On 1/11/06, Tim Heald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > BTW we are not just animals and instinct. We are humans, men. > We are rational. We can use reason. This argument is insane.
That's a philosophical belief based on human biases. Scientifically, the word "instinct" is a sort of nebulous catch-all for behaviors who's roots we don't understand the cause of yet. As we continue to make advancements in things like the genome project and neurosciences, processes which have been attributed to instinct become better understood. There certainly does seem to be a compelling difference in the psychologies of humans and other animals, and there's still a lot to learn, but concepts like "rational thought" and "instinct" are based on early Greek philosophical concepts used to explain a jumble biological processes that still aren't all scientifically understood yet. A classic work on some of this is On Aggression by Konrad Lorenz published in the mid '70s. And as you can imagine, a metric shitload of knowledge discovery has happened in the intervening decades and we still have a long way to go before anything is absolutely understood. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:191704 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
