Instinct

Instinct has been used to explain apparently intelligent actions in life forms assumed to lack intelligence or free will. It has always been a doubtful and vague notion. On the other hand, we sometimes refer to human actions, when not understood by the acting human, as instinctual, for example the "mothering instinct." So, this second does seem to point out a feature of life that we must give credence to. Mother's will lovingly care for a child, they will feel a special loving bond, and they will protect it, sometimes even unto death. This is also commonly seen in the animal (non human) kingdom.

In recent years we have come to expect that this instinct must be expected to be encoded into DNA. This seems a reasonable conclusion. Like the emotion fear, we expect that it is encoded into DNA as a survival mechanism. Where we get into trouble is when, out of hubris, we assign any apparently intelligent action by a non human as instinct.

For example, from my own life experience, I relate the following story. One day my uncle took me to hunt geese, along with the principal of my school. I was about thirteen years of age at the time, but I remember the incident with the clarity of yesterday because it made a deep impression on me.

The strategy of the hunt called for us to sit on one side of a reservoir dike opposite from the water in order to be hidden from a large number of geese occupying the center of the reservoir, far out of range. We did this because of experience telling us that at about dawn the geese would depart to feed in grain fields and that they would fly low over the dike, giving us an opportunity of bagging several of them.

I took up my position directly above the outlet from the reservoir. There was a small puddle of water under the outlet pipe, perhaps ten feet in diameter. About 100 yards away was a small pond, perhaps 100 feet in diameter on which a small group of ducks, perhaps a dozen floated, quacking softly among themselves.

We waited for sunrise. It was below freezing and soon my joints began to complain at the lack of motion in my body, but I had to remain quiet and motionless, in the interests of not unduly alarming the geese, who might in that case depart the other end of the reservoir, ruining the hunt. So I sat there motionless, watching the ducks on the pond as they swam about and continued the faint noises they were making.

Eventually, one duck rose from the group, flew around the pond gaining speed and then flew directly for me at a very high speed. I didn't move a muscle, since I was interested in the geese, not a single duck flying so low and fast my chances of hitting it were remote, anyway.

After about thirty seconds, the rest of the flock of ducks rose from the pond and flew over to the puddle directly below me.

So, what are we to conclude. The ducks, conferring among themselves and unsure whether or not I represented a threat to them and wanting to move to the small pond near me, decided on a strategy. One of them would attempt to tempt me into demonstrating my intentions while at the same time trying to avoid being killed if my intentions towards them was deadly. So, they put me to the test, concluded that I wasn't a danger and moved to the pond, to their ultimate regret.

If this is a valid interpretation of what was going on in their awareness, then this is too much to assign to the common notion of instinct. We would not expect such detailed instructions relating to such unusual experiences to be included in DNA. If that is a correct conclusion, then we are driven to admit that, ducks are capable of strategic planning.

In this context, I think it would be well to consider all of the methods by which we interact with the environment. According to Jung, there are four functions for this purpose. Feeling, thinking, sensation, and intuition. So, what are the sources of these four functions? Thinking we can feel occurring in our brains. Sensations arise from the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. By sight we mean the perception of light waves with our eyes. By smell and taste we mean the detection of chemical content by sampling and discriminating between them according to the reactions of our senses to contact with them. By hearing we mean the perception of sound waves. By touch we mean that the sensors covering the surface of our bodies and crucial organs within it detect pressure or heat. Intuition is the perception of a connection between two or more contents within our memories.

Feelings are more difficult to categorize. Feelings vary from subtle to intense. Intense feelings are called emotions. An emotion can and frequently does arise instinctually, like fear when we perceive that our life is in danger. Therefor, we are led to the conclusion that fear is induced by DNA and that it is there to assist with individual survival in dangerous situations. So, if the source of fear is instinct and therefor DNA, are we justified in expecting that all feelings arise in the same way? I would say that that is a fair conclusion.