[Racoon]

Originally Posted by Buffy

that people have that do not have a logical...

I agree with Orby: instincts are all over the place...

Sounds Illogical,
Racoon the Mathmagician ('cuz I ain't working out differential equations or Nuthin')

[Turtle]

I think it is instinctual for humans to follow movement with their eyes.
Noam Chomsky makes the assertion that human speech is instinctual, i.e. 'hardwired' in the brain. He observed for example that all babies 'coo' & 'babble' the same way at a certain stage of early development no matter the culture they live in.

[Racoon]

Originally Posted by CraigD

So, while I think human beings, like nearly all animals, have instincts, both human beings and other animals have fewer instincts than is popularly believed.

You can Count on CraigD making another Great post!

Most people have a different value for the definition of "instincts"
equating: Instincts = Intuition, hunger ??
I was really amazed to see How Few there really are! if any??

[Racoon]

Originally Posted by Turtle

I think it is instinctual for humans to follow movement with their eyes.
Noam Chomsky makes the assertion that human speech is instinctual, i.e. 'hardwired' in the brain. He observed for example that all babies 'coo' & 'babble' the same way at a certain stage of early development no matter the culture they live in.

Good one Resident Terrapin
I recall that as well after watching a Noam C. Documentary a few years back!
Does Language have anything to do with Instinct, or is it associated with potential learning capacity??

where's HallenRM when you need him??

[TheFaithfulStone]

Throwing up your hand to protect your face. Pulling your foot back when you stub your toe.

Instincts. You can't even STOP yourself from doing them, because they happen before the signal gets all the way to the brain.

Or do you just call those auto-motor responses?

And suckling.

TFS

[orbsycli]

What A Great Thread

[Racoon]

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

We suckle at our mothers nipple... didn't have to be taught that one.
Smile when nice people are around us.

I still think that is learned behavior. Pavlov's dogs
Baby will get hungry. That's need for food, not instinct..
Break out the Nipple from Momma' - Baby quickly learns what to do and whats going on.
Smiling is a reaction/stimulation response/interpretation from pleasant situation(s). as opposed to a dark,cold,dangerous cave
?
Many Babies are Bottle-fed, which would have been Unnatural in more primitive times...And what about stopping the suckle. Its not instinct to stop. That is learned too, as well as the realization that to suckle is also to be "comforted" in a psychological/physical development phase
?

More questions than answers ??

[Racoon]

I'm wondering if what we may think of "Instincts", is really just ingrained learned behaviour, with inclinations thrown in? And confusing physiological needs with instinct.??

There are no Migratory patterns we follow without thinking.
No strange dance we all perform for mating.

playing the Devil's advocate,
Racoon

[Boerseun]

I guess we do.

It has been shown that people born blind and deaf will show the same facial expressions for the same stimuli as sighted and hearing people. This implies that the repertoire of facial expressions aren't learnt at all - they are built-in, hardwired. A smile is a smile wether you're in 16th centure London or 10th century Hawaii - peoples who never had contact before.

According to various sources, this peculiarity made communication between explorers and natives possible all through the exploration era. There are an incredible range of subtle facial expressions that exist apart from the smile and frown. Basically, the whole forehead is just one big billboard of hardwired data - ever noticed how much of the nuances of somebody's words are lost when their foreheads are bandaged, or the lights are off?

It has been said that the ability to speak have evolved out of the same part of the brain that handles gestures, and that gestures came first. This also seems to be inborn and hardwired (instinctive) - just observe the next guy or gal making a phonecall close to you! The person on the other side of the phone can't see the guy making the call, but here they are, gesturing away like mad people!

Ever caught yourself doing it? I feels so natural...

That's part and parcel of who we are - would that be instinctive? It's not learnt in any way...