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> instinctively Humans don't have instincts. That's what separates us from the other, lower animals. P.S. Urges, drives and desires aren't instincts. P.P.S.

> instinctively Humans don't have instincts. That's what separates us from the other, lower animals. P.S. Urges, drives and desires aren't instincts. P.P.S. Technically not true, the human being has a couple instincts related to breastfeeding, but they are supposed to disappear after a couple months in a healthy human baby.

mhaberl 3y ago
Wikipedia states that you are not correct: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct#In_humans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct#In_humans
- otabdeveloper4 3y ago
  Wikipedia is wrong. Feelings aren't instinct. (Feeling disgusted or sexually aroused or aggressive isn't an instinct.) Instincts, by definition, are complex behavior. (Think birds building nests; nobody teaches them to do that, they are born with that knowledge.)
  - HenryBemis 3y ago
    Sexual arousal is part of the procreation mechanism, and thus I (not a psychologist) will classify it as instinct. I can think of many different feelings as instinct. When I see my gf crying, I don't 'think' to hug her, I instinctively hug her. When your friend walks two steps ahead of you and falls down, you don't stop to think and feel, you instinctively grab them.
    - otabdeveloper4 3y ago
      An instinct is complex, unlearned behavior. Sexual arousal is neither complex nor behavior. It is a simple hormonal state. You're using a colloqual meaning of "instinctive" that is unscientific and wrong.
  - mhaberl 3y ago
    Encyclopedia Britannica [1] also doesn't agree with you. > ...it is taken to include the possibility that humans too can be governed by instinct But that's far from being the only source that defines 'instinct' in a way that doesn't align with what you're proposing. Humans do have instincts. [1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/instinct/Instinct-as-behaviour https://www.britannica.com/topic/instinct/Instinct-as-behavi...
    - otabdeveloper4 3y ago
      Yes, many things can be "taken to include the possibility". Including the possibility that Gandalf and Harry Potter fly in on a Raelian flying saucer and solve climate change for us. In reality, however, no instinctual behavior has yet been found in humans.
olddustytrail 3y ago
Humans very obviously have instincts, not least because it's humans who invented the concept. You might better argue that it's only humans who differentiate their behaviours so they consider some that are not instinctual.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > Humans very obviously have instincts, not least because it's humans who invented the concept. Humans invented the concept of exoskeletons, too; inventing a concept does not imply having the concrete feature referred to by the concept. Yes, humans have instincts, but inventing the concept of “instinct” is unrelated to that.

mhaberl 3y ago

Wikipedia states that you are not correct: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct#In_humans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct#In_humans

otabdeveloper4 3y ago
Wikipedia is wrong. Feelings aren't instinct. (Feeling disgusted or sexually aroused or aggressive isn't an instinct.) Instincts, by definition, are complex behavior. (Think birds building nests; nobody teaches them to do that, they are born with that knowledge.)
- HenryBemis 3y ago
  Sexual arousal is part of the procreation mechanism, and thus I (not a psychologist) will classify it as instinct. I can think of many different feelings as instinct. When I see my gf crying, I don't 'think' to hug her, I instinctively hug her. When your friend walks two steps ahead of you and falls down, you don't stop to think and feel, you instinctively grab them.
  - otabdeveloper4 3y ago
    An instinct is complex, unlearned behavior. Sexual arousal is neither complex nor behavior. It is a simple hormonal state. You're using a colloqual meaning of "instinctive" that is unscientific and wrong.
- mhaberl 3y ago
  Encyclopedia Britannica [1] also doesn't agree with you. > ...it is taken to include the possibility that humans too can be governed by instinct But that's far from being the only source that defines 'instinct' in a way that doesn't align with what you're proposing. Humans do have instincts. [1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/instinct/Instinct-as-behaviour https://www.britannica.com/topic/instinct/Instinct-as-behavi...
  - otabdeveloper4 3y ago
    Yes, many things can be "taken to include the possibility". Including the possibility that Gandalf and Harry Potter fly in on a Raelian flying saucer and solve climate change for us. In reality, however, no instinctual behavior has yet been found in humans.

olddustytrail 3y ago

Humans very obviously have instincts, not least because it's humans who invented the concept. You might better argue that it's only humans who differentiate their behaviours so they consider some that are not instinctual.

dragonwriter 3y ago
> Humans very obviously have instincts, not least because it's humans who invented the concept. Humans invented the concept of exoskeletons, too; inventing a concept does not imply having the concrete feature referred to by the concept. Yes, humans have instincts, but inventing the concept of “instinct” is unrelated to that.