Do humans have instinct?

[Obvious Leo]

The word "instinct" doesn't even have a technical definition in biology, Phil. What you seem to be referring to is biologically driven behaviour and if this is the case there is no behaviour in a living organism which is not biologically driven. It is our human instincts which make us behave as a human just as it is a daffodil's instincts which make it behave as a daffodil or a whale's instincts which make it behave as a whale or a bacterium's instincts which make it behave as a bacterium.

If this is not your intended meaning of the word then what is?

[Philosophy Explorer]

The word "instinct" doesn't even have a technical definition in biology, Phil. What you seem to be referring to is biologically driven behaviour and if this is the case there is no behaviour in a living organism which is not biologically driven. It is our human instincts which make us behave as a human just as it is a daffodil's instincts which make it behave as a daffodil or a whale's instincts which make it behave as a whale or a bacterium's instincts which make it behave as a bacterium.

If this is not your intended meaning of the word then what is?

I would say you have a case if I listed the thread in the Philosophy of Science, but I didn't. It's under the Philosophy of Mind. Furthermore why would you need a technical definition? (if one exists)

What's curious is you're talking about instinct as if it did have a technical definition. As a test, which instinct would cause a human to sneeze? Other animals sneeze too. More exactly which instincts would you identify as being human? The instinct to wage war? (the ants share in this) The instinct to survive which we share with many animals and plants? Does a human instinct need to avoid thinking?

PhilX

[Obvious Leo]

I would say you have a case if I listed the thread in the Philosophy of Science, but I didn't. It's under the Philosophy of Mind.

Are you suggesting that the mind is inaccessible to scientific scrutiny?

Furthermore why would you need a technical definition?

We don't. However if you want this topic to go anywhere we do need a definition of some sort or else everybody's just talking to themselves. Since you introduced the subject then you should at least tell us what you understand by the term.

As a test, which instinct would cause a human to sneeze?

The biology of sneezing is well understood. It's an autonomic response to particulate irritants in the respiratory system. Most mammals do it.

More exactly which instincts would you identify as being human?

All those displayed by human beings.

Does a human instinct need to avoid thinking?

Human thinking is driven by human instinct just as canine thinking is driven by canine instinct or a spider's thinking is driven by the spider's instinct. How could it be otherwise?

[Philosophy Explorer]

Here's a definition of instinct from an online dictionary:

"An instinct is something you don't need to learn — it happens naturally, without you even thinking about it."

I think walking is an instinct.

I asked this question:

"More exactly which instincts would you identify as being human?"

to which you responded:

"All those displayed by human beings." which is a disappointing response as it sounds circular.

PhilX

[Obvious Leo]

I think walking is an instinct.

Only to an organism with legs. Plants don't walk around much but many will instinctively turn their foliage towards the sun.

"More exactly which instincts would you identify as being human?"

to which you responded:

"All those displayed by human beings." which is a disappointing response as it sounds circular.

I don't think there are any instincts which are unique to humans. Our biology is not much different from that of most other mammals and thus neither are our instincts.

[Bill Wiltrack]

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Blood-flow, breathing, digestive system. In effect all internal functioning of the human body that does not require thought or intention.





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[thedoc]

Almost everything that a baby does in it's development for the first several years is by instincts, parents "teach" very little to a baby. Most, if not all, of the activity that is "learned" is really instinctive that just waiting for the physical ability to catch up. A lot of what humans do is instinctive behavior.

[Dalek Prime]

Clearly yes. Survival instinct. Just try (hypothetically) cutting your own throat to witness this.

[Greta]

The beauty of being human is choice. We have similar impulses to other species but we're more capable of overriding them for the sake of deferred rewards. The more we know, the less we need rely on our instincts. Rather than being our complete modus operandi, our instincts have become a tool to be used in conjunction with analysis.

However, in all activities requiring real time rapid processing, our automatic responses are critical because the analytical part of the brain, the cerebral cortex, is too slow.

Cut-Me-Own-Throat-Dalek (do you have a rat onna bun for sale? :) makes a good point about the physical experience of instinct. I once tried imagining very vividly what it would be like to be attacked by a crocodile (weird, I know, but I like thought experiments). Even that simple exercise produced a raft of physical responses, to the extent where I'd be loathe to do that experiment again. Even writing about it now is giving me the chills :)

[Philosophy Explorer]

The beauty of being human is choice. We have similar impulses to other species but we're more capable of overriding them for the sake of deferred rewards. The more we know, the less we need rely on our instincts. Rather than being our complete modus operandi, our instincts have become a tool to be used in conjunction with analysis.

However, in all activities requiring real time rapid processing, our automatic responses are critical because the analytical part of the brain, the cerebral cortex, is too slow.

Cut-Me-Own-Throat-Dalek (do you have a rat onna bun for sale? makes a good point about the physical experience of instinct. I once tried imagining very vividly what it would be like to be attacked by a crocodile (weird, I know, but I like thought experiments). Even that simple exercise produced a raft of physical responses, to the extent where I'd be loathe to do that experiment again. Even writing about it now is giving me the chills

To ask Greta, do you believe in limited free will under the circumstances of human beings having instinct?

PhilX

[thedoc]

The beauty of being human is choice. We have similar impulses to other species but we're more capable of overriding them for the sake of deferred rewards. The more we know, the less we need rely on our instincts. Rather than being our complete modus operandi, our instincts have become a tool to be used in conjunction with analysis.

However, in all activities requiring real time rapid processing, our automatic responses are critical because the analytical part of the brain, the cerebral cortex, is too slow.

Cut-Me-Own-Throat-Dalek (do you have a rat onna bun for sale? makes a good point about the physical experience of instinct. I once tried imagining very vividly what it would be like to be attacked by a crocodile (weird, I know, but I like thought experiments). Even that simple exercise produced a raft of physical responses, to the extent where I'd be loathe to do that experiment again. Even writing about it now is giving me the chills

To ask Greta, do you believe in limited free will under the circumstances of human beings having instinct?
PhilX

Free will choice only comes in after instinct has had it's way, yes you can choose if instinct has nothing to say.

[Greta]

The beauty of being human is choice. We have similar impulses to other species but we're more capable of overriding them for the sake of deferred rewards. The more we know, the less we need rely on our instincts. Rather than being our complete modus operandi, our instincts have become a tool to be used in conjunction with analysis.

However, in all activities requiring real time rapid processing, our automatic responses are critical because the analytical part of the brain, the cerebral cortex, is too slow.

Cut-Me-Own-Throat-Dalek (do you have a rat onna bun for sale? makes a good point about the physical experience of instinct. I once tried imagining very vividly what it would be like to be attacked by a crocodile (weird, I know, but I like thought experiments). Even that simple exercise produced a raft of physical responses, to the extent where I'd be loathe to do that experiment again. Even writing about it now is giving me the chills

To ask Greta, do you believe in limited free will under the circumstances of human beings having instinct?
PhilX

Free will choice only comes in after instinct has had it's way, yes you can choose if instinct has nothing to say.

Actually, you can override instincts. The stronger the instinct the harder it is to control.

The only issue is whether instincts lie behind the decisions we make to override instincts. I don't know how deep that rabbit hole goes.

[Walker]

I’d say the mind that clings to self-concept is far more powerful than the mind that clings to survival. So, a significant consideration is the nature of self-concept. Is self-concept instinctive, or is it something else.

If instinctive, is it an instinct unique to humans. Which leads to the question, if clinging to self-concept is the cause of self-sacrifice in unique humans, then why does a dog self-sacrifice?

Probably because a dog follows the biological imperative of pack/den defense rather than conceptual self-sacrifice, and one thing naturally leads to another so that in nature the concepts of both pack defense and self-sacrifice are fulfilled. When unavoidably facing overwhelming odds a human has the capacity know … here we go, this is it! A dog doesn’t have the incarnated capacity to access that amount of awareness from the totality of awareness, which is why dogs rarely give up. Compared to humans, dogs have deficient pre-cognition capacity resulting in stunted imaginations. Never-the-less they are very clever, given their status with humans.

[Jaded Sage]

I've looked up the definition of instinct which implies the lower animals have it.

If so then why did humans lose it? At what point in evolution did mankind lose its instincts. I believe we still have the instinct for survival, both individually and as a group and our brain developed simultaneously to make up for our shortcomings in our lost instincts.

What do you think about all this?

PhilX

I see a pretty girl with large breasts jumping and I get an erection. That is an example of instinct.

[thedoc]

I've looked up the definition of instinct which implies the lower animals have it.

If so then why did humans lose it? At what point in evolution did mankind lose its instincts. I believe we still have the instinct for survival, both individually and as a group and our brain developed simultaneously to make up for our shortcomings in our lost instincts.

What do you think about all this?

PhilX

I see a pretty girl with large breasts jumping and I get an erection. That is an example of instinct.

I believe there are instincts involved in that process, and also a lot of chemicals in your body that are responding to the visual stimulation and those are instinctive.