A message about human instincts. Three basic instincts. Biological and social in man

Despite the fact that a person is a thinking creature, i.e. possessing reason, some of the motives for his behavior are based solely on instincts.

What are instincts?

Inborn behavior, inherent in nature, is characteristic not only of animals, but also characteristic of humans. Of course, people know how to think and, thanks to this, control their actions, suppressing the instinctive nature. But in a situation of danger or in the event that "" begins above the "human", nature takes its toll. Absolutely all "homo sapiens" have instincts, and they are the common thing that unites humans and animals.

What instincts did humans get from animals?

The instinct of self-preservation. Thanks to him, people are able to distinguish between potential dangers and themselves, measuring their own strengths and desires. For some, this innate behavior is expressed as a feeling of discomfort. It often occurs if, for example, a person finds himself in unfamiliar places. The sense of danger dictates further behavior. However, for a number of daredevils, this instinct is muffled, and it is the travelers who boldly take new routes, exploring the protected areas.

Procreation instinct. Any living thing reproduces itself. This is the law of life, and man, as part of the living world, also participates in the process of reproduction. Mind overlay allows the sexual instinct to be muted and humans regulate their sex lives without mating uncontrollably. However, this behavior is also characteristic of animals, which form one pair for life.

There are especially many examples of monogamous behavior among birds. Swans, black vultures, albatrosses, bald eagles, and even common turtle doves mate for life.

Maternal instinct. One of the strongest innate instincts that allow you to nurture, protect and take care of the offspring. The inseparable mother-child bond lasts as long as the child remains helpless and vulnerable to danger. Maternal, like other instincts, is closely related to the hormonal level of a person. The powerful mother-child bond allows you to regulate physiological processes: the secretion of colostrum and milk, light superficial sleep, and others.

It is not for nothing that a powerful launch of the mother's natural behavior is carried out with the attachment of a newborn baby to the breast. This is evidenced by the behavior of women who endured an unwanted baby and breastfeed him for the first time.

There is not a single instinct that would not be inherited by humans from animals, although reasonable people often do not realize the reasons for their behavior dictated by nature.

Instinct is a person's innate tendencies towards complex forms of automatic behavior that satisfy certain needs of the body. In a narrow sense, the instinct is determined that this is a set of hereditarily determined actions. It manifests itself in behavioral acts aimed at finding food, self-preservation, achievement, the desire to continue the race. Instinct is an unconditioned reflex that makes up the principles of animal behavior. Higher animals in their individual development come to the modification of basic instincts, which can reach more complex expressions of behavior. Human instincts, in addition to biological orientation, that is, satisfying the needs necessary for elementary existence, go further, and presuppose instincts that satisfy personal needs, intentions (power, domination, communication).

Human instincts

The human unconscious is an irrational, physiological animal instincts and reflexes that give impulses of psychic energy. They are forced to break themselves under the influence of consciousness, cultural stereotypes, social norms in order to provide people with an adequate social existence.

The innate human instincts are very strong, even their conscious suppression does not always restrain their energy, so you can often find people who behave inappropriately, because they do not properly block some forms of behavior arising from biological needs. But, thanks to them, a person does not lose to life, they are the driving force behind his behavior. Under the influence of acquired life experience and individual development, instincts differentiate and become more complex, therefore a person is a creature with the most complex system of instincts. But still, there are possible interpretations that the needs and their satisfaction in animals and in humans are practically the same. But, such information is very erroneous, therefore it is important to say that a person has special instincts peculiar only to his species, then three basic ones will be considered: the instinct of reproduction, self-preservation and power. Using them, one person is able to subjugate the will of another person and manipulate him for his own purposes.

In the process of upbringing a person, his desire for power and intimacy is suppressed, it is clear for what reasons. Actually, they induce a person to achieve, are a powerful impulse, and can determine the main line of behavior. But because of his life, often a person cannot fully use his abilities, cannot become successful. Because fear controls life, and self-preservation rests on it, from this it turns out that a person is at the mercy of his fear. Proceeding from this, the motivation to rule and procreate gives a person more security than self-preservation based on fear.

From the above, it follows that each person is subject to manipulation and a feeling of fear, but its degree depends on the consciousness of each person. If he understands what is his fear, its cause, he has more opportunities to eliminate it. It also often happens that people who are afraid of something, this is what happens to them sooner or later. But, if the lust for power is very strong, self-preservation becomes weak and this can lead to a tragic conclusion. Also, how many rash, frivolous acts are committed, due to enthusiasm, self-preservation also weakens from it, which sometimes leads to death.

It is important to know about instinct it is, a kind of autopilot. When a person does not control himself, his hobbies, needs, he relieves responsibility for what is happening, and often his behavior becomes primitive and rude. A person who is well aware of himself and his desires is able to resist both manipulation and manipulate himself and more effectively achieve his goals.

Instinct is the life experience of ancestors who had to fight, go through fear and pain in order to survive. Consciousness could not withstand the stress and shifted the difficult emotional experience into sealed in the genetic memory. Therefore, when a person performs instinctive movements, they are filled with a share of anxiety inherited from their ancestors.

The newborn baby is crying because he is afraid, there is no nursing and loving mother with him. A person is afraid that food supplies will be exhausted, because once his ancestors died during the famine. The guy fights for the girl with a competitor, perhaps one of his ancestors could not have a wife and he must fight to ease the inherited fear of being alone.

What is instinct? Man in nature is a link in the transition from an animal to a superhuman being, and his consciousness is also threefold. One part of it relates to the animal world, the other to the human and the third to the divine. Actually, the animal part is inherited, it is unconscious and determines instinctive behavior. Instincts are the baggage of animal experience, that is, one that helped them live and survive, accumulated over millions of years and passed on to humans. Nature protects in the human gene pool the unconditioned instincts and reflexes necessary for the survival of offspring. No one teaches a newborn to scream if he wants to eat or change his underwear. The human instinctive mind is responsible for biological survival, the conscious mind - for maintaining relationships, the supraconscious helps to evolve into an even more intelligent being.

By suppressing and distorting the natural biological instincts, man acquired a lot of energy for the development of the conscious mind, and consequently for scientific and technological progress. It turns out that modern civilization was created and progressed due to repressed instincts. Thus, other sensations were also weakened: sight, hearing, taste. Today, there are many people with hearing problems, vision problems and many overweight people. Modern man has become very distant from his natural habitat, so he practically turns out to be deprived of help from his own oppressed natural instincts and sensations, remaining with nature alone turns out to be helpless and vulnerable.

Natural, innate human instincts can be called neither bad nor good, since they are auxiliary means for human survival. But when a person leads an unreasonable, frivolous lifestyle, satisfying himself with all kinds of comforts, he is not much different from an animal, despite the fact that he knows how to use a telephone and drive a car. It is not without reason that man believes that he is higher than the animal - so he invariably invades the intellect, the conscious mind, into his instincts, into the unconscious.

Types of instincts

All types of instincts can be divided into several groups: reproductive group (sexual and parental), social (conformal consolidation, related consolidation, unrelated isolation, vertical consolidation, horizontal consolidation), adaptation to an evolutionary habitat (constructivist, territorial, landscape preferences, gathering, etc. search, migration, self-limitation of the number of species, fishing and hunting, agricultural and veterinary), communicative (linguistic, facial expressions and gestures, sound non-verbal communication).

Individual vital instincts are focused on the survival of the individual and can be independent or manifest in interaction with other individuals. As already mentioned, instinct is an unconditioned reflex, and the basic instinct is self-preservation, ensuring oneself safety, in the current time. That is, this is a short-term satisfaction, there are more long-term instincts, for example, procreation.

The first group is made up of reproductive instincts. It is only through reproduction that genes have the ability to exist on an evolutionary scale in time, and survival is only an auxiliary stage in reproduction. On the basis of reproductive instincts, social ones were formed. Sexual and parental instincts are two types of reproductive.

The sexual instinct determines the first stage of reproduction - conception. The “quality” of a potential mate is determined through proper genetic conditioning and long-term care for the offspring. The focus on such long-term care reflects the need for paternal support and assistance. In the evolutionary past, a lack of support put the life of a child at risk. The period of the child's helplessness greatly limited the woman's ability to independently procure food, protection, and only a devoted and courageous man could help a woman in all this. Something has changed since then and now it is not uncommon to meet a single woman with a child, or a man who is unable to be a breadwinner for his family.

The parental instinct, in particular the maternal instinct, is the most studied innate program of people. Numerous studies and observations prove that the value of instinct (love for a child, the desire to take care of and care, protect) is prescribed at the biological level.

The second group is social instincts. The value of instinct is expressed in solving long-term tasks for the prosperity of a given species; it helps to support long-term tactics of behavior through the implementation of special behavior that unites several individuals into a single social structure. The peculiarity of such behavior is the readiness of everyone to sacrifice themselves for the sake of universal goals. Often people in such associations are manipulated and used for personal purposes. Social instincts have several subspecies.

Kinship consolidation is the most ancient association based on the genetic unity of the members of a given group. The value of the instinct is that a member of such a consolidation seeks to protect and prosper the entire gene, not just his personality.

Unrelated isolation expresses competition between carriers of foreign genes, which, in turn, contributes to the well-being of one's gene through even greater cohesion and love for its units for each other. The hostility of kin consolidation to unrelated isolation is justified by the fact that populations that delimit themselves from others and are very sharply in conflict with them have stronger family ties within themselves in their group.

Conformal consolidation means a union of individuals in which a leader is not defined, and no one is, in fact, subordinate to anyone, but everyone is ready for some kind of collective action. It is created chaotically, through recognition by one individual from a certain species by another from the same species, and they begin to follow together. Such consolidation occurs because the organism has an instinctive gravitation towards collective existence, and knows that it is much easier, safer and more effective to act together, search for food, and protect each other than wandering alone. Such associations are observed in the simplest living organisms. There are also such consolidations between people, for example, people without a fixed place of residence unite in this way and begin to live together, look for food, share with others.

Vertical consolidation is expressed in the subordination of one person to a large part of the group. Submission is understood here as a restriction of the freedom of action of the subordinate group, which is determined by orders of the individuals leading it, whose freedom of action is unlimited. Such a group is very strong and resembles the consolidation of a single organism, but its members are not always related to each other.

Horizontal consolidation is based on reciprocal (mutually beneficial) altruism. He assumes that there will be some kind of payment or return service for an altruistic act. Therefore, such altruism is not completely selfless, as everyone is used to understanding it.

Kleptomania is widespread not only between people, but also exists in the animal kingdom. A person can use reason, which is able to help a person realize that deception is not promising, in principle. When deception is applied to a potential prey or attacking predator, or war, then it is not considered deception, but a means of survival. Cheating is considered to be when applied to a member of his clan who harbors trust and implies consolidation. The kleptomaniac instinct often manifests itself in children, who are more primitive and consist in more strict vertical consolidations, which involve the aggravation of all instinctive manifestations.

The instincts of adaptation in the evolutionary sphere of habitation, that is, the environment in which the evolution of ancient human ancestors took place, their adaptation. East Africa is considered such an environment, 2.6 million years ago the first people lived there. Circumstances at that time made people look for food, fight for it, survive, and these instincts have been preserved in people to this day, although we have not used them for a long time. But if it happened that humanity was once again in such conditions, people could survive, thanks to the heritage of generations.

The subgroups of instincts included in this group are now not relevant and atavistic, but you need to know about them.

Territoriality - manifests itself in the assignment of a fixed territory to a group or individual, in which it looks for food, water, sleeps. But not all species are aware that they have territory. They do not restrict the access of strangers, and as soon as they appear, they seem to understand from them that this is their territory and begin to defend it. Homo sapiens went beyond this, and he realizes where his home is, and where he is at a party, or where the office is. Following this, there is an opinion that, in fact, thanks to the instinct of territoriality, a person learned to abstract and not get lost in space.

In the instinct of landscape preferences, the main thing is the principle of brachiation. Brachiation is a way of moving in a strip of forest, where you have to move your hands along the branches. This is how humanoid apes move, swinging, as if on a swing, on one branch and jumping to another. This instinct has echoes in some forms of human behavior: rocking babies to calm them down, craving for climbing trees, attractive views from above, and the like.

Instinctive gathering and searching behavior was the first ecological human specialization. What a person found, he ate - fruits, roots, birds, small animals. Hunting appeared much later and was practiced sporadically.

Constructivist instincts are expressed in marking their territory with some kind of man-made construction. Birds have nests, bees have honeycombs, a man begins a hut, then a house. The development of constructive activity began from the manufacture of tools with which it was supposed to build a house. So, man came to the construction of modern structures of a technological civilization.

Migration instincts determine spatial movement in order to find a better place or are forced to do it, through changes in the environment, in which the conditions of stay have changed. Birds or whales, based on their characteristics of the life cycle, migrate depending on the season. A stable migratory way of life is led by nomads, gypsies, in the past - Vikings. Nowadays, many people leave their home country, moving to an unknown country, or to another continent, in search of a better life.

Self-limitation of the number of species is one of the controversial instincts of personality. It is hard to imagine the creation of such long-term and instinctive behavior through natural selection at the level of individuals. The most plausible explanation for this behavior would be "group selection" occurring at the level of populations and groups rather than the level of individuals. But group selection theory has been disproved through the need to recognize that sub-intelligent beings are unlikely to achieve high levels of long-term behavioral goals. Still, behavior that, aimed at self-limiting the species, seems to be too instinctively expressed, is observed in humans and animals.

The meaning of this instinct is expressed through preventing the population from growing without the availability of the necessary resources. It turns on when the excess of the population is felt above a certain norm and its timely inclusion helps to reduce the population to the required level. It can manifest itself through a decrease in the feeling of parental instincts, in an unwillingness to have children, a decrease in caring for children, a lack of interest in children, an increased depressive worldview, a decrease in self-preservation instincts.

In the evolutionary past of the human species, hunting and fishing were not very characteristic, then gathering prevailed. Only over time did they come to this and found that this method gives them more prey, which is much more nutritious. Today they are engaged in hunting only for the sake of entertainment, men try themselves in the role of ancestral hunters, fueled by passion. The specific satisfaction of fishing demonstrates the instinctiveness of this behavior.

Agro- and veterinary cultural activities of ancestors, it is assumed by scientists, since there is no exact data on this. But judging from the symbiotic coexistence of many species, it seems likely that on this connection, it could be that animals were still tamed, and from this, animal husbandry developed. Not everyone knows that not only people, but also individual animals are engaged in agro-veterinary activities. Ants, termites, beetles - they breed mushrooms, which are then consumed, other ants can breed aphids, and eat their excretions. Looking at this, the development of the same instincts in a person seems quite natural. Especially when you consider the fact that there are many people with a gravitation for work on earth, some of them have this profession. It is important to note the fact that the craving for action on earth becomes more active in old age, when other instincts fade away (reproductive, social).

Communicative instincts are realized in the process of information exchange between at least two individuals. They are close to social instincts, but they do not become part of them, since they do not lead to the consolidation of individuals. In almost all unions of living beings, there is communication, like the exchange of messages. It is used a little more widely when looking for a mating partner. This includes the following instincts: facial expressions and gestures, non-verbal sound communication and linguistic.

Facial expressions and gestures are very expressive human instincts. Such behavioral patterns are not far from an unconditioned reflex in their automaticity. It takes a lot of work for a person to suppress or hide true emotions, which are automatically immediately expressed in certain facial expressions or gestures. Changing involuntary gestures and facial muscle tension, trying to portray, as naturally as possible, emotions that do not exist, the process is very complex, and this is possible only in the performance of talented actors.

The way of non-verbal sound communication is somewhat reminiscent of sound communication of animals, and we inherited from humanoid apes. This method of communication is expressed in unexpected screaming, aggressive growling in a moment of rage, moaning in pain, groaning in surprise, and such different sounds are understandable in all cultures. Studies have been carried out proving that monkeys produce sounds that are very similar phonetically, in sounding to human speech.

One of the few instincts confirmed at the neurophysiological level was linguistic. "Universal grammar" (grammatical principles), which is the basis of all languages, is an innate and indispensable phenomenon, the differences between the languages \u200b\u200bof the world are explained as a variety of "tuning" settings of the brain. Therefore, in order to master the language, the child will only need to study the lexical and morphological elements (words and parts), and set the “installation” program, based on some key examples.

Examples of instincts

In the modern world, as well as many centuries ago, the instinct of self-preservation in humans has the same behavioral forms of expression. It becomes obvious, for example, in situations that carry the risk of death or deterioration in health, and when a person rationally accepts the situation as life-threatening. The perceived danger acts on subconscious mental mechanisms, in particular those responsible for self-preservation. A rational understanding, for example, of penetrating radiation, can cause an instinctive fear for one's own life and health, although at that very moment the radiation itself does not affect the senses. The instinctive subconscious stores ready-made stimuli that signal a potentially dangerous situation. These are phobias in relation to spiders, snakes, height, darkness, obscurity, and so on. You can often see how phobias embedded in the subconscious are reflected in the cultural sphere - architecture, art, music.

The instinct of self-preservation in a person is designed in such a way that under any circumstances, as at any cost, a person tries to survive. The human body is designed in such a way that it is ready to respond to any stimuli from the external environment that pose a potential danger. If a person is burned, then he pulls back his hand, if he is cold - he gets dressed, if there is little air in the room - he goes out into the fresh air to renew oxygen supply, if he cannot swim, then, of course, he will not climb far into the water.

Human destiny also depends on a certain level of adaptability. It can be congenital or acquired, it is expressed in the ability of a person to adapt to life situations in different conditions. Such adaptability has a high, medium or low level of development. It is innate skills, these are instincts and reflexes that ensure the adaptability of a person: biological instincts, features of appearance, intellectual inclinations, body structure, physical condition of the body, desire for self-preservation.

The historical need for the continuation and preservation of a kind causes the desire to give birth to a child and raise him. In humans, unlike mammals, the instinctive desire for birth and motherhood sometimes takes on inappropriate forms of manifestation. It can manifest itself in excessive custody of children, even adults and independent, or, conversely, in negligence and irresponsibility towards their own children.

Maternal innate instincts are manifested from the very childhood in girls who like to play mother-daughter, carry and feed a doll, and the like. It is even more pronounced in women who are expecting a child or have already given birth.

Sexual behavior is defined as instinctive, it also expresses the desire to procreate. There is also a controversial idea that the peculiarity of male intimate behavior, sometimes, but not always, is determined by the fact that as a male, he wants to get a woman (female), win her favor and achieve sexual intercourse (which is typical for some animals). It also happens that too easily conquered prey they very soon get bored, and they abandon it. In life, such men are considered inveterate bachelors with a highly developed libido, or in search of the only one inaccessible. Some men take offense at such a comparison with animals, but be that as it may, it makes sense.

The instinctive urge to altruism is expressed in people through the manifestation of kindness and concern for others, it is dominant in their system of instincts. Such people are very selfless, devote their lives to society, help people, volunteer and often choose a profession that matches their desires: doctor, psychologist, lawyer.

People who are actively fighting to defend their personal freedom reveal an example of the instinct of freedom. From early childhood, they reveal protests, when they are told to do something, they try to educate. And this should be distinguished from the usual childish disobedience. Individuals who value freedom pervade this feeling throughout their lives. In adulthood, their sense of stubbornness, predisposition to risk, independence, independence can be transformed into activities associated with the struggle against power, social unrest, bureaucracy. They become politicians, journalists, public figures.

The instincts of self-preservation and procreation are basic, ensuring the physical survival of an individual and a species. The exploratory instinct and the instinct of freedom provide the primary specialization of man. The instincts of dominance and preservation of dignity ensure self-affirmation, self-preservation of a person in psychosocial terms. Together, these instincts provide a person's adaptation in real life. The altruistic instinct socializes the egocentric essence of all other instincts.

Usually, one or several instincts dominate in a person, while the rest are less pronounced, but fully affect the orientation of the personality in any activity.

As a result of testing, the severity of each of the seven basic instincts and what instinct is dominant are determined.

^ I. INSTINCT OF SELF-PRESERVATION
From early childhood, a person of this type manifests a tendency to increased caution, the child does not let the mother leave him for a moment, is afraid of the dark, heights, water, is intolerant of pain (refusal of dental treatment, visits to doctors, etc.).

On the basis of this type, a personality with pronounced egocentricity, anxious suspiciousness, a tendency, under unfavorable circumstances, to obsessive fears, phobias or hysterical reactions can be formed. These are people for whom "Safety and health are above all!", And their motto: "Life is one and there will be no more." The evolutionary expediency of the presence of this type lies in the fact that its carriers, while preserving themselves, are the keepers of the gene pool of the clan, tribe. This type is characterized by the following leading qualities:

Self-centeredness,

Conservatism,

Willingness to sacrifice social needs for your own safety,

Risk denial

Anxiety about your health and well-being.

^ II. INSTINCT OF PROTECTION
It is characterized by a kind of egocentrism, when the "I" is replaced by the concept "We" (by "We" means the family) up to the denial of the "I". Values, goals, life plan are subordinated to one thing - the interests of children and families. Already in childhood, the interests of this type of people are fixed on the family and such a child is only happy when the father and mother have returned from work, the whole family is assembled, everyone is healthy and everyone is in a good mood. He sharply feels the discord in the family, and in this case he may have a depressive neurotic reaction.

These are people who value family interests above all else, and their credo is: "My home is my fortress." The evolutionary expediency of this type is that its carriers are the keepers of the family, keepers of the gene pool of the clan, keepers of life.

This type has the following qualities:

Overlooking your children

Nepotism,

Over-concern for the safety and health of your children,

The tendency to deny your "I" in favor of "We" (family),

Overly anxious about the future of their children.

^ III. ALTRUITIC INSTITUTE
People of this type are characterized by kindness, empathy, caring for loved ones, especially for the elderly, are able to give others the last, even what he himself needs. They are convinced that it cannot be good for everyone if only one person is bad, and their credo is "Kindness will save the world, kindness is above all." And they are evolutionarily keepers of kindness, peace, keepers of life.

The altruistic type is characterized by leading qualities:

Kindness,

Empathy, understanding people,

Unselfishness in relations with people,

Caring for the weak, the sick

Peacefulness.

^ IV. INSTINCT OF RESEARCH
In people of this type, from early childhood, curiosity is noted, the desire to get to the essence in everything, a tendency to be creative. At first, these people are interested in everything, but then they are more and more captured by one passionate hobby. Travelers, inventors, scientists are persons of this type. Their credo is "Creativity and progress are above all". The evolutionary feasibility of this type is obvious.

The research type is inherent in:

A penchant for research,

Tendency to search for something new, innovative in science, art,

The ability to leave a habitable place without hesitation, an established business when new, risky, but interesting cases and tasks appear,

Striving for creativity,

Selflessness in the realization of creative aspirations.

^ V. INSTINCT OF DOMINATION
From early childhood, there is a desire for leadership, the ability to organize a game, set a goal, show the will to achieve it, a personality is formed who knows what she wants and how to achieve what she wants, persistent in achieving the goal, ready for thoughtful risk, able to understand people and stories them behind you. The credo of this type is: "Business and order are above all"; "One is nothing, all is everything"; "It will be good for everyone - it will be good for everyone."

The evolutionary expediency of this type of presence of this type, giving birth to leaders, organizers, politicians, is that they are the keepers of the interests and honor of the whole family.

The dominant type is characterized by:

Inclination for leadership, for power,

Predisposition to solving complex organizational problems,

Priority of career prospects over material incentives,

Readiness for a tough struggle for leadership, for first place,

The priority of the general (the interests of the business, the collective) over the private (the interests of one person).

^ VI. INSTINCT OF FREEDOM
Already in the cradle, a child of this type protests when he is swaddled. The propensity to protest against any restriction of freedom grows with them, for people of this type are characterized by a desire for independence, denial of authorities (parents, teachers), tolerance for pain, a tendency to leave their father's house early, a predisposition to risk, stubbornness, negativity, intolerance of routine, bureaucracy. The credo of such people is: "Freedom is above all!" And they are the keepers of the interests and freedom of everyone, of individuality; they naturally limit the tendencies of persons of the dominant type. They are the keepers of freedom, and with this - life. This type is characterized by:

Tendency to protest, rebellion,

Propensity to change places (denial of everyday life),

Striving for independence

A penchant for reform, revolutionary change,

Intolerance to any form of restrictions, to censorship, to suppression of "I".

^ VII. INSTINCT OF PRESERVATION OF DIGNITY
Already in early childhood, a person of this type is able to catch irony, ridicule and is absolutely intolerant of any form of humiliation. Typical recklessness, willingness to sacrifice everyone in defending their rights, unshakable position "Honor above all else." The instinct of self-preservation in such a person is in last place. In the name of honor and dignity, these people go to Calvary.

Attachment to the family is expressed in the form of preserving the family honor: "There were no scoundrels and cowards in our family." The evolutionary expediency of the presence of this type lies in the fact that its carriers are the keepers of the honor and dignity of the "I", personality, and with this - a life worthy of a person.

People of this type are characterized by:

Intolerance to any form of humiliation,

Willingness to sacrifice well-being and social status in the name of one's own dignity,

Priority of honor and pride over safety,

Uncompromising and straightforward in dealing with leaders,

Intolerance to all forms of violation of human rights (c)

Yes, no.

Physiology of higher nervous activity
Danilova N.N., Krylova A.L.

Reflexes are divided into:

• Conditioned and unconditioned (in fact, there are no completely unconditioned reflexes, these are already superstructures).
• Exteroceptive, interoceptive, and proprioceptive.
• Somatic or motor; autonomic internal organs - digestive, cardiovascular, excretory, secretory et cetera;
• Defensive, or protective, digestive, sexual, indicative.
• Monosynaptic and Polysynaptic.
• Spinal reflexes and brain reflexes: differ in the physical location of the reflex arcs.
• Exciting and Inhibitory.

Man has no instincts. Greater primates have no instincts. There are reactions and associations - reflexes.

An instinct is a complex of motor acts or a sequence of actions characteristic of an organism of a given type, the implementation of which depends on the functional state of the animal (determined by the dominant need) and the current situation. Instinctive reactions are innate in nature, and their high species specificity is often used as a taxonomic trait along with the morphological characteristics of a given animal species /

According to your description, it turns out that there are instincts.

For example, human language / speech is a highly specific instinct for our species. Chomsky's theory of generative grammar convincingly demonstrates how this instinct is uniform (even despite the apparent differences, in practice, due to several "switches"). And there are even genetic correlates of speech behavior: the famous K. family with a genetic disorder (transmitted according to the Mendelian scheme) / attention / changes in words in grammatical forms! in the absence of detectable cognitive impairment.

It is quite incomprehensible why people are not inclined to call human instincts as such.

Flexibility and optional manifestation of each of them? It doesn't stop them from being instincts. In other animals, too, not all instincts are always manifested: if there is an instinct of a higher priority, it works, it may not allow another to manifest. The larger and more complex the system of instincts, the more unnecessarily each of them will manifest itself in each specific situation - the greater the likelihood of a conflict of instincts.

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Human life is based on three basic instincts:

• The instinct of self-preservation
• Hierarchical instinct
• Procreation instinct

Whether we like it or not, willingly or unwillingly, our whole life is essentially these three instincts, on which our survival, social realization 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, diseases, acute and chronic stress.

Hierarchical instinct

It determines our social behavior, our desire to occupy a position in society, success in work, education, striving for career growth, promotion in business, politics, sports, the hierarchy of relationships in a team, family, society, rivalry, intraspecific struggle, intraspecific struggle (women with a woman, a man with a man), clarification of gender relations (man and woman).

Procreation instinct

Determines all of our sexual behavior, sexual identity, 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. So a person spends androgens on a hierarchical instinct, estrogens - on the implementation of sexual function, and homeostasis hormones - on the instinct of self-preservation. All of these hormones are produced from a single precursor.

If we take as 100% all the available progesterone in the human body, then we can conditionally imagine that all three basic instincts should be provided by the hormone approximately 33.3%. Perhaps this is so. But then the level of claims in all three areas should be minimal. With an increase in loads in any of the three directions, a compensatory increase in exactly those hormones that are needed to implement this function will go. This will happen by reducing other hormones. With excessive long-term loads and stresses, this will lead to a 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, her level of social aspirations and the level of stress must be reduced, then testosterone will be used for the production of estrogen, ovulation, a normal menstrual cycle, love, family focus, childbirth, and the level of female diseases will be minimal. The woman will not have a desire to have abortions, and pregnancy and childbirth will proceed favorably.

But the continuation of the human race is not entirely a biological process.

Many times in my lectures I asked the same question: "Tell me, please, 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 work, a stable source of income. Everything is confused in people's heads.

No one has ever answered this question as follows: "When I meet a man (woman) from whom I want to have children!"

If in living nature the desire to give birth to offspring is rigidly determined by the female's sexual behavior - her egg matures, and the male responds to this with sexual arousal, 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, like a nest for offspring, money, as a source of food for future offspring, social guarantees for a woman (maternity leave, child allowance, preserving her job, and in general, it was not bad for a woman to be married). In this context, the husband acts as the guarantor of providing a woman with her vital biological needs, i.e. provides her instinct for procreation not only with her sperm, but also with material wealth. And marriage for a woman in this sense is biological need, not social.

I have had patients for whom marriage was not only sufficient, but also a necessary condition (a stamp in a passport - this should be legal marriage) for the onset of pregnancy. There is a contingent of women who are able (unconsciously) to suppress their ovulation so that until they solve all their social problems, they cannot afford to get pregnant. This is an uncontrolled process (unconscious).

On the surface, there will be a woman's concern about the absence of children, and she will even go to doctors and be examined. But in fact, ovulation and the process of reproduction itself will be taboo (suppressed) by social desires (to finish building a house, buy a car, distribute debts, etc. etc.). Therefore, in order to help such women find female happiness, her long-term work on herself is required, and preferably accompanied by a psychotherapist.

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