Re: What men and women look for in each other


<OffshoreEddie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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On Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:57:06 -0700, "Betsy" <b.fernley@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


"Bo Raxo" <crimenewscenter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Betsy" <b.fernley@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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No, humans do not have instincts in the strictest sense of the meaning.
The larger the brain, the less instincts animals need. An instinct is
a
hard wired compulsion to behave in a specific way without any choice
whatsoever. Also, for a behavior to be instinctive, all members of the
species must exhibit the behavior in an identical way. If humans had,
say, the "mother instinct", there would be no such thing as child
abuse.
All mothers would rear their offspring in an identical fashion, with no
room for error, like robots. We would not have to "learn" to be a good
mother; it would come without any learning or modeling at all.
Instead,
we have large brains that allow us to reason, choose behavior, and yes,
make errors. Humans have urges, and we have reflexes, but we have no
instincts. Every behavior humans exhibit are learned or reasoned. It
is
chosen. Instincts, in the truest sense do not allow for choice of any
kind. I learned that in Sociology as a college freshman.

Here is a sociology link that explains it partly.
http://www.sociology.org.uk/p2c5n1a.htm

Definition

We can define an instinct in terms of two things:

Firstly, it is behaviour that is genetically-programmed from birth. An
instinct is not something that we could choose not to do. This is
significant, in terms of human behaviour because it suggests that if
people have instincts that are literally forced to follow certain
pre-programmed courses of action to the exclusion of other possible
courses. We can illustrate this idea with and example from the animal
world

Birds have a nest-building instinct. At a particular time in the year,
a
bird (such as a blue tit) instinctively starts to build a nest. It is
not
something that an individual blue tit can choose not to do because it
is
compelled by its genetic programming to do this.

Instincts are compelling to varying degrees, and not absolute as you
suggest. Entire species do not behave in identical ways. Take the
mating
instinct: certainly present. But then there are cases of homosexuality
in
many mammalian species. Some instincts are relentlessly obeyed because
they are crucial to reproduction: building a nest for a bird is about
the
most extreme example you can find.

Other instincts are obeyed to varying degrees, a degree and a variance
that has been arrived at via evolution as an optimal range of survival
and
reproduction strategies.

Another proof that people have instincts - look at our phobias. People
have a fear of the dark, many people fear spiders and snakes. Not too
many people are afraid of cars or electrical outlets. Because it's our
instincts, not our intellect, that forms the basis for our phobias.

There is an entire fascinating field of behavioral economics that is
basically understanding how our instincts are applied to modern
situations
and influence economics, finance, markets. The best book I've read on
the
subject, and I highly recommend it, is "The Mind of the Markets", by
Michael Shermer.

( Also a great read, Shermer's "Why People Believe in Weird Things",
explaining why our instincts lead many to believe in ghosts,
reincarnation, angels, psychics, astrology, and other similar
silliness. )



Secondly, an instinct doesn't only tell us what to do at a certain
time,
but, equally-importantly, it tells us how to do it. This is significant
because instinctive behaviour does not, by definition, have to be
taught.

Artificial distinction. Instinct makes *** smell very, very bad to us.
We don't want it (our own or any other animal's) anywhere near where we
sleep, eat, etc. Toilet habits are taught, though, because as a social
animal we've developed some best practices. So the two are intertwined.


Thus, to continue the above example, a blue tit is not only forced to
build a nest; instinct also tells it how to build a certain type of
nest.
Once again, the bird has no choice in the matter.


If you were right about that, then predatory animals raised in captivity
could be released in to the wild and they'd survive.

But they don't, because they didn't learn to hunt and fight as cubs
observing their elders.


It cannot, for example, decide that this year, to be different and
because its grown tired of building the same old nest year after year,
it
will build a three-story super nest with a private bedchamber and
en-suite bathroom...

Nor did humans decide that living in a cave sucked and they'd create
housing tracts. It took thousands of generations of gradual change.

Guess what happens if you examine practices among other species over a
similar time frame?

Changes. About the major difference is it seems those are in response
to
changes in environment, while we are so intent on competing with eafh
other for resources we tend to improve on a more relentless basis.



These ideas are significant because they add a further dimension to our
understanding of the question of whether or not human behaviour has an
instinctive basis.

It's a widely accepted principle in anthropology, economics, psychology,
sociology, genetics, and any other serious field of academic endeavor
that
touches on human nature that our behavior is tied to an instinctive
basis.
There are very good statistical studies, many using identical twins
raised
apart, that demonstrates the degree to which our genes weigh in to our
decisions. Many show correlations of as much as 40%, a very high number
for a correlation in the social sciences.


For the moment, considered in these very basic terms, it would appear
difficult in the extreme to state unequivocally that human behaviour is
instinct-driven.

A poorly stated conclusion. It muddles whether the conclusion is that
not
all behavior is driven by instinct, to whether this means no behavior is
driven by instinct, or that instinct doesn't represent a significant
part
of what determines a person's path in life.

We are led to this conclusion because the complexity of human social
behaviour suggests that simple instinctive behaviour does not explain
the
huge range of behavioural choices made by people of different cultures
and different times.


It's a conclusion that's ridiculous, and flies in the face of widely
accepted conclusions across a broad array of both hard science and
social
science fields.


Bo Raxo

We will have to agree to disagree then. What I was taught, and what I
still
believe is that people use the word "instinct" in a very free and easy,
but
incorrect way. But to the sociologist, it is very distinct. If a
behavior
is something that can be chosen or learned, if the behavior is not
triggered
by an outside source, say the weather perhaps, if all members of the
species
do not behave similarly, then it simply is not an instinct in the
strictest
sense of the word. As I said before, humans have evolved to be thinking,
creative creatures. We do not need instincts to survive. We don't need
the hard-wired, choiceless behavior. We think things through, and share
our
knowledge instead. Instincts are for lesser creatures that do not have
the
brain power to think for themselves.

Instincts are not the same things as choices or reactions to
situations. Creatures can have instincts and not act on them. For
example, many members of other species never mate their entire lives.
Yet, they all have the instinct to mate.

If one can choose NOT to act on an instinct, then by definition it is NOT an
instinct. The end.



Nor are instincts universal across a species. Instincts are
genetically pre-programmed, but that doesn't mean every single member
of the species has that same genetic component.

If every member of the species does not behave the same way to outside
stimulation, then it is NOT an instinct. The end.



I suggest you get out of your sugar daddy's bed and go to the library.

I don't have a sugar daddy.


.

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