Instinct

Steven Pinker, published author and Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, wrote an article for the New York Times that was published on January 18, 2008. The article was titled “The Moral Instinct” and was an attempt to shed some light on how morality really works. The article begins with a jarring comparison of Mother Theresa, Bill Gates, and Norman Borlaug and how the average mind probably automatically associates Mother Theresa as the most admirable, although she…

On January 13th, 2008, experimental psychologist and human nature author Steven Pinker wrote an article for the New York Times entitled, “The Moral Instinct.” This article insinuates that all humans have morals as a sixth sense, lodged into their brain. Pinker also suggests that moralization is, in a sense, universal around the world. The article is broken down into several sections in which Pinker effectively explains each subtopic and provides sufficient examples explaining his reasoning.…

In the chapter four of The Willpower Instinct, the author Kelly McGonigal talks about human morals and the consequences we bear as a result of falling into brain traps. In the chapter she uses simple analogies to help us understand our impulses. The chapter talks about how strong morals can cause epic failures and create misunderstandings. The author describes in great details the concept of Moral Licensing and the effects of it. Researchers defined it as a right you giving yourself to make…

THE POWER OF INSTINCT The Call of the Wild a dog story, Buck a splendid California ranch dog. He was stolen and sold into Alaska, to become a sled-dog in the gold rush. “In the primitive” he quickly learns “the law of club and fang” jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial. His first experience on the Alaskan coast brings home the nature of the eternal struggle. A friendly dog was knocked down in a fight and instantly “she was buried screaming with…

superior, reason or instinct? There are many situations where one of these things better than the other, but there are also times when neither of them are more important. However, reason is superior over instinct because instinct can lead to moral injustices like torture and punishment, you can think of a better strategy before you do something, and it is the main thing that separates our species from other animals. The first reason why reasoning is superior…

surving my life I use natural instincts to keep my life safe and to be mentally stronger than others to survive. Natural instincts occur when you have to act quickly or having the gut feeling that something is not right in your surroundings. In the short story, “To Build a Fire”, the author stated, “ The feeling grew stronger until it became very painful, but the man welcomed the pain” (London 74). The insinct the man felt was pain and pain overcame his strength but his instinct was to take…

People often trust their instincts. The most common experience is the sense that people know things before they are to happen, or they feel a hunch. Despite not being able to clarify the exact reasoning for every individual's gut feeling people still believe (5 Gut Instincts You Shouldn’t Ignore). Matthew Toren, argues that life events can trigger gut feelings. The instructions that people feel is…

accept others and treat them with fairness and respect. On the contrary, if a white person is brought up on biased views, they are less likely to see others of a different race equally. Relating back to Steven Pinker’s “The Moral Instinct”, much of one’s own “moral instinct” is based on one’s society and what is deemed acceptable in said…

Introduction The book I chose to write this report on is titled The Belief Instinct, The Psychology of Souls, Destiny, and the Meaning of Life written by Jesse Bering and published on February 7, 2011. This book speaks about exactly those topics explaining the concept of what our minds can perceive and why they can analyze such behavior that is not a physical characteristic, but something hidden from the human eye. The Belief Instinct follows a fascinating trail that derives what leads human…

traits that all humans possess. With certain aspects of human nature, many individuals may be inhibited to act for his own self-interest for fear of ridicule and distaste from others. However, couldn’t acting in a way that satisfies this primal instinct also be considered in the interest of the individual? In this essay I will discuss this paradoxical question of whether human nature inhibits or encourages the actions of the individual, and conclude that the answer cannot be definitively…