There’s a lot of talk about human instincts, but sometimes we don’t know exactly what we mean by that. It is a term taken from biology that reminds us that we are an evolutionary branch of mammals.
We know that much of this animal continues to work on us, however, there are also some peculiarities that take us away from this biological world.
- We often hear about human survival instincts and yet we know that suicide is a daily reality in today’s world.
- Sexual instincts are also mentioned.
- And at the same time we are informed of data on impotence or other dysfunctions.
“When we are on the edge of an abyss and the night is dark, the wise rider lets go of the reins and surrenders to the horse’s instinct. “Assembling Valdés Palace?
As we can see, the subject of human instincts is not simply biological, so there are a number of cultural and symbolic vectors that influence all this, in fact, there are also currents of thought that do not speak of instinct, but of impulses Let us take a closer look.
From a biological point of view, instincts are patterns of behavior that have the peculiarity of being hereditary and common to all species.
The reason for these instincts is adaptation, and they are programmed in the brain, protect and protect us, and correspond to automatic or immediate reactions.
Biological theory emphasizes that we have some basic instincts that are:
They would be fundamental human instincts. However, this approach does not explain why, for example, a person stops eating because he feels very obese, but no, this would be contrary to the automation involved in instincts.
Sigmund Freud said that in humans there are no instincts, but specific forces of the species that he called impulses, which are psychic impulses, composed of a state of excitement and physical tension.
The impulse seeks to discharge or suppress this state of tension, for this it looks for an object that allows it to get rid of it, for example, hunger is the impulse and food is the object that releases this tension.
Let’s go back to the question: why do some people, for example, not eat?Freud proposes that not all human impulses are benign.
For Freud, there are two basic impulses: Eros and Thanatos. Eros’ drive includes all impulses related to self-preservation and sexuality. Thaanatos corresponds to the impulse of death and includes violent, chaotic, disintegrating impulses and the desire to return to the inanimate state. .
Impulses seek not to meet immediate needs, but to meet their mental representation.
There are other theories about human instincts that seek to establish a middle ground between biological theory and pulse theory, basically categorizing impulses differently, taking into account aspects of both theories.
According to these approaches, human instincts are divided into
Popularly, other human instincts, such as maternal instinct, are also mentioned, where women are always expected to love children. We also talk about the instinct to revulsion or reject what disgusts us.
Which of these theories about human instincts is the most correct?There is no definitive agreement on this.