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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated

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To: Noel de Leon who wrote (128292)	7/29/2005 3:19:28 PM
From: neolib	Read Replies (1) of 793883

"instinct - an unlearned, genetically coded behavior pattern that is internally motivated and characteristic of the species; the innate capacity of an animal to respond to a given stimulus in a relatively fixed way" I'd accept this much more restrictive definition of instinct if we knew the behavior under discussion is in fact genetically based, something we don't know in very many cases. The problem is that instinct is used for a much wider range of responses, from ones that are more correctly termed reflexes to ones that involve mental processing. Once one finally understands the process, it can be given a better name, like reflex, so the domain of instinct just decreases. For example, cats dig a hole and cover up their bodily wastes. This does not appear to be taught, in that young kittens naturally start doing this on their own, even when raised in isolation. But the process is clearly much more involved than a muscle reflex. In addition, not all cats do, although it would meet the definition above of being characteristic of the species. For a meandering attempt to define instinct see this: spartan.ac.brocku.ca

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