> > Some of it, yes. Some of it seems to be encoded in our genes. > How do you arrive at that conclusion? Instinctual behaviors are simple to empirically obs

> > Some of it, yes. Some of it seems to be encoded in our genes. > How do you arrive at that conclusion? Instinctual behaviors are simple to empirically observe. It's easy to demonstrate an instinctual fear of snakes in people or animals that never saw a real snake before and have no empirical knowledge of snakes. This shows there is knowledge about the danger of snakes encoded in the genes of vertebrates. That we can study these instincts through empirical means does not mean the individual's instincts are empirically informed. The individual gets this knowledge not through observations of the world, so that well-founded fear of snakes isn't empirical knowledge.