Two forces are fighting in a person: biological and social. The game of reason, social norms and instincts will never end. The instinct of self-preservation, protection, reproduction, maternal instinct and many others are against education and culture. What are instincts, can they be controlled? Find out from the article.
What is instinct
Instinct – innate stereotypes of behavior, a way of responding to specific environmental conditions. In animals, there are many innate patterns of behavior: walking, hunting, feeding offspring, and speech interaction characteristic of the species. Does a person have instincts? The child needs to be taught everything: walk, talk, hold a spoon. And these are just basic skills.
Birds, for example, can subconsciously build nests. Does any of the newborn children know what a rent is, or how to build a house? No, although instinct would be helpful.
Instinct is the genetic program of a biological species, laid down at birth in the psyche of an individual. Think about whether people were given something at birth that is characteristic only of the species Homo sapiens. No. Without the care, attention and help of adults, the newborn will die within 24 hours.
Instincts are patterns of behavior that don’t need to be taught. A person needs to be taught everything that is characteristic of his species.
However, humans have retained some animal instincts. Babies can crawl, eat food with their hands. True, they are unlikely to live up to this moment without a mother. If the parents do not take care of the child, then he remains an animal. In psychological and pedagogical science, they are called Mowgli children.
Reflexes
Reflex is a mechanism of instinct realization. In fact, instinct is a complex of unconditioned reflexes. At birth, a person is given 15 reflexes. They are divided into three groups: oral, motor, grasping. Most of them die off during the first year of a child’s life.
Other reflexes become vitally important – conditioned, acquired as a result of learning. We look around, crossing the road, not because of the instinct of self-preservation, but because we were taught. We pull our hand away from the hot teapot, because we once burned ourselves.
And the mind is also connected. People understand that giving birth every year is impractical. Anyway, many people give preference to a career and personal growth. The social part suppresses instincts.
Of the unconditional, the most influential instinct is the “herd” one. The human crowd succumbs to a number of mechanisms, including infection, imitation. A sense of community or herd can turn a group into a chaotic crowd, deprive a person of individuality.
In relation to a person, it is customary to talk not about instincts, but about species memory. It can be genetic, passed down from generation to generation, and cultural – the heritage of society.
If some instincts are present, for example, aggression, sexuality, then society stops them. So, monogamy is the result of socialization, the cultivation of the individual.
Animal instincts in a person are turned on when the primary biological needs are not satisfied: food, safety, sleep, shelter, sex. Of course, consciousness, learned norms, values, and culture begin to struggle with instincts.
According to the theory of William McDougall, a person retains several instincts:
- escape in fear;
- disgust, rejection;
- anger, often with fear;
- embarrassment;
- admiration;
- parental;
- food;
- gregarious.
Why, then, for example, the maternal instinct does not arise in all women? Psychotherapists argue that feeding a child, communicating with him on the first day after childbirth triggers the maternal instinct. If the contact happened later, then the instinct will not manifest. Probably, other instincts are also manifested under certain conditions.
In other theories, the classification of human instincts is supplemented by the following types:
- procreation;
- altruism;
- dominance;
- study;
- freedom.
In my opinion, a person has three main instincts.
Three main human instincts
In the process of development, a person retains 3 main instincts:
- sexual,
- power,
- self-preservation.
These points are used by the media to manipulate consciousness. Remember the most emphasis in advertising: success, safety, wealth, attractiveness.
In the process of socialization, the instinct for sexuality and power is suppressed. The instinct of self-preservation is cultivated. But aren’t these three species related? Self-preservation is both procreation, sexual self-realization, and professional development. So there are three pillars after all.
The self-preservation instinct is based on fear. This is also used successfully by the media. Have you noticed how many negative reporting is in the news? Is everything really that bad in the world? No. This is control of human instincts, intimidation. Fear slows down, fetters hands and feet.
But the instinct for power and sex motivates, makes you move forward, develop. That is why, when meeting, people are ready to move mountains for the sake of a potential partner. Or at work, seeing the perspectives of leadership, they rush forward.
Often, the instincts for power and sex prevail, dulling the third major instinct. However, not all so simple. Every instinct is fearful. A person driven only by instincts, thinking irrationally, eventually dies.
Instinct controls man. Creates the basis for manipulation from the outside. Even Freud said that the world is ruled by lust for power, sex and hunger. In my opinion, even now the activity of people always comes down to these three points.
