We may be the most complex life form, but we are still mammals. There is no ontological difference between our instincts and those of other species. It is a matter of degree of brain & nervous system development and complex language ability which together permit self-reflection and abstract thinking. Some humans are nearly zombies; some are highly aware and communicative. The continuim is like the bell curve, with most in the middle range.
Enjoy the illusions of totally free thought & free will. They are anthropogenic creations, and are our achillies heel as well as natures eventual way of culling us back from overshoot and biosphere destruction.
Next post will be an analytic synopsis by another chap of the book The Spirit in the Gene which I had reviewed in a somewhat lighter way. My review is on the GPCO website linked in my signature file at end.
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I would argue that animal "curiosity" is instinctive, whereas human curiosity is reasoned. One cannot "turn off" instinct, but Man can certainly cut back his curiosity if there is a possible adverse result. But, in my mind the issue is open. I think we can leave it as a subset of the first assumption - but curiosity is certainly something one cannot imagine being absent from human behavior.
Or for that matter the second assumption. Does curiosity stimulate finding the better mousetrap?
An animal pokes around his territory looking for anything of interest. Is that curiosity or instinctive behavior? A human wonders why the sky is blue. That is curiosity. While curiosity can kill you, maybe it's the way we have increased our chances of survival.
Then there is Arthur's point about self-evident truths and the way we search for them. Certainly we have replaced instinctual responses with habits. We do things in a certain way because we know that we always get the desired result.
Habits are better than instincts, because we can change them, if it becomes necessary. Habits based on "self-evident truths" are probably best and indeed we do try to find such truths.
-- http://magma.ca/~gpco/ http://www.scientists4pr.org/ Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.—Kenneth Boulding
