# Instinct in humans **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306 "2016-05-21T16:11:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/1 "2016-05-21T16:11:16Z")
Human kind still does things instinctively. Namely, things that are untaught and happen without conscious effort. They effect should be tangible and visibly recorded. Lets list them here. I will get started 1. Mothers releasing breast milk upon hearing their child cry 2. Newborns suckling soon after birth 3. Genetic attraction by siblings separated at birth 4. Stockholm syndrome ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/2 "2016-05-21T16:18:24Z")
Sexual attraction and sexual activity would seem to be instinctive, even if in some individuals the instinct does not follow the expected path. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/3 "2016-05-21T16:22:17Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > 1. Genetic attraction by siblings separated at birth What does this mean? If you’re saying siblings separated at birth sense some commonality with their siblings then it doesn’t have to be a ‘genetic attraction’ whatever that means. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/4 "2016-05-21T16:28:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > What does this mean? If you’re saying siblings separated at birth sense some commonality with their siblings then it doesn’t have to be a ‘genetic attraction’ whatever that means. This explains it > **[Genetic sexual attraction](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction)** > > Genetic sexual attraction is a hypothesis that attraction may be a product of genetic similarities.: 200 While there is scientific evidence for the position,: 200  some commentators regard the hypothesis as pseudoscience. The term is also used for a phenomenon in which biologically related persons separated at a young age develop intense feelings—including sexual attraction—upon the restoration of contact. > The term was popularized in the United States in the late 1980s by Barbara Gonyo, the fo... ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/5 "2016-05-21T16:37:14Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > This explains it > > [Genetic sexual attraction - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction) > [@](#): > > …genetic sexual attraction is\*\*\* presumed\*\*\* to occur as a consequence of genetic relatives meeting as adults… _ **Presumed** _ is the key word here. Is there any strong evidence that this is an actual effect, or instinctive? Maybe it is, but some people are attracted by similarity, and genetics may play no role in the attraction, just in creating the similarity. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/6 "2016-05-21T16:59:00Z")
It’s misguided to suppose that instinct (genetic programming) is some limited or isolated component of human behavior that amounts to only a few trivial things that you can list. A human baby is not a blank slate that can be nurtured to behave in an arbitrary manner, any more than an animal born an aardvark can be trained to become a badger or a cat. Humans evolved a flexible intelligence that allowed us to solve novel problems and to cooperate in complex societies, and thus to do a lot of other interesting things with our brains that are not directly related to survival. So, certainly, the cultural component of human behavior is far richer than that of an aardvark or a badger. But, ultimately, _all_ of human behavior is determined by a combination of both instinct (genetic programming) and nurture/culture - and both components are large and highly significant in almost everything we do. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/7 "2016-05-21T17:34:11Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > It’s misguided to suppose that instinct (genetic programming) is some limited or isolated component of human behavior that amounts to only a few trivial things that you can list. A human baby is not a blank slate that can be nurtured to behave in an arbitrary manner, any more than an animal born an aardvark can be trained to become a badger or a cat. > > Humans evolved a flexible intelligence that allowed us to solve novel problems and to cooperate in complex societies, and thus to do a lot of other interesting things with our brains that are not directly related to survival. So, certainly, the cultural component of human behavior is far richer than that of an aardvark or a badger. But, ultimately, _all_ of human behavior is determined by a combination of both instinct (genetic programming) and nurture/culture - and both components are large and highly significant in almost everything we do. A lot of things happen at the molecular level that we do not consciously control. The breaking down of food, the action of enzymes, the generation of energy etc etc. We direct none of them and they happen automatically. Hence my opening post mentioned activities that are tangible and visible. Maybe i should add that instinctive activities that we do that we did not instructed it to be done but was done by the body ceiving instructions from instinct or genes. Activities that are recordable too like milk production when babies cry and stockholm syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/8 "2016-05-21T17:44:13Z")
To expand on my comment above, see here: > **[Cultural universal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_universal)** > > A cultural universal (also called an anthropological universal or human universal) is an element, pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all known human cultures worldwide. Taken together, the whole body of cultural universals is known as the human condition. Evolutionary psychologists hold that behaviors or traits that occur universally in all cultures are good candidates for evolutionary adaptations. Some anthropological and sociological theorists that take a cultural relativist pe In... As discussed in the article, we do not have the experimental controls to know for sure whether the universality of these traits means they are _all_ evolved (instinctive) behaviors; some are probably not. But - we certainly know that behavior evolves in animals, just as morphology evolves. And humans are animals. We also know that the timescale for major evolutionary change is millions of years (humans and chimps diverged about 5 million years ago). Human genetic programming (i.e. the determinant of instinct) has really not had time to change dramatically since human culture began a few tens of thousands of years ago. So, if you believe that only a tiny component of human behavior is now attributable to instinct, the burden is really upon you to demonstrate when and how you think humans ceased to function like _all_ other animals; and to provide some other convincing account for the large number of cultural universals listed above. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/9 "2016-05-21T18:09:41Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > A lot of things happen at the molecular level that we do not consciously control. I do understand this entire discussion to be about _behavior_. However, your OP did not seem to be about whether behavior is conscious or unconscious. That’s an entirely separate (and equally fascinating) question. I understood it to be about the extent to which human behavior is _instinctive_ - i.e. evolved, determined by our genetic programming - versus to what extent it is determined by nurture and culture. Perhaps you could clarify. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/10 "2016-05-21T18:42:07Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Human genetic programming (i.e. the determinant of instinct) has really not had time to change dramatically since human culture began a few tens of thousands of years ago. I think you’re being very conservative there. Shouldn’t that number be 500+ thousand years ago from the carved oysters in Java? That, of course, pre-dates Homo Sapiens. More recently there are cave paintings in Israel over 100,000 years old, and Sibudu Cave goes back over 70,000 years. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/11 "2016-05-21T18:57:11Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I think you’re being very conservative there. Shouldn’t that number be 500+ thousand years ago from the carved oysters in Java? That, of course, pre-dates Homo Sapiens. More recently there are cave paintings in Israel over 100,000 years old, and Sibudu Cave goes back over 70,000 years. Yes, you are right. But really I was trying to address a more fundamental misconception in the OP’s question. We evolved flexible intelligence, combined with complex sociality, which spurred human culture to expand dramatically, way beyond the cultural sophistication of any other species. But it’s a long way from there (and highly implausible and unsupported by evidence) to suppose that for some reason we then evolved “blank slate brains” that lack fundamental instinctive behaviors and that are infinitely malleable. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/12 "2016-05-21T19:45:48Z")
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of human instincts. (However “Stockholm Syndrome” is not one of them; if it were, it would be experienced universally by all people.) Just off the top of my head: Eating when hungry Drinking when thirsty Yawning Sleeping Shivering when cold Ducking when a fast moving object approaches one’s face Laughing when tickled Smiling when feeling pleasure Grimacing when in pain Wrinkling the nose when confronted with a disgusting object (and numerous other facial expressions associated with emotion) Blushing Diving reflex Recoiling from touching a hot object Moro reflex in infants, and startle reflex in adults Turning the head to face a sudden noise Also discussed in SDMB some years ago: > **[Do humans have instincts?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=186947)** > > I remember learning, in high school, that humans do not have any instincts. The teacher said it was not universally accepted, but he sure made a convincing argument to us. I recently had a long discussion with some of my friends anout the subject... –Mark ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/13 "2016-05-21T23:30:00Z")
People will often say things like “such-and-such behavior is not instinctive in humans; we just do it because we enjoy it”. This is an especially common comment about sex, for some reason. But that’s exactly how instinct works. Any time someone says “I do it because I enjoy it”, they’re describing an instinct. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instinct-in-humans/755306/14 "2016-05-22T02:01:02Z")
Physiological reactions like “shivering when cold” don’t quite fit my notion of what “instinct” means. You might as well say that “secreting digestive juices when we eat” is instinctive. I think we need to clarify just what counts as “instinctive behavior”, whether in humans or in other animals. Some animals, like horses, grow there hair long in the winter and shed that hair in the spring. Would anyone call that “instinctive” behavior? What about bears hibernating? Horses generally seem to be “born” to be afraid of snakes, but they aren’t afraid of most birds. That seems like what I’d call “instinct”.