Innate instincts. Innate human instincts
A person is not born helpless and unable to do anything. It’s just that his body after birth is not yet formed enough to be able to perform all the basic actions that are characteristic of all people. Instincts are basic actions that are performed by absolutely all people. To understand what it is, how it affects our lives and what examples can be given, the online magazine site will consider this topic.
Absolutely all people are born with instincts. These are unconditioned reflexes that appear in all living beings and perform important functions. Among all types of instincts, the most important are the sense of self-preservation and reproduction. The desire to preserve one’s life manifests itself from the first minutes of life. The child screams, cries to be fed, warmed, lulled, etc.
As the human body strengthens and becomes independently functioning, the child is increasingly exposed to instincts. A striking example is the ability of pediatricians to tell parents at what month of their life what a child should do in order to be considered normally developing. During the first years of life, all children live at the level of instincts, which dictate to them how they will develop, what to do, how to react, how their bodies will act, etc.
However, instincts are not everything on which human life is based, otherwise people would not be different from the animal world. If animals act at the level of instincts, then people, as they develop and grow, acquire conditioned reflexes - these are certain skills that require training and consolidation in order to perform them. People are not born with these skills. If a person is not taught them, he will not be able to perform them. However, as education progresses, instincts increasingly fade into the background, giving way to conditioned reflexes.
Instincts cannot be suppressed or completely eliminated. However, a person is able to stop himself and control himself in time. If you exercise control over your own actions, then your instincts will not be able to manifest themselves in full force. The person will experience instinctual experiences and manifestations (such as a racing heart or sweating), but can control their actions.
Instincts are usually triggered in urgent and life-threatening situations. An example is an attack by a dog, from which a person wants to run away or fights off with stones, or withdrawing a hand from a hot kettle (it is unlikely that anyone will be able to avoid doing this, unless the person has impairments in the perception of analyzers or the processing of incoming information by the brain).
Instincts are always fully triggered when a person does not control himself. However, here it is necessary to distinguish between automatically acquired actions and instincts. The fact that a person does not think about the fact that he needs to raise his hand to turn on the light in the room does not make his actions instinctive.
A person’s instincts do not need to be taught; he already possesses them and obeys them if he does not try to stop his actions. A person must learn automatic conditioned reflexes and other behaviors in order to perform them.
What are instincts?
Instincts are understood as automatic, conditioned actions that are given to all people from birth and do not require their conscious control. Basically, instincts are aimed at the survival of the individual and the preservation of their species. Thus, a person instinctively begins to look for food or water when he is hungry or thirsty, runs away from danger or enters into battle when he is in danger, and has sexual relations with the opposite sex in order to obtain offspring.
However, psychologists point out that humans have many more instincts than the animal world. Human instincts are the desire for power, dominance, and communication. It should be noted that the most important instinct, which has many forms of manifestation, is the desire to maintain balance. The so-called homeostasis - when a person wants to experience peace and tranquility - is one of the basic aspirations.
Instinct is not a goal, as some people might think. The fact that a person consciously desires and wants to achieve something is not an instinct. Here a person simply arranges his life, which can exist anyway if he does nothing.
It is necessary to distinguish instincts from internal fears, complexes, feelings that develop in a person as he lives. They are also called acquired or social fears. For example, the feeling of guilt is an acquired quality that affects a person at a subconscious level. However, no one is born with a feeling of guilt; it is developed in people as they grow and develop.
You should also highlight such common fears as:
- Fear of not being recognized.
- Fear of criticism.
- etc.
These are all social fears. They are more related to a person’s mental harmony than to his survival.
However, there are fears that to some extent can be attributed to instinctive. Thus, fear of sharks or spiders, fear of heights - these fears can be developed, but they are based on the instinct of self-survival, when a person must first of all take care of the safety of his health and life.
Human instincts
Man is a complex creature, which can be explained by the example of the transformation and complication of instincts over the course of his life. A person is born with biological needs that are dictated by instincts - automatic actions aimed at satisfying the needs of the body. However, a person lives in a society where there are its own rules, norms, traditions and other aspects. He is exposed to education, training, influence, which allows instincts to fade into the background.
Instincts do not disappear and do not disappear. Sometimes a person even learns to stop them and control them. As one gains experience and shapes one's life, a person's instincts transform. If you notice a person behaving inappropriately in a stressful situation, it means that he has not yet developed a mechanism that would restrain his instinctive behavior. However, there are individuals who have already learned to remain calm in situations that threaten them with death or require fertilization (sexual intercourse).
Thus, human instincts do not disappear anywhere, but they begin to obey certain fears, worldviews, conditioned reflexes and even social norms when an individual learns to get involved in the process in time to slow down his instinctive actions and quickly transfer them to other actions.
Instincts are given to absolutely all people and remain for life. They cannot be called either good or bad. Instincts help a person, first of all, to survive, otherwise his birth and existence become meaningless. On the other hand, instinctive actions are often considered unacceptable in a society where its own laws and frameworks of behavior have been developed. Therefore, a person must learn to control his instinctive impulses and transfer energy to perform actions acceptable by society.
This is what distinguishes humans from animals - conscious control, when instincts exist and continue to help a person survive. However, the individual is able to control himself and not obey instinctive energy if it is inappropriate in a particular case.
Types of instincts
There are many types of instincts:
- The instinct of self-preservation is the most basic and initial. Every child begins to cry if there is no mother or the person who constantly takes care of him nearby. If a person’s instinct of self-preservation does not fade away over time under the influence of public education, then he becomes cautious and prudent. Gambling, risky people commit destructive acts when they jump with a parachute or climb into the cages of predatory animals. Depending on the degree of self-preservation instinct, a person will perform certain actions.
- Continuation of the family. This instinct first manifests itself at the level of the desire for the parents’ family to remain intact and not be destroyed, and then the person himself begins to desire to create his own family and have children. This instinct also has different levels of manifestation. There are people who control their sexual desires and remain faithful to their only marriage partners, and there are people who are unwilling or unable to control sexual lust, so they take mistresses or do not create families at all in order to be able to copulate with a large number of members of the opposite sex .
- Study. As the human body gets stronger, it begins to study the world around it. Curiosity becomes an instinct that is aimed at studying the world around him, the desire to understand it and begin to interact with it, which will also allow him to live harmoniously and preserve his life.
- Dominance. A person experiences an internal need to have power, to lead other people, to control and manage. This instinct manifests itself in people to varying degrees.
- Independence and freedom. These instincts are also innate, when every child resists any attempt to swaddle him, limit his actions or prohibit him. Adults also do everything to gain maximum freedom and independence in the world in which they are forced to live.
- . This instinct can be combined with the instinct of research, since a person first studies the world around him, and then begins to adapt to it in order to develop such skills and form such knowledge that will help him effectively survive in the existing conditions.
- Communicative. A person can be alone, but he gravitates more towards a herd existence, when he can communicate, conduct joint business and solve problems at the expense of others.
Examples of instincts
The most striking examples of instincts are a person’s desire to flee or defend themselves in a situation of danger. Also, almost all people in one way or another want to continue their family line. It is impossible to call the feelings that parents show towards their child instincts, but their presence forces mothers and fathers to take care of their offspring until they become independent and independent from them.
Social instincts, that is, those that are developed throughout life, can be called a tendency towards altruism and the desire to maintain a sense of self-esteem.
Bottom line
Instincts are given to all people for only one purpose - to preserve the human race (first the person himself, and then to encourage him to reproduce and preserve his young). Instincts become dull over the years, as a person learns to control them or stop in time thanks to those conditioned actions that he develops over the course of his life.
Instincts are confused with reflexes (conditioned and unconditioned) and innate needs. The last two concepts are applicable to humans, but instincts are not:
Here's a recent question about animals:
Or, for example, a review article:
I will quote about the most popular one, about the instinct of self-preservation:
So what happens? Are expressions like “instinct of self-preservation” incorrect? What then can we call the “automatic” withdrawal of a hand from a hot stove or fire?! Yes, absolutely right, a person has an innate NEED for self-preservation. But we cannot call this an instinct, since we do not have the corresponding FKD, that is, an innate program of motor activity that would satisfy this need. Having been pricked or burned, we withdraw our hand - but this is NOT an INSTINCT, but just a REFLEX (unconditioned) TO PAINFUL IRRITATION. In general, we have a lot of protective unconditioned reflexes, for example, the blink reflex, coughing, sneezing, vomiting. But these are the simplest standard reflexes. All other threats to the integrity of the body cause only such reactions that we acquire during the learning process.
Here's a good example. Reproduction is a stronger theme than avoiding death. If you have multiplied, then your life is no longer important, selection pressure is weaker here.
Doubts arise simply by remembering all sorts of childfree people and simply the many people who are unable to find a partner. Is this instinct in humans? Or is it just an innate need without a fixed set of actions that ensures success for any male guppy fish*?
*Danced, shook his fins in a special way, welcome to mate if the other did not drive him away. But the other one will definitely dance too, without dance there is no love. The female simply will not “read” him as a male.
And what we see in the great apes:
The Harlows raised 55 monkeys without their mothers. When they became sexually mature, only one monkey showed interest in a sexual partner. Among 90 other monkeys raised with the help of a dummy, only 4 became parents, but they also treated their babies very poorly. Some of them spent all their time sitting in one place, in complete indifference to others. Others took strange positions or wriggled unnaturally. The lack of maternal care left an imprint on them for life.
The evolution of instincts among vertebrates is a gradual weakening of their formative influence and replacement by elements of experience. With the progressive development of an animal's individuality, instinct is replaced by stereotypes where the reaction should be rigid and tough, by learning and intelligence where and when a flexible response to the situation is necessary. Stereotypical and ritual forms of behavior are conservative and rigid, “intellectual” forms are flexible and easy to improve, but both are developed by the social environment - the first within the framework of ratiomorphic processes, the second through the creation of situation concepts.
This is called culture.
Also see comments to Lisa Nesser's answer.
[Although, to tell the truth, a person still has one single instinct, which was discovered by Irenius Eibl-Eibesfeldt, a student of K. Lorenz. When we meet a person we like, we not only smile and part our lips, but our eyebrows also involuntarily raise. This movement, which lasts 1/6 of a second, was recorded by Eibl-Eibesfeldt on film in people of different races. He conducted most of his research in the wild corners of the planet, among tribes that do not know not only television, but also radio, and have rare and superficial contacts with their neighbors. Thus, eyebrow raising could not have been shaped by imitation learning. The main argument was the behavior of children blind from birth. The voice of a person they like also raises their eyebrows, and for the same 150 milliseconds.]
The term “instinct,” like many other scientific terms—for example, “stress” or “ecology”—has long been in widespread use, but its original meaning has undergone significant changes. Moreover, in everyday life they are so different from those accepted in the scientific community that sometimes scientists are recommended to introduce new terms to denote this or that concept. Such proposals are argued, for example, by the fact that the distorted meaning of the term “ecology” has taken root in the mass consciousness, and it is easier to propose a new term than to change the existing state of affairs. However, it should be noted that scientific terms and definitions have been honed over years and even centuries, and their correct understanding, coupled with appropriate use, is the key to developing an adequate picture of the world and way of thinking in people.
A little history
The history of this word is ancient. It seems that the term “instinct” (Latin instinctus, ancient Greek ὁρμή) appeared among Stoic philosophers, and was first used by the Stoic Chrysippus (3rd century BC) to designate aspiration or motivation as a characteristic of the behavior of birds and other animals. e.). The term was understood by the Stoics as an innate desire that directs the animal towards factors favorable to it and away from unfavorable ones. In the future, the theme of instincts did not receive any development until the 19th century, when Lamarck gave the term the first “scientific” definition: “Animal instinct is an inclination that attracts, caused by sensations on the basis of needs that arise due to their needs and compels them to perform actions without any participation of thought.” , without any participation of the will.” Subsequently, such prominent scientists as V.A. studied instincts. Wagner, A.D. Slonim, I.P. Pavlov, G.E. Ziegler, K. Lorenz, N. Tinbergen.
Basically, all definitions of this term boil down to the fact that it is “something” that is hereditarily fixed; does not require additional training; the same for all individuals of a given species, that is, species-typical; optimally corresponds to the organization of the animal and its physiology.
One of the definitions of the scientific concept “instinct” is “a set of innate needs and innate programs for their satisfaction, consisting of a trigger signal and an action program.” Let’s analyze all these components sequentially element by element and create a “formula” of instinct for simplicity. Konrad Lorenz, one of the most famous ethologists, called the program of action a “fixed complex of action” - FCD. Thus, from the standpoint of ethology, it turns out that:
Instinct = Innate needs + Innate program of action.
From the classical positions of ethology, the innate program of actions includes a key stimulus, common to all representatives of a given species, which will always cause the same fixed set of actions (FCS). Therefore, the formula takes the following form:
Instinct = Innate needs + key stimulus + fixed set of actions.
We will talk about innate needs a little later, but first we will focus on the key stimulus and FCD.
Key incentive
The key stimulus (KS) is a truly innate trigger mechanism and ensures the binding of a specific instinctive act to a strictly specific stimulus situation. The expediency of this mechanism is due to the fact that specific behavior must be carried out in a situation that is adequate from a biological point of view.
A stimulus is key only if it manifests itself without fail in all representatives of the species, even if they grew up in isolation from their fellow tribesmen and conspecifics (co-species), that is, it is species-typical.
A wide variety of signals can act as a key stimulus:
– chemical (sexual attractants acting through the olfactory pathways);
– acoustic (strictly fixed screams or “songs”);
– tactile (specific touches to certain parts of the body);
– visual (species-specific elements of color and markings, species-specific morphological characteristics - crests, ridges, growths, general body contours and sizes, internal beak coloring);
- species-specific body movements and poses - poses of intimidation, submission, rituals of greeting and courtship.
Presenting an animal with any key stimulus entails its specific innate reaction. Examples of such a key stimulus include the brightly colored open beak of a chick, which triggers feeding behavior in the parents, or the red belly of a male stickleback during mating behavior.
Studies of the threespined stickleback, a classic subject of laboratory research, have shown that during the mating season, the abdomen of the male stickleback turns bright red. By demonstrating it, he, on the one hand, scares away rival males from the nest, and on the other hand, on the contrary, attracts a female. Even models created in the laboratory that vaguely resembled another male provoked an attack by the male guarding his territory when he saw a “red belly.” Moreover, in the case of the closest possible proximity to the image of another male, but without a red belly, he remained indifferent.
For herring gull chicks, the key stimulus is a red spot on the yellow beak of the parents; the sight of it “switches on” the begging response: the chick pecks at this spot, and the parent regurgitates food into its mouth.
The key stimulus triggers a fixed set of actions, which, in turn, is not a monolithic act, but can be divided into two phases: appetitive behavior and consummatory behavior.
Fixed set of actions = appetitive behavior (AP) + consummatory behavior (CP).
Appetite behavior (English “appetitive behavior” from the Latin “appetitus” - “aspiration”, “desire”) - searching for and approaching an object to satisfy a need. Consummatory behavior (from the English “consummate” - “to bring to an end”, “to complete”) - directly satisfying a need (killing prey, copulation). The division of instinctive behavior was first introduced by Wallace Craig.
So, now we can transform the initial instinct formula I = Ptrb + KS + FKD into the following form:
I = Ptrb + KS + AP + CP.
If we operate with the biological term “instinct,” then it is important to remember that all stages of instinct are innate, not determined by learning. And since we began our conversation by defining the difference in the perception of the concept of “instinct” among ethologists and people not experienced in biology, it would be appropriate to clarify here that the more complex the organization of an animal, the smaller the proportion of innate components in its behavior and the less rigid these components programmed.
Studying the mechanisms and structure of instinctive acts, researchers have long discovered that appetitive behavior, on the one hand, is typical for each specific species, on the other hand, in many highly organized species it turned out to be variable and adapted to changing environmental conditions. The same can be said about the consummatory stage: in both birds and mammals, a series of consummatory, final acts, in the strict sense, are not given in their entirety from birth, but also contain some element of individual practice.
In most cases, this refers to the motor component of the instinctive act itself, when a newborn baby performs its first consummatory acts very unstably and unclearly. Apparently, this is due to the incomplete process of formation of neural ensembles of the brain, which are normally responsible for this innate act. Therefore, the very first movements of an animal when carrying out an instinctive act are “immature”, “uncertain”, and only after several trials and errors do they acquire all their purely species-typical features.
Let us consider the stages of instinct in a number of animals using the example of copulation and hunting behavior.
1. Copulation behavior
Mantises
Ptrb - reproductive;
KS♀—change in hormone secretion, KS♂—female pheromones;
AP - search for a sexual partner, copulation;
CP - tearing off the male's head.
Cats
Ptrb - reproductive;
KS♀—endogenous change in hormone secretion, KS♂—female pheromones;
AP - search for a sexual partner;
KP - copulation in cats, compared to mantises, is variable in relation to the courtship behavior of males. The positions of sexual partners are also variable.
Dogs
If a dog puppy is raised in isolation from his peers, then later, when he reaches sexual maturity, this dog will not be able to normally carry out the act of mating with a bitch: he, as expected, will jump on her from behind, attach himself, and even make attempts to perform frictions. But these will be just attempts, since even the insertion of the penis (imission, intromission, introitus) into the bitch’s vagina may not happen. The coordination of the instinctive movements of such a dog will be so unpracticed that during the movements of the pelvis he simply will not hit the target. And the role of the presence of peers for the normal sexual development of a puppy turns out to be important in the sense that it is in numerous games with them that its motor mechanisms and their coordination are honed, some of which must subsequently be involved in the implementation of the sexual instinct. In other words, if in the early period of formation of the nervous system the body is not subjected to the necessary stimulation, then its development can be severely inhibited. Thus, both an innate need and a key stimulus can be found in dogs, but the manifestation of FCD is very dependent on individual experience.
Primates
In them, copulation is organized even more complexly, and this process is no longer completely innate behavior. Monkeys raised in isolation (without maternal care) are not able to do this on their own; moreover, the females will categorically resist the males’ attempts to mate.
2. Hunting behavior
The hunting “instinct” of cats and dogs also does not have a clearly determined program, since the consummatory act of killing prey is the result of learning.
Mother cheetah trains puppies.
Appetite stage.
Consummatory stage.
Thus, it is not so much the specific motor acts of instinct that are innate, but rather their general template, within the framework of which the movements themselves develop. Wagner also mentioned some subtle individuality in the manifestation of instinct in different individuals, and therefore, in the end, he preferred to talk not about strictly fixed innate stereotypes of action, but rather about species-specific patterns of instinctive behavior. Thus, the manifestation of a particular instinct in different individuals of the same species may have subtle differences, but at the same time it is clearly defined in the entire species as a whole and can serve as a clear distinguishing feature in relation to other species.
Now we are ready to talk about innate needs and answer the question about the existence of instincts in humans.
Finally!
Innate Needs
Needs are the basis of all behavior, they are the ones. are a stimulus for behavioral activity in humans and animals. Needs are divided into vital (“life”), social and ideal.
Vitals include not only the need for self-preservation, which can be divided into the need for food, to avoid pain, etc. The needs for sensory input (irritation of the senses), emotions, receiving information and receiving pleasure are vital for us.
Social needs include all those needs in the process of satisfying which we establish communication with other people. Here, communication must be considered in a broad sense: it is not only direct acts of interaction (face-to-face conversation or correspondence on social networks), but also indirect motives for various actions. For example, a person can wash the dishes alone, but do this not because there are no clean dishes, but in order to please his wife.
There are a lot of social needs, but the main one is the need for social self-identification, that is, the need to feel like a member of a community. All our behavior and emotional experiences are built on the basis of identification with a certain group: family, people, work collective, a group within this collective.
Self-identification underlies “higher” forms of behavior. For example, the need for religion is determined by the need to belong to a limited community, which differs from others in a number of external characteristics - these differences are provided by ritual.
What do we need besides self-identification? In dominance and submission, in friendships and aggression, in self-esteem, altruism and selfishness, and so on. It should be emphasized that behavior is always aimed at satisfying several needs simultaneously. For example, why might students attend classes? Often - to get an education and have a well-paid job. But acquiring knowledge and practical skills is far from the main need that they satisfy when they come to their university. The only situation in which a person’s behavior is determined by a single need is when he is in a hurry to go to the toilet. But by and large, even so, it satisfies the social need for privacy while evacuating the contents of the bladder and intestines!
Knowledge of the innate behavioral characteristics helps the average person, first of all, to observe safety measures when communicating with animals. For example, you should not look at a dog on the street: a direct look is an expression of aggressive intentions. But human behavior is subject to the same laws. In general, the language of our body movements is very expressive, and a careful look can tell a lot about the intentions of the interlocutor, his attitude towards us and even his inner world.
Each person, like each animal, is born with his own individual spectrum of innate needs, expressed in different ways and to varying degrees - which is why one of the differences between ethology and other behavioral sciences is the thesis about the innate diversity of people. By the way, yes, ethology also studies human behavior, namely, the innate component of his behavior.
So do humans have instincts?
So, based on the definition and structure of instinct, which we have just examined, we can now assume that humans, a creature whose development is much higher than cats, have no instincts in the classical sense.
[Although, to tell the truth, a person still has one single instinct, which was discovered by Irenius Eibl-Eibesfeldt, a student of K. Lorenz. When we meet a person we like, we not only smile and part our lips, but our eyebrows also involuntarily raise. This movement, which lasts 1/6 of a second, was recorded by Eibl-Eibesfeldt on film in people of different races. He conducted most of his research in the wild corners of the planet, among tribes that do not know not only television, but also radio, and have rare and superficial contacts with their neighbors. Thus, eyebrow raising could not have been shaped by imitation learning. The main argument was the behavior of children blind from birth. The voice of a person they like also raises their eyebrows, and for the same 150 milliseconds.]
If expressions like “instinct of self-preservation” are incorrect, what then is the “automatic” withdrawal of a hand from a hot stove or fire? A person has an innate need for self-preservation, but not an instinct, since there is no corresponding FKD - an innate program of motor activity that would satisfy this need. Having been pricked or burned, we withdraw our hand - but this is not an instinct, but just a reflex (unconditioned) to painful stimulation. In general, we have a lot of protective unconditioned reflexes, for example, the blink reflex, coughing, sneezing, vomiting. But these are the simplest standard reflexes. All other threats to the integrity of the body cause only those reactions that we acquire during the learning process.
“Maternal instinct”, “sexual instinct” and other similar expressions are all incorrect when applied to humans. And not only in relation to humans, but also to all highly organized animals. We have corresponding needs, but there is no innate program for their satisfaction, no key incentive, no FKD.
Have you forgotten the Instinct formula yet, dear reader?
I = Ptrb + KS + FKD.
Thus, humans do not have instincts in the strict sense, and this is what makes our behavior plastic. However, the absence of rigid innate programs does not negate the fact that we are biosocial beings; and there are purely biological factors that determine many aspects of our behavior.
I thank Elena Dontsova for her help with preparing the text and Nikolai Mitrukhin for the illustrations for the work.
Literature
1. Fabri K.E. Fundamentals of zoopsychology. - M., 1976.
2. Vagner V.A. What is instinct // Bulletin and library of self-education. 1905. - No. 14. - P. 15-18.
3. Slonim A.D. Instinct // Journal of General Biology. - 1969. - vol. XXX, No. 6. - P. 759-761.
4. Pavlov I.P. Target reflex // Pavlov I.P. Twenty years of experience in the objective study of higher nervous activity (behavior) of animals. - M., 1951. - P. 199-201.
5. Ziegler G.E. The spiritual world of animals. - M. - L., 1925.
6. Lorenz K. The Foundations of Ethology. - Wien - N.Y., 1978.
7. Tinbergen N. Animal behavior. - M., 1978.
8. Craig W. Appetites and Aversions as Constituents of Instinct // Biological Bulletin. - 1918. - No. 34. - pp. 91-107.
9. Wagner V.A. Comparative psychology. - M., 2003.
10. Eibl-Eibesfeldt I. Human ethology. — N.Y., 1989.
Human life is based on three basic instincts:
- The instinct of self-preservation
- Hierarchical instinct
- Instinct for procreation
Whether we want it or not, willingly or unwillingly, our whole life is essentially these three instincts, on which our survival, social fulfillment and simple human happiness depend.
The instinct of self-preservation
Ensures the preservation of its own life, itself as a unit of living matter. It works in critical situations, disasters, various threats to life, illnesses, acute and chronic stress.
Hierarchical instinct
Determines our social behavior, our desire to occupy a position in society, success in work, education, desire for career growth, advancement in business, politics, sports, hierarchy of relationships in the team, family, society, rivalry, intraspecific struggle, internal sexual struggle (women with a woman, man with a man), clarification of gender relations (man and woman).
Instinct for procreation
Determines all of our sexual behavior, sexual identification, puberty, reproduction. This instinct is responsible for the preservation of humanity as a living species on planet Earth.
A person spends his hormonal reserves on the implementation of these basic instincts. Thus, a person spends androgens on the hierarchical instinct, estrogens on the implementation of sexual function, and homeostasis hormones on the instinct of self-preservation. All these hormones are produced from a single precursor.
If we take all available progesterone in the human body as 100%, then we can roughly imagine that all three basic instincts should be provided by approximately 33.3% of the hormone. Perhaps this is true. But then the level of claims in all three areas should be minimal. When the load increases in any of the three directions, there will be a compensatory increase in exactly those hormones that are needed to implement this function. This will happen due to a decrease in other hormones. With excessive long-term loads and stress, this will lead to rapid depletion of the system and may cause the death of the body.
In order for a woman to have enough hormonal reserves for female realization, she must have a reduced level of social demands and stress levels, then testosterone will be used for the production of estrogen, ovulation, a normal menstrual cycle, love, family, childbirth, and the level of female diseases will be minimal. The woman will not have a desire to have an abortion, and pregnancy and childbirth will proceed favorably.
But the continuation of the human race is not entirely a biological process.
I asked the same question many times at my lectures: “Please tell me, when does a person have a desire to have children?” The answer was always the same: “When you have an apartment, a car, money, an education, etc. etc.”, i.e. Some social levels of development have been achieved, material wealth has been accumulated, there is a job, a stable source of income. Everything is confused in people's heads.
No one has ever answered this question as follows: “When will I meet the man (woman) with whom I want to have children!”
If in living nature the desire to give birth to offspring is strictly determined by the sexual behavior of the female - her egg matures, and the male experiences sexual arousal in response to this, then in humans the desire to have children has shifted from the biological plane to the social one. To have children, a person needs an apartment as a nest for offspring, money as a source of food for future offspring, social guarantees for a woman (maternity leave, child benefits, keeping her job, and in general it would be nice for a woman to be Married). The husband in this context acts as the guarantor of providing the woman with her daily needs. biological needs, i.e. provides her instinct for procreation not only with his sperm, but also with material wealth. And marriage for a woman in this sense is biological need, not social.
I had patients for whom marriage was not only sufficient, but also a necessary condition (a stamp in the passport - this must be legal marriage) for pregnancy. There is a contingent of women who are able (unconsciously) to suppress their ovulation so much that until they solve all their social problems, they cannot afford to get pregnant. This is an uncontrolled (unconscious) process.
On the surface, the woman will be concerned about the absence of children, and she will even go to doctors and get examined. But in fact, ovulation and the process of reproduction itself will be taboo (suppressed) by social desires (complete building a house, buy a car, pay off debts, etc., etc.). Therefore, to help such women find female happiness, it requires long-term work on herself and preferably accompanied by a psychotherapist.
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A person, just like any other living creature, has three basic (fundamental) instincts: hunger, self-preservation, reproduction.
The realization of these three instincts is what people devote most of their time to, what arouses the greatest interest. And even if it seems that some of the actions of people are in no way connected with these instincts, it is worth “digging” a little deeper and it will become clear that, in many cases, everything comes down to one of these instincts.
Of course, the spiritual part of our life is important. However, in the daily routine, basic instincts come first.
These instincts are not equal for people. While all three are important, at certain points in time, any one of them can become more important than the others.
For example: often the instinct of reproduction becomes more important than the instinct of self-preservation. It happens.
Those who understand how important these instincts are for us successfully manipulate us to achieve their own interests.
I won't be unfounded.
Television advertising mainly appeals to basic instincts. Someday, when you are too lazy to switch the TV to another channel, analyze which of the three instincts is affected by each individual commercial. You will come across an interesting discovery: either “instincts” or “delirium”. Moreover, there are much more “instincts”.
But advertising is just flowers. There will be more berries.
Each television channel is “interested” in having as many viewers as possible so that they watch instinct-driven advertising on this particular channel. The larger the viewership, the greater the profit from the sale of advertising time. It's simple.
The most effective way to attract a viewing audience is to talk about basic instincts.
Let's take it in order.
Have you ever wondered why cooking shows are so popular? All kinds of TV shows, at best, lose their novelty over a few seasons and, accordingly, the viewership decreases, while at the same time, culinary programs exist for many years, having a relatively constant viewer.
Our consciousness “sees” interesting communication, different recipes, and so on, and the subconscious “sees” FOOD. The subconscious mind becomes calmer from the understanding that the basic instinct has been realized. Of course, food exists on TV, but most people have a refrigerator where they can physically exercise their instinct, even if there is something different from what is on the screen.
Where people are malnourished, there are no cooking programs.
Self-preservation.
On TV this instinct is fully realized. Even too much. Constant stories about how something bad happened to someone, on the one hand, “magnetize” a person to the screen, and on the other, create a society of intimidated people who are easy to control.
Suppose a person wanted to watch the news, find out what new happened in the country, in the world, draw some conclusions for himself, but what does he see? Details of the most terrible crimes, road accidents and other accidents. Why is this necessary? Who did it save? What does information about all this, other than the realization of the instinct of self-preservation, give to a person?
The mechanism of implementation is approximately this: the compassionate consciousness sincerely empathizes with everything it sees, and the subconscious “rubs its hands quite contentedly” - it’s good that it’s not with me. This is who we are as humans.
Have you noticed that from conversations on the topics “something good happened to someone” and “something bad happened to someone”, in the second case the conversation turns out not only more interesting, but more “filled” whether.
For fun, on the evening news, try to count the number of deaths that were reported to the whole country.
Details of human misfortune are not limited to news releases. Separate programs appear where they talk about them in more detail and there is even a separate TV channel broadcasting about it around the clock.
Why is all this needed?
On the one hand, to accumulate the largest number of viewers, and on the other, to distract the public from events that really matter.
Some TV channels, not the most popular ones, do not savor the grief of others. Honor and praise to them.
Someone will object that we have a “sort of” democracy. Everyone says what they want and nothing can be prohibited. This is not entirely true. There are non-political topics that are carefully “hushed up” by the media.
For example: on television periodically there is a discussion on the topic: are there deaths after vaccinations? One side says that it happens, the other says that it cannot happen. If we average these two opinions, the output is “zero”. The topic remains open. And that’s all the “stakeholders” need.
You might think that death is the worst thing that can happen in life.
At the same time, the occurrence of non-fatal complications is “hushed up.” And there are many of them. Starting from a slight increase in temperature and ending with multiple sclerosis. And this is no secret. This is written in the instructions for vaccines. You can read it yourself. They just don’t talk about it on television.
The probability of a serious complication occurring is small, but for the one to whom it happens, the probability will be one hundred percent.
By the way, have you ever wondered why they are starting to give vaccinations in our maternity hospitals? This is not because we have advanced medicine, which knows what the rest of the world has not yet thought of.
The whole point is that pregnant women are “stupid”. This is normal - a protective reaction of the body. Until mothers have “switched on” an adequate perception of reality, newborns are vaccinated with live mycobacterium tuberculosis and a genetically modified antigen of the hepatitis B virus. And then after a fight they don’t wave their fists. They continue to do the vaccinations they have started.
There is also a third side to the coin, when rich countries use bad events and stories about them to achieve their own financial and other interests.
Do you find any inconsistencies? Some strange terrorists, never before seen in illegal activities, go through the “not childish” security service at the Boston Marathon, do their “dirty” business and, what’s most interesting, leave unhindered! After this, the main executor is physically destroyed, and his assistant is wounded in the neck in such a way that he cannot say anything in his own defense. By and large, he can’t say anything at all. And wow, what a coincidence, their parents live in another country!
I think he admits everything:
In the USA, no one “beats out” a sincere confession. And so they confess. Suspects of serious crimes are offered a choice: either you “fail” and receive the death penalty, or you take the blame and receive a “life sentence.” Freedom of choice, American style.
At the same time, a controversy arises in society: maybe it is worth strengthening control and increasing the already huge costs of security?
To whom is war, and to whom mother is dear.
In order to keep people in fear, you need to have the image of an enemy. George Orwell also wrote about this. When the Soviet Union existed, it was simple: have you forgotten that most of us come from the “evil empire”? And now, when there are few enemies left, they must be protected. If they are gone, who will remain except the mythical Al Qaeda? Don't be surprised by the word "mythical": have you heard anyone call themselves a member of Al Qaeda? The myth cannot be proven. And even the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings is a topic that requires detailed consideration.
If there are no external enemies, the average person will ask the question: is it worth spending trillions of dollars on defense? Maybe it would be better to use this money to create a cure for cancer, or do something else very good?
Therefore, no one is in a hurry to fight Syria, Iran or North Korea.
To intimidate your citizens, you need to periodically provoke external enemies:
Remember, recently North Korea threatened the countries closest to itself with nuclear weapons? Do you also remember that the United States was the first to start, bringing two B-2 strategic bombers to joint military exercises with South Korea?
“Playing” on the instinct of self-preservation has become one of the most important topics in the media.
Reproduction.
Let's move on to the most interesting...
Everyone perked up. Do you feel how it affects you?
The implementation of this instinct on television is a problematic topic. For men. They love with their eyes. No matter how much bullshit you throw at them, they still need to see it. This is where the difficulty arises. You understand what it is. I think it is temporary: what was unacceptable a hundred years ago is normal now. What is unacceptable now will be normal in a hundred years. They’ll come up with some kind of “video recorder” of the most interesting moments. This is good, fantasy “works” better. So, guys, let's live. In the meantime, catch up with the Internet. In the competition, he temporarily wins.
As for women, they are lucky. They mainly love with their ears. For them, on television, the reproductive instinct is fully realized through the “talk about relationships.” And if you add a topic to this talking room - “child”, or even “sick child”, the female part of the audience will “stick to the screen”.
Women buy more than 85% of all products (and they are still fighting for their rights). Therefore, the bulk of advertising and, accordingly, television broadcasts are aimed at women. So, ladies, watch TV. And for men there is the Internet: 30% of global Internet traffic comes from viewing pornography...
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