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Hello dear blog readers! Today we will talk about what it is and what human instincts are, and also what is the difference from the animal world. Why do we need them and in what cases are they hypertrophied, or vice versa, very weak.
What is this?
A long time ago, in ancient Greece, thinkers and just smart men noticed that it is common for a person to react and behave in the same way in unsafe conditions. The instincts themselves are in the hemocode, and they consist of reflexes, which in turn are:
- Conditional — that is, those that a person acquired during his life. The simplest example is when you turn on the light as soon as you enter a room. You were not born with this knowledge and habit, but acquired it as you grew up. And now you don’t even notice how your hand reaches for the switch.
- Unconditional respectively, those that we received at birth. It’s rare that someone doesn’t pull their hand away when they touch a hot frying pan or iron, right? This is the unconditioned reflex.
Instincts can be influenced by religion, law, norms and rules of behavior, upbringing or lack of it. For example, in a family where parents abuse hyper-custody, controlling every step of the child, then what kind of independence can we talk about? He will not really understand in which situations he should be careful, and in which, on the contrary, he will appear.
Such stories most often have two versions of events.
First: the child, growing up, remains to live with his parents, because in order to create a family, you need at least a little independence and the ability to rely on yourself.
Second: he tries in every possible way to escape, becomes uncontrollable and aggressive towards those who patronize. The stories of the second option usually end more successfully.
To make it clearer how instincts can be influenced, let’s first consider what they are.
Types
1. The most basic and basic is self-preservation
If for some reason it is not weakened by you, then your behavior will not be risky, reckless and destructive. For example, you will not climb into a cage with tigers, you will not jump without a parachute and provoke a company of athletes. Even a child at birth unconsciously reaches out to his mother, experiencing great anxiety if he remains alone, because his life depends on others. Therefore, babies begin to smile so early, rejoicing at the approach of someone who cares, so that the desire to pick up and approach the crib more often does not fade away.
2. Procreation
It also begins to manifest itself in childhood, in a feeling of happiness, when the whole family is together, and the child subconsciously «reads» any conflicts, no matter how hard adults try to hide the discord. Then it begins to make itself felt in the desire to create its own separate family, give birth to a baby and take care of him. Hypertrophied when a person has promiscuity, along with indifference to their safety. Or weakly expressed when there is no desire to have heirs, devoting time and effort to other interests and desires.
3. Altruism
The first two reflexes were the main ones that help a person survive. Now let’s move on to more social ones that ensure socialization and successful activity. And the first will be altruism, which is expressed in caring for others, both people and animals, this is compassion and empathy, the desire for peace and goodness. When it is strongly pronounced, a person is able to dedicate his life to caring for those who need it, but not just dedicate it, but sacrifice it, for example, by going to a monastery.
4.Research
It is aimed at developing a person, both creatively and in other areas. Through curiosity, young children learn about the world, and depending on the environment in which they grow up, their abilities and aspirations develop. Examples of successful research activities, for which they were not punished, but encouraged, are great scientists, travelers, famous creative personalities and other people who follow their interest.
5. Domination
It is a need for leadership and power. People who have pronounced dominance are able to lead the crowd, organize and manage. Have you noticed that even in the company of small children there is always a «ringleader»? No group is complete without a leader, even an implicit one. It often happens that a person who previously had no leadership experience, getting into a company in which power has not yet been distributed, takes the place of honor of the leader. And it does not matter in what way, either he wins the championship, or is elected by the rest of the participants.
6. Maintaining dignity
Only here in a hypertrophied form, people sometimes ignore innate instincts. For example, they are ready to risk their lives to defend their honor or rightness. When the level is very weak, then a person has low self-esteem, as a result of which he allows not only humiliation in his address, but also violence. There are frequent cases when a self-confident woman starts a relationship with a tyrant who constantly devalues her, bringing her to such a state that she really stops believing in her strength, intelligence and attractiveness. It becomes a victim, which is now easy to manipulate and control, because it will endure everything.
7.Freedom and independence
It manifests itself in infancy, when trying to swaddle a newborn, with normal development. During a rebellion in adolescence, if not suppressed. Due to the need for freedom, a person develops social skills, increases the likelihood of success, creating a family and, in general, a quality independent life. A person is able to bear responsibility and rely on himself, as he has experience.
Differences from animals
The most basic difference is that a person is able to control or suppress his needs, especially in those moments when they contradict legislation or rules of conduct. With various mental disorders, a person loses the ability to control, which manifests itself, for example, in excessive absorption of food, that is, overeating, or vice versa, refusal of it in case of anorexia, promiscuity, any kind of addiction, and so on. In such cases, a person becomes like an animal, in which the instincts of preservation and procreation are the main ones.
Animals do not know how to suppress their reflexes, they have no concept of morality, so a cat or dog during estrus is not selective in choosing a partner, on the contrary, the more there are, the more likely it is to have offspring.
Predators kill without feeling pity, just to get enough and feed their cubs, which, by the way, sometimes does not really distinguish us from animals. Unfortunately, many people are capable of killing for their own benefit. And in some ways, animals turn out to be more “humane” in those cases when they show unspeakable fidelity, creating only one pair in their entire life, and sometimes they are even ready to die if they lose a partner, or spend the rest of their days alone.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! Subscribe to the blog to keep abreast of new interesting information, maintain your curiosity, because this is the key to success. Take care of yourself and loved ones!
The material for the article was prepared by Zhuravina Alina.