Instinct - what is it, examples of human instincts

Instinct is a person’s innate tendencies towards complex forms of automatic behavior that satisfy certain needs of the body. In a narrow sense, instinct is defined as a set of hereditarily determined actions. It manifests itself in behavioral acts aimed at searching for food, self-preservation, achievement, and the desire to continue one’s family. Instinct is an unconditioned reflex that forms the principles of animal behavior. Higher animals in their individual development come to modify basic instincts, which can achieve more complex expressions of behavior. Human instincts, in addition to being biologically oriented, that is, satisfying the needs necessary for basic existence, go further and involve instincts that satisfy personal needs and intentions (power, dominance, communication).

Reflexes

Reflex is a mechanism for realizing instinct.
In essence, instinct is a complex of unconditioned reflexes. A person is given 15 reflexes at birth. They are divided into three groups: oral, motor, grasping. Most of them die off during the first year of a child's life. Other reflexes – conditioned, acquired as a result of learning – become vitally important. We look around when crossing the road, not because of the instinct of self-preservation, but because we have been taught. We pull our hand away from the hot kettle because we once got burned.

And the mind also comes into play. People understand that it is not advisable to give birth every year. And in general, many people prefer career and personal growth. The social part suppresses instincts.

Of the unconditional instincts, the most influential instinct remains only the “herd” instinct. The human crowd is susceptible to a number of mechanisms, including infection and imitation. A sense of community or herdism can turn a group into a chaotic crowd and deprive a person of individuality.

Differences from animals

The most basic difference is that a person is able to control or suppress his needs, especially in those moments when they contradict the law or rules of behavior. With various mental disorders, a person loses the ability to control, which manifests itself, for example, in excessive consumption of food, that is, overeating, or, conversely, refusal of it in case of anorexia, promiscuity, any type of addiction, etc. In such cases, a person becomes like an animal whose main instincts are preservation and procreation.

Animals do not know how to suppress their reflexes, they have no concept of morality, therefore a cat or dog during the period of heat is not selective in choosing a partner; on the contrary, the more of them there are, the higher the probability of having offspring.

Predators kill without feeling pity, just to get enough and feed their young; this, by the way, sometimes doesn’t really distinguish us from animals. Unfortunately, many people are capable of murder for their own gain. And in some ways, animals turn out to be more “humane”, in those cases when they show unspeakable fidelity, creating only one pair in their entire lives, and sometimes they are even ready to die if they lose a partner, or spend the rest of their days alone.

Human instincts

Man is a complex creature, which can be explained by the example of the transformation and complication of instincts over the course of his life. A person is born with biological needs that are dictated by instincts - automatic actions aimed at satisfying the needs of the body. However, a person lives in a society where there are its own rules, norms, traditions and other aspects. He is exposed to education, training, influence, which allows instincts to fade into the background.

Instincts do not disappear and do not disappear. Sometimes a person even learns to stop them and control them. As one gains experience and shapes one's life, a person's instincts transform. If you notice a person behaving inappropriately in a stressful situation, it means that he has not yet developed a mechanism that would restrain his instinctive behavior. However, there are individuals who have already learned to remain calm in situations that threaten them with death or require fertilization (sexual intercourse).

Thus, human instincts do not disappear anywhere, but they begin to obey certain fears, worldviews, conditioned reflexes and even social norms when an individual learns to get involved in the process in time to slow down his instinctive actions and quickly transfer them to other actions.

Instincts are given to absolutely all people and remain for life. They cannot be called either good or bad. Instincts help a person, first of all, to survive, otherwise his birth and existence become meaningless. On the other hand, instinctive actions are often considered unacceptable in a society where its own laws and frameworks of behavior have been developed. Therefore, a person must learn to control his instinctive impulses and transfer energy to perform actions acceptable by society.

This is what distinguishes humans from animals - conscious control, when instincts exist and continue to help a person survive. However, the individual is able to control himself and not obey instinctive energy if it is inappropriate in a particular case.

What it is

Until now, this concept is interpreted differently by various scientific movements, and in relation to humans it is so complicated that it is impossible to understand without certain preparation.

One of the first relatively precise definitions of instincts was given by William James.

He defined instinct as the ability to act in such a way as to achieve certain goals without prior training and analysis of the situation.

A simple example: a spider weaves a web. It does this thanks to its innate instinct for obtaining food, and this insect is not at all concerned with the mathematical relationship between the length and shape of individual patterns, but this relationship is clearly present.

And this ability is only for a spider. Let's say a person, with all his intelligence and education, is able to weave something similar after lengthy calculations and tests.

Hegel even called instinct unconscious thinking, this is partly true, but here many disagree, placing instincts closer to reflexes, and not to the ability to think.

Thus, instinctivity is, most often, behavior, the meaning and characteristics of which are already inherent in nature and should not be comprehended.

And instinct is a set of innate tendencies and aspirations that are expressed in the form of automatic behavior.

Classification of instincts and its practical application.

A. Protopopov offers his scientific classification of human instincts. We can highlight the most significant human instincts for life and consider them in detail: 1. 2. Territorial instinct. 3. Orienting instinct. 4. Reproduction instinct 5. Parental instinct. 6. Hierarchical instinct 7. 8. Self-preservation instinct 9. Freedom instinct 10. Altruistic instinct

In addition to instincts, modern technologies can instill in a person viral artificial behavior that is harmful to him and works against instinctive programs, a kind of information diseases. Separately in human behavior it is necessary to highlight information diseases - viral programs of life that distinguish him from other species of animals. Different people have different innate strength of instincts, some have a predominant hierarchical instinct and strive for power, some have a strong orienting instinct and he chooses science, someone has a developed instinct for freedom, and he constantly travels…. All human instincts work together, and priorities change over time.

By humans, it is also based on innate behavioral programs; ethologist V.R. Dolnik began to describe these programs in detail. can be analyzed from an ethological point of view.

Human behavior is complex, but the list of instincts given is sufficient and necessary for understanding 90% of human behavior.

VII. “Dignitophilic type” (instinct to preserve dignity)

Already in early childhood, a person of this type is able to grasp irony, ridicule and is absolutely intolerant of any form of humiliation. Characterized by recklessness, readiness to sacrifice everything in defending one’s rights, and an unshakable position “Honor is above all.” The self-preservation instinct of such a person is in last place. In the name of honor and dignity, these people go to Calvary without hesitation. Attachment to the family is expressed in the form of preserving family honor: “There were no scoundrels or cowards in our family.” The evolutionary expediency of having this type lies in the fact that its bearers are the guardians of the honor and dignity of the “I”, the individual, and with it. - a life worthy of a person.

The “digitophilic type” is 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 direct in relations with leaders;
Intolerance to all forms of violation of human rights.

What are instincts

Instincts are understood as automatic, conditioned actions that are given to all people from birth and do not require their conscious control. Basically, instincts are aimed at the survival of the individual and the preservation of their species. Thus, a person instinctively begins to look for food or water when he is hungry or thirsty, runs away from danger or enters into battle when he is in danger, and has sexual relations with the opposite sex in order to obtain offspring.

However, psychologists point out that humans have many more instincts than the animal world. Human instincts are the desire for power, dominance, and communication. It should be noted that the most important instinct, which has many forms of manifestation, is the desire to maintain balance. The so-called homeostasis - when a person wants to experience peace and tranquility - is one of the basic aspirations.

Instinct is not a goal, as some people might think. The fact that a person consciously desires and wants to achieve something is not an instinct. Here a person simply arranges his life, which can exist anyway if he does nothing.

It is necessary to distinguish instincts from internal fears, complexes, feelings that develop in a person as he lives. They are also called acquired or social fears. For example, the feeling of guilt is an acquired quality that affects a person at a subconscious level. However, no one is born with a feeling of guilt; it is developed in people as they grow and develop.

You should also highlight such common fears as:

Fear of not being recognized.
Fear of criticism.
Fear of loneliness, etc.

These are all social fears. They are more related to a person’s mental harmony than to his survival.

However, there are fears that to some extent can be attributed to instinctive. Thus, fear of sharks or spiders, fear of heights - these fears can be developed, but they are based on the instinct of self-survival, when a person must first of all take care of the safety of his health and life.

Animal instincts

F. N. Gonobolin. “Psychology” Publishing house “Prosveshchenie”, M., 1973 OCR Biografia.Ru Given with minor abbreviations

Observing the behavior of some animals, one might think that they have a highly developed psyche, which makes it possible to perform very intelligent actions. Even insects often amaze us with the expediency of their “activities.” The bee constructs honeycombs of a shape that makes them the most spacious with the least amount of material. Only by applying complex mathematical calculations can these very rational forms be found. Some species of ants, called "cattle breeder" ants, "breed" aphids, which they use as milk cows. Aphids suck sugar from plants, which is converted into a nutritious liquid in their intestines. By drumming on aphids with their antennae, the ants force them to secrete this liquid and eat it. Young aphids, hatched from eggs, are placed by ants on the leaves of plants, where the aphids feed and grow. In autumn and winter, ants place aphids and their eggs in places where they cannot die from the cold. An interesting fact from the life of the so-called burrowing wasp (sphex). She attacks a cricket that is taller than her, knocks it onto its back and paralyzes it with stings. Then the wasp drags the victim by the antennae into a previously prepared hole and lays an egg under the skin of the cricket, after which it seals the hole. The wasp egg hatches into a larva that feeds on the body of a paralyzed but still living cricket. The actions of birds during migration seem surprising. They unerringly find ways to distant lands, and choose the most convenient and safe route. At night, birds fly over the seas, never losing their way. Beavers living along the banks of rivers amaze with their art of construction. They dig complex underground burrows with exits underwater. To prevent their “secret” entrances from being exposed as the water level in the river drops, beavers build dams from trees and silt (they cut down trees, gnawing the trunks at the base). Animals repair damaged structures in a timely manner. Sometimes they observe how animals are treated for diseases. Thus, a dog suffering from worms finds Chernobyl grass and eats it, although it is known that the dog is not a herbivore. There are many examples of such “intelligent” behavior of animals. But this is not intelligence. These are instincts.

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Types of instincts

There are many types of instincts:

The instinct of self-preservation is the most basic and initial. Every child begins to cry if there is no mother or the person who constantly takes care of him nearby. If a person’s instinct of self-preservation does not fade away over time under the influence of public education, then he becomes cautious and prudent. Gambling, risky people commit destructive acts when they jump with a parachute or climb into the cages of predatory animals. Depending on the degree of self-preservation instinct, a person will perform certain actions.
Continuation of the family. This instinct first manifests itself at the level of the desire for the parents’ family to remain intact and not be destroyed, and then the person himself begins to desire to create his own family and have children. This instinct also has different levels of manifestation. There are people who control their sexual desires and remain faithful to their only marriage partners, and there are people who are unwilling or unable to control sexual lust, so they take mistresses or do not create families at all in order to be able to copulate with a large number of members of the opposite sex .
Study. As the human body gets stronger, it begins to study the world around it. Curiosity becomes an instinct that is aimed at studying the world around him, the desire to understand it and begin to interact with it, which will also allow him to live harmoniously and preserve his life.
Dominance. A person experiences an internal need to have power, to lead other people, to control and manage. This instinct manifests itself in people to varying degrees.
Independence and freedom. These instincts are also innate, when every child resists any attempt to swaddle him, limit his actions or prohibit him. Adults also do everything to gain maximum freedom and independence in the world in which they are forced to live.
Adaptation. This instinct can be combined with the instinct of research, since a person first studies the world around him, and then begins to adapt to it in order to develop such skills and form such knowledge that will help him effectively survive in the existing conditions.
Communicative. A person can be alone, but he gravitates more towards a herd existence, when he can communicate, conduct joint business and solve problems at the expense of others.

V. “Dominant type” (dominance instinct)

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, is persistent in achieving the goal, ready to take calculated risks, able to understand people and stories them behind you. The credo of this type is: “Business and order above all”; “One is nothing, all is everything”; “It will be good for everyone - it will be good for everyone.” The evolutionary expediency of having this type, which gives birth to leaders, organizers, and politicians, is that they are the guardians of the interests and honor of the entire family.

The “dominant type” is characterized by:

Tendency to leadership, to power;
Predisposition to solve complex organizational problems;
Priority of prospects for career growth over material incentives;
Readiness for a tough fight for leadership, for first place;
The priority of the general (the interests of the business, the team) over the private (the interests of one person).

Maternal instinct is a fiction

People (and representatives of our group in general) do not have a maternal instinct. Of course, even during gestation and after the birth of the baby, the body of each female individual undergoes strong changes. A gradual increase in the level of hormones, from human chorionic gonadotropin at first to prolactin in the end, can directly or indirectly affect the pituitary gland and hypothalamus, changing behavior: the animal becomes more stress-resistant, trust in others increases, the desire to create a “nest” and take care of someone becomes more intense. or. However, this is not a mandatory program, so the listed sensations in pregnant women may manifest themselves with varying strengths or be absent altogether.

IV. "Research type"

From early childhood, people of this type are characterized by curiosity, a desire to get to the essence of everything, and a tendency to creativity. At the beginning, these people are interested in everything, but then they become more and more captivated by one passion. Travelers, inventors, scientists are people of this type. Their credo is “Creativity and progress are above all.” The evolutionary feasibility of this type is obvious.

The “research type” is characterized by:

A penchant for research;
Tendency to search for new things, innovation in science, art, etc.;
The ability to leave a settled place and established business without hesitation when new, risky, but interesting activities and tasks appear;
Striving for creativity;
Selflessness in realizing creative aspirations.

How birds find their way south

Speaking of birds. Twice a year, migratory birds accomplish something truly grandiose, if not impossible, and it is not only about overcoming vast distances, but also about choosing the direction of migration. They use many sources of information: the position of the sun and stars, some landmarks, and the planet’s magnetic field.

It seems that this is true instinct: having never been to a wintering place, the bird feels the need to fly exactly there. But in fact, young individuals do not immediately understand where they need to go, and only over time they comprehend the all-wise science of navigation. However, how this happens still remains a mystery. In some species, youngsters simply follow their flock, studying the route, while in others, apparently, the ability to choose the right direction is genetic (if you cross birds with different types of migration, the offspring may get lost).

So instinct is instinct, but it still needs to be learned. But the need to migrate clearly manifests itself instinctively: when the length of daylight changes, physiological changes are triggered in the birds’ bodies, which prompt them to prepare for migration, and then to fly.

Are people completely devoid of instincts?

For a long time, scientists said that we have only one real instinct: when unexpectedly meeting a sympathetic person, representatives of different cultures raised their eyebrows for ⅙ seconds the same way. Moreover, children blind from birth did the same at the sound of a familiar and pleasant voice.

But in 2020, an article was published whose authors state that, apparently, the fear of spiders and snakes without a twinge of conscience can also be called instinctive. This was tested on innocent babies who had never encountered either animal: the children were shown a series of images (flowers and spiders, snakes and fish) similar in color and shape. And it turned out that when looking at “dangerous” pictures, the pupils dilated more strongly. This indicates the launch of the norepinephrine system, which is activated in response to a frightening stimulus.

Researchers have decided that fear of dangerous animals may be embedded in us at the genetic level.

It was more profitable for ancient man to be scared and immediately run away from a potentially poisonous animal. This knowledge somehow took root and, apparently, has survived to this day. So it’s no wonder that arachnophobia and ophiophobia (fear of spiders and snakes, respectively) are constantly included in the list of the most common fears of mankind.

Of course, sometimes you want to justify behavior by referring to the call of nature or attributing everything to biological heritage, but do not forget: for many thousands of years, man has been shaped by society; we have become what we are thanks to constant learning and thinking. All this helped us survive and begin to dominate the world. A person’s instincts have disappeared a long time ago, and even if it seems that this particular action is precisely dictated by nature, no, someone just has problems with self-control.

What is this

A long time ago, in Ancient Greece, thinkers and simply smart men noticed that it is human nature to react and behave in the same way in unsafe conditions. The instincts themselves are in the hemocode, and they consist of reflexes, which in turn are:

Conditional -
that is, those that a person acquired during his life. The simplest example is when you turn on the light as soon as you enter the room. You were not born with this knowledge and habit, but acquired it as you grew older. And now you don’t even notice how your hand reaches for the switch.
Unconditional,
respectively, those that we received at birth. It’s rare that someone doesn’t withdraw their hand after touching a hot frying pan or iron, right? This is an unconditioned reflex.

Instincts can be influenced by religion, law, norms and rules of behavior, education or lack thereof. For example, in a family where parents abuse overprotection, controlling every step of the child, then what kind of independence can we talk about? He won’t really understand in which situations he should be careful, and in which, on the contrary, he should show up.

Such stories most often have two versions of events.

First: a child, growing up, remains to live with his parents, since in order to create a family, you need at least a little independence and the ability to rely on yourself.

Second: he tries in every possible way to escape, becomes uncontrollable and aggressive towards those who care for him. The stories of the second option usually end more successfully.

To make it clearer how instincts can be influenced, let’s first look at what they are.

Do humans have them?

They exist, scientists do not argue with this, only some call them innate motor abilities, although this is not entirely accurate.

Reflexes can also be innate, but they differ from instincts .

A reflex is a reaction of a living creature to an external stimulus.

They come in two types:

unconditional ones are laid down from birth: we almost unconsciously pull back our hand when touching something hot or when exposed to electric current, stretch our arms in the direction of the fall, etc.;
conditioned ones are acquired during life (everyone here, of course, will remember the experiments of Academician Pavlov), they also develop in people, for example, when entering a dark room, we reflexively reach for the switch and turn on the lighting.

Human instincts are characteristics of his species and differ from the instincts of animals.

For example, we can take, say, the instinct of procreation . In all creatures with male and female individuals, the mating season begins with the male's desire to attract a female or vice versa.

In animals this process is simpler. Let's say a black grouse performs a certain dance on a lek, which tells the female that he, figuratively speaking, wants to get to know her. The nightingale does the same, performing a certain calling trill.

Both the dance and the singing of the bird in these cases never change; this is an unchanging ritual .

Now let's remember what a person is capable of to attract the woman he likes and start a family with her.

There are countless options, thinking here works, as they say, to its fullest, but still it is a manifestation of the same instinct, only at a higher level.

Theory

Some scientists believe that humans have no instincts at all, only reflexes and an innate ability to perform certain actions in a certain situation. But this, in essence, is instinct, only the term is somewhat expanded.

The theory of instinct in humans and animals highlights several of its features :

instinctive behavior does not require previous learning;
it is species-typical (this applies to a greater extent to animals) - each species has its own genetically programmed norm of behavior;
Behavior at the level of instincts is not only genetically determined, but develops along with human development.

There are different opinions regarding the last statement. Some consider human instincts to be only innate.

But most scientists agree that they can be acquired depending on the type of activity, habitat and behavior of others.

Acquired instincts are not primary instincts, but can be fixed just as firmly in a person’s consciousness.

Do maternal and paternal instincts exist?

Many scientists puzzled over the concept of instinct, and a huge amount of scientific work was carried out. The famous scientist Garbuzov structured the types of this gift of nature. He defined the basic instincts, but they did not include the concepts of maternal and paternal instinct. This result of his work was criticized by some, supported by others. It is generally accepted that these concepts are considered conditioned instincts, since they do not manifest themselves in everyone. Also, caring for one’s offspring can be interpreted as an instinct for self-preservation or procreation.

forms. This

A slightly different phenomenon (and not always associated with the birth of a baby) is considered paternal instinct. This is considered a more socially determined phenomenon, which is associated with the norms of modern society, focusing on family values.

III. "Altruistic type"

People of this type are characterized by kindness, empathy, caring for loved ones, especially the elderly, and are able to give the last to others, even what they themselves need. 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 evolutionary guardians of kindness, peace, guardians of life.

The “altruistic type” is characterized by leading qualities:

Kindness;
Empathy, understanding of people;
Unselfishness in relationships with people;
Caring for the weak and sick;
Peacefulness.

The human life program is the implementation of instincts and the balance of life. Calculation.

The human life program consists of a dozen life subprograms that implement human instincts. Their implementation may depend on a clear understanding of these programs. The scheme for digitizing human life is quite simple. Accounting can be carried out both in economic indicators and in time expenditure.

Human consumption of resources on instincts

1. Food instinct -> Nutrition program -> Habits: buying food, dishes and cutlery, food preparations, detergents...

2. Territorial instinct —> Personal Territory Program —> Habits: all expenses related to housing, furniture, equipment, repairs, rent, cottage,..

3. Orienting instinct—>Searching and creating information—>Habits: telephone, TV, radio, Internet, printed materials, disks, computer, theaters...

4. Reproduction instinct -> Reproduction program -> Habits: search for marriage partners, cosmetics and perfumes, fitness and bodybuilding, plastic surgery...

5.Parental instinct -> Parental program -> Habits: all expenses for children: food, treatment, education,...

6. Hierarchical instinct -> Social rank program -> Habits: clothes and shoes, education, clubs, parties, self-promotion, luxury, events..

7. Instinct of aggression -> Program of aggression -> Habits: sports shows, boxing hunting, collecting weapons, fishing, rallies, demonstrations, political associations...

8. Instinct of self-preservation —> Self-preservation program —> Habits: security system, healthy lifestyle training, medical services, medications, physical education, dietary supplements

9. Instinct of freedom -> Freedom program -> Habits: all travel expenses, car, migration, emigration, work abroad, tourism. 10. Viral programs of life -> Habits: alcohol, tobacco, overeating, gambling, computer games,…

A more detailed example of calculation is given in the article Life Balance.

The entire pattern of human behavior and performance results constitutes a small database with an objective analysis of the course of life.

Life Course Database

Types of instincts

The following types of instincts are considered:

Reproductive: parental and sexual.
Social: related, conformal, vertical and horizontal consolidation, kleptomania, unrelated isolation.
Adaptation to the environment: territorial, search and gathering, constructive, migration, limiting the number of species, veterinary and agricultural, landscape preferences, hunting and fishing.
Communicative: gestures and facial expressions, non-verbal, linguistic.

Instincts are embedded in every individual. They can manifest themselves both independently and in interaction with other people. In turn, they are aimed exclusively at satisfying physiological needs. That is, instincts are short-term in the period of their manifestation (as soon as a person has satisfied his desires, the instinct to perform the desired action disappears).

The first group includes the instincts of reproduction and the manifestation of parental qualities. A person needs not only to impregnate a woman so that she can have a child, but also to support and help the child during the period of his helplessness (otherwise he would die). The absence of these instincts would have already destroyed humanity, since people would not reproduce and would not take care of their own offspring.

The second group includes social instincts that encourage each person to unite with other people. The absence of this incentive would lead to the death of the individual, who would not be able to cope with the entire burden of the environment. By uniting in groups, a person instinctively agrees to some suppression of himself, subordination, and adherence to hierarchy. In such a situation, it is very easy to manipulate those who seek to preserve the group.

A person first of all strives to preserve his genome. Therefore, he unites into families. At the same time, there is aggression and competition with those who are not family members. A person fights to preserve the purity of his gene.

In addition, the individual always strives to unite with another person. Cooperation is where no one is subordinate to anyone. However, people unite because it is much easier to complete a task or solve a problem together than individually.

By uniting, people create:

Vertical consolidation - when an individual agrees to obey and infringe on his freedom in order to be part of a group. The team has a leader and obeys clear rules that cannot be destroyed.
Horizontal consolidation is when people unite of their own free will on the basis of altruism. A person will do something good for the sake of another individual in order to subsequently receive some kind of benefit or help from him. We are not talking about selfless altruism here.

When in contact with his opponents, a person exhibits kleptomania - he deceives, robs, and steals. This is considered quite normal from the biological side, when a person takes care of himself and his loved ones, brings them what he could take from others.

Instincts to adapt to the environment are irrelevant today. However, in the old days, a person always sought to find a place where it would be convenient for him to survive and satisfy his needs.

When uniting with people, a person is forced to look for ways to communicate with them. Verbal and non-verbal signs are used here. If previously they were primitive, then over time society created its own language that helps people understand each other. This makes them civilized people, although from birth a person does not know his language.

Sexual instinct or desire?

As we've discovered, instinct is often confused with desires and needs - especially when it comes to sexual desire. It would seem so easy to give in to the call of nature, hiding behind the great goal of reproduction, and leave your genes everywhere. And yet, “basic instinct” is nothing more than a person’s simple desire to receive pleasure (after all, almost every one of us first discovers masturbation, and only then sex with a partner).

If the need for intercourse was truly instinctive, then all people on Earth would do it in exactly the same way and, moreover, there would be a single signal of readiness on both sides (perhaps life would become easier).

Mammals are once again paying the price for big brains - and they even have to learn sex. Animals raised in captivity often do not perceive “signs of attention” from potential partners, and their attempts at physical intimacy are regarded as aggression and violence. Different-sex macaques raised outside the pack will most likely begin to groom each other (the classic program is mutual grooming and cuddling), but are unlikely to understand how and why to have sex. And if they do understand, then the female will face the next test - the birth of a baby and the high probability of its early death, because mammals have no instincts.

Human instincts

Every person has instincts. They are the basic and first driving forces that contribute to survival. However, over time, a person suppresses them by learning socially acceptable behavior, which becomes a habit. Even in such a situation, instincts do not disappear or be forgotten. Sometimes you can notice how people behave inappropriately in specific situations. What does this mean?

Instincts do not disappear anywhere, they are simply suppressed by conditioned reflexes or conscious, volitional activity. If the blocking system does not work in a particular situation, then the person begins to behave instinctively. He does not become crazy, but simply acts automatically, where the only goal is protection or survival.

As development progresses, instinctive manifestations may change. However, they always remain in a person. The basic instincts are:

Self-preservation.
Power.
Reproduction.

If a person is subject to his instincts, then he is easy to control.

The peculiarity of instincts is that they can suppress each other. Let's take the example of sexual infidelity, when a man takes the risk of sleeping with a woman, not being sure that her husband will not find them. The instinct of reproduction suppresses the instinct of self-preservation, but they can then switch if a husband appears (the person will stop having sex and begin to protect himself).

Human behavior under the influence of instincts can be very different from the actions that he does consciously. Automatic actions are rude, primitive, thoughtless, which can be negatively perceived by society.

Instincts are important biological reflexes that are inherent in humans. They help in his survival. The rest depends on how a person wants to live. Then he begins to develop certain skills and habits. Instincts do not need to be learned, they are already in a person. However, the progression of society affected how people continued to use their innate actions.

The need for socialization forces people to abandon their instinctive behavior and develop other skills. To some extent this affects human health. Without using his natural stimuli, a person stops using his physiological potential. This leads to decreased vision, hearing, the appearance of muscle weakness, the development of various diseases in the form of atrophy of individual cells, etc.

On the other hand, a person cannot live at the level of instincts, because then he will be completely rejected by society. He needs to learn to walk, talk, read and perform other actions in order to be adapted to the conditions that society has come up with.

Everything for life

that is, such actions that are innate and developed from generation to generation under the influence of external influences and are fixed through natural selection (successful, beneficial actions for the body are hereditarily fixed, but harmful ones are not repeated and are therefore lost). Instincts, as actions transmitted by inheritance, are based on unconditioned reflexes. Therefore, instincts change only slightly in the animal's personal experience. Since instincts have been developed over the course of many generations, they fully correspond to certain external conditions of life. When these conditions change, instinct still prompts the animal to act in the usual way, despite the fact that now these actions are clearly inappropriate. If you pierce a honeycomb, the bee will still carry honey in it. When one naturalist pulled a paralyzed cricket from a burrowing wasp's hole, the wasp still closed the hole's entrance, even though it could see that there was no one there. The auk bird moved aside the eggs on which it was sitting. Returning to the nest, she sat down in her previous, now empty, place, not paying attention to the eggs lying nearby. Beavers often build dams on bodies of water where the water level remains constant and, therefore, there is no need to build barriers for it. Instinctive behavior is the main form of mental activity in invertebrates, fish, birds, and also in other animals. Humans also have instincts. However, in humans these actions are usually subordinated to the intellect—the mind.

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Biological and social in man

In relation to humans, it is customary to speak not about instincts, but about species memory. It can be genetic, passed on from generation to generation, and cultural - the heritage of society.

If some instincts are present, for example, aggression, sexuality, then society suppresses them. Thus, monogamy is the result of socialization, the cultivation of the individual.

Animal instincts in a person are activated when primary biological needs are unsatisfied: food, safety, sleep, shelter, sex. Of course, consciousness, learned norms, values, and culture begin to fight instincts.

According to the theory of William McDougall, a person retains several instincts:

running away when afraid;
disgust, rejection;
anger, often with fear;
embarrassment;
inspiration;
parental;
food;
gregarious.

Why then, for example, does not the maternal instinct arise in all women? Psychotherapists claim that feeding a child and communicating with him in the first day after birth triggers the maternal instinct. If the contact happened later, then the instinct will not manifest itself. It is likely that other instincts also manifest themselves under certain conditions.

In other theories, the classification of human instincts is supplemented by the following types:

procreation;
altruism;
dominance;
study;
Liberty.

In my opinion, a person has three main instincts.

VI. “Libertophilic type” (instinct of freedom)

Already in the cradle, a child of this type protests when he is swaddled. The tendency to protest against any restriction of his freedom grows with him.

People of this type are characterized by a desire for independence, denial of authority (parents, teachers), tolerance to pain, a tendency to leave their father's home early, a predisposition to risk, stubbornness, negativism, intolerance of routine, and bureaucracy. The credo of such people is: “Freedom above all.” And they are the guardians of everyone’s interests and freedom, individuality; they naturally limit the tendencies of individuals of the “dominant type.” They are the guardians of freedom, and with this, life.

The “libertophilic type” is characterized by:

Tendency to protest, rebellion;
Predisposition to change places (denial of everyday life);
The desire for independence;
Tendency to reformism, revolutionary changes;
Intolerance to any form of restrictions, to censorship, to the suppression of the “I”.

Kinds

1. The most basic and basic thing is self-preservation

If for some reason it is not weakened, then your behavior will not be risky, gambling and destructive. For example, you will not climb into a cage with tigers, you will not jump without a parachute and provoke a group of athletes. Even at birth, a child unconsciously reaches out to his mother, experiencing great anxiety if he is left alone, because his life depends on others. That is why babies begin to smile so early, rejoicing at the approach of someone who cares, so that the desire to be picked up and approached to the crib more often does not fade away.

3.Altruism

The first two reflexes were the main ones that help a person survive. Now let's move on to more social ones, ensuring socialization and successful activities. And the first will be altruism, which is expressed in caring for others, both people and animals, this is compassion and empathy, the desire for peace and goodness. When it is strongly expressed, a person is able to devote his life to caring for those who need it, but not just devote it, but make a sacrifice, for example, by going to a monastery.

4.Research

Aimed at developing a person, both creatively and in other areas. Thanks to curiosity, young children learn about the world, and depending on the environment in which they grow up, their abilities and aspirations develop. Examples of successful research activities for which they were not punished, but encouraged, are great scientists, travelers, famous creative personalities and other people following their interest.

5.Dominance

This is the need for leadership and power. People who have a pronounced dominance are able to lead a crowd, organize and manage. Have you noticed that even in the company of small children there is always a “ringleader”? No group can do without a leader, even an indirect one. It often happens that a person who has previously had no leadership experience, finding himself in a company in which power has not yet been distributed, takes the honorable place of leader

And it doesn’t matter in what way, either he wins the championship himself, or is chosen by the other participants

6. Maintaining your dignity

Only in an exaggerated form people sometimes ignore their innate instincts. For example, they are ready to risk their health and life in order to defend their honor or rightness. When the level is very weak, then a person has low self-esteem, as a result of which he allows not only humiliation towards himself, but also violence. There are often cases when a self-confident woman begins a relationship with a tyrant who constantly devalues her, bringing her to such a state that she really stops believing in her strength, intelligence and attractiveness. He becomes a victim who is now easy to manipulate and control, because he will endure everything.

7.Freedom and independence

It appears in infancy, when trying to swaddle a newborn, during normal development. During rebellion in adolescence, if it is not suppressed. Thanks to the need for freedom, a person develops social skills, increases the likelihood of success, creating a family and, in general, a high-quality independent life. A person is able to bear responsibility and rely on himself, as he has experience.

Sexual instinct and reproductive instinct

Creation date: 03/31/2008 Update date: 02/27/2019

As practice shows, the sexual sphere of “homo sapiens” is complex and diverse, and also quite confusing: there are a lot of misconceptions, false beliefs, internal resistances and other things. But on the other hand, with all the ambiguity of human sexuality, this topic creates a lot of psychological and socio-psychological problems for many people (not to mention problems of an intimate nature).

From the book “In the footsteps of Freud and a little forward: about the unconscious and more”

“All progressive people said as one: “Why this hypocrisy? We must look at sexual need like all our other needs.” In my simplicity, I believed them, but then I realized that they meant something completely different. They mean that the above-mentioned need must be treated in a way that we do not treat any need. […] Any cruelty and any betrayal are justified when it comes to love and passion. All this looks like a moral system according to which you can’t steal, but you can steal apricots. If you begin to object, they will answer you with arguments or exclamations about the truth, beauty and even holiness of passion and accuse you of puritanical disdain for the joys of love. I will not accept this reproach. If I think boys shouldn't steal apricots, does that mean I'm generally against apricots or against boys? Perhaps I am against theft?

Clive Lewis, "The Right to Happiness"

As practice shows, the sexual sphere of “homo sapiens” is complex and diverse, and also quite confusing. Classical Freudians try to explain many things, including the problems of the unconscious, from the standpoint of human sexuality - and get even more confused. Some consultants generally avoid working with this area, since there are a lot of misconceptions, false beliefs, internal resistances and other things in it.

But on the other hand, with all the ambiguity of human sexuality, this topic creates a lot of psychological and socio-psychological problems for many people (not to mention problems of an intimate nature). And quite often the topic of human sexuality (and others like it) comes up during a psychotherapeutic consultation in the office. I have already written about this “in general”, and now let’s try to understand it in more detail - and maybe a little from afar: starting with “our little brothers”.

***

The sexual instinct and the reproductive instinct in humans are far from the same thing. These are two different phenomena (albeit sometimes connected indirectly through a single center of pleasure). On the one hand, if the sexual instinct and the reproductive instinct in humans were one and the same, then you would have approximately as many children as you have had sexual intercourse to date. Or vice versa: you would have sex approximately as many times in your life as you have children. And on the other hand, if we again remember about our familiar amoeba, it divides in a nutrient medium without any sexual instinct at all. So the sexual behavior of Homo sapiens was formed separately at a later stage.

It is almost always useful to remember that sexual behavior and the reproductive instinct are not the same thing. In particular, when you hear passages that are amazing in their naivety like “A man is polygamous by nature, because as a male he needs to distribute his sperm to as many females as possible to preserve the species.” And this, they say, justifies such behavior. But most likely, some men are simply embarrassed to say that with their promiscuous behavior they are solving some other issues, most often of a completely non-sexual nature - the same problems of self-affirmation, for example. And such behavior is even more far from issues of reproduction.

From the point of view of modern paleontology, life on Earth originated approximately three to three and a half billion years ago. But this was life in elementary protein forms. Only prokaryotes existed on earth: nuclear-free protozoa (although some of them - the same bacteria - still surround us). Prokaryotes do not have a sexual reproduction system and reproduce very efficiently by simple division. But under such conditions, hereditary information is fixed and transmitted very unreliably. As a result, nature at this stage developed according to the principle of “one step forward, two steps back”: positive evolutionary changes were practically not preserved in subsequent generations, being lost in random mutations.

But over time (after about two to three billion years), a certain revolution occurred during evolution: hereditary information began to be collected in concentrated form - in the cell nucleus. Accordingly, eukaryotes arose - nuclear (nucleus-containing) organisms. And in addition to the fact that DNA, as a carrier of genetic information, began to be stored inside the cell nucleus, more protected from random external influences than the entire cytoplasm of the cell actively interacting with the environment, and in mirror double quantity, another, new possibility of preserving this information and transmitting it to descendants in the most unaltered form. This opportunity marked the beginning of future sexual reproduction. Let us again remember the amoeba: it, as is known, “splits in half” - and two new individuals are obtained, “inheriting” the full chromosome set of the “parent”. But sometimes two different amoebas merge and only then divide - forming more than two separate individuals, each of which already has its own, new set of chromosomes, consisting of intact genes from both “parents”. To give an example-analogy, imagine that two people were given exactly the same copy of a fairly important and carefully edited text written on wax tablets. And these people carried these tablets with them, living in different conditions: one, say, in a warmer climate, and the other in a colder climate. Or the living conditions (and storage of the signs) differed in some other way. When these two people met, it turned out that on one copy the text was damaged in some places, and on the second - in completely different places. But as a result, when “comparing” two copies, you can easily accurately restore the entire original text.

In much the same way, the principle of sexual reproduction, which involves the genetic information of not one, but two individuals of the same species, makes it possible to preserve hereditary information that becomes increasingly complex in the process of evolution and reliably transmit it to offspring. In fact, this method of increasing reliability in cybernetics is called a “first-level RAID array.”

Moreover, nature did not initially include in this system that the sex of two individuals should be different. As shocking as this may sound. The problem with the “gender difference” arises when multicellularity appears, and it becomes necessary to have special organs for transmitting and receiving genetic information from another individual, which is also quite complex. And it is difficult for the body to ensure the full development of such organs for both reception and transmission. The functions of these organs are not simple, but they are still needed relatively rarely. Therefore, it is simply unprofitable to maintain two sets of very complexly functioning organs at once.

Of course, among the more primitive multicellular organisms (up to and including annelids) there are species whose representatives are hermaphrodites. The mechanism of reproduction of such species is quite complex and is essentially the same as sexual reproduction: one individual fertilizes another. But at the same time, among hermaphrodites, the risk of “self-fertilization” also remains, in which the meaning of “comparing two genetic copies” is lost. It is also for this reason that “sexual specialization” of organisms is steadily developing.

However, the emerging sex difference did not only have a positive effect on reproduction. For now the individuals have another task: the problem of finding “the carrier of the second copy of the genetic code,” that is, a partner for reproduction. Such a partner, considering that we are still talking exclusively about reproduction, was also not needed very often (at least not every day: and some animals generally reproduce once in their lives!) and, as a result, was not always present in achievable proximity . Thus, those species that survived first of all were those that cared quite seriously about reproduction, and in particular about such a search for a “second participant.” Naturally, the same pleasure center was involved to implement this behavior. But again, since this participant is not in demand every day, the instinct to find a partner - as part of the reproductive instinct - has acquired a certain kind of episodic character: during certain periods it is muted, not yet in demand, but when it is expressed, it happens quite powerfully and actively . And its implementation was cemented with intense pleasure. The instinct of reproduction is so powerful precisely for the purpose of survival of the species. In any case, the hyper-significance and hyper-expressiveness of the sexual instinct has been established evolutionarily, including among “homo sapiens”. But more about the man a little later. Let's continue about the little brothers for now.

Even in animals, the exploitation of the excessive expression of the sexual instinct began, and the reproductive instinct itself gradually began to break away from the sexual instinct as such. Sex as "the influence on the exploitation of the sexual instinct - or rather, its influence is not the center of pleasure - for non-sexual purposes." Sometimes a young male monkey will anger the leader with something, and the leader will chase him, intending to give him a good beating. And it happens that it is difficult to escape: then the young one also takes a stand position, imitating a female ready for mating. The leader sees this and, as a rule, cools down. But the young male did not call the leader for a homosexual act at all, but only “asked for forgiveness” for his actions! For the stand pose among primates is at the same time a “submission pose”: that is, in fact, a way of communicating “I recognize that you are stronger and more important than me.” Of course, for a “reasonable person,” in theory, everything should not be so primitive: especially if the person is truly intelligent and does not gravitate toward the way of thinking of “lesser brothers.” But this will be discussed separately below.

In general, the “high sexuality of monkeys” in fact often turns out to be simply an expression of a clear need for communication. For example, a way to show a fellow tribesman that “I enjoy communicating with you, I get pleasure from your communication.” And how can we say this other than to influence the pleasure center of another individual through sexually charged behavior - especially given the extreme poverty of verbal communication capabilities? Another example of such “exploitation of the sexual instinct” is the so-called incentive mating. When a non-fertile female (if, for example, she has offspring) needs additional food that she cannot obtain herself, she often offers mating to the male for food.

That is, gradually everything went to the point that sex as an impact on the center of pleasure and reproduction as procreation became two different, separate instincts¸ often quite far apart from each other. And the “use of sex not for the purpose of reproduction” in humans is especially pronounced. The impact on the pleasure center through sex in “Homo sapiens” significantly separated intimate contacts and reproduction. And with the exploitation of sexually determined behavior, people’s reproductive tasks have moved not even to second place, but to an even more distant place.

For people with sex in general, everything is much more complicated. As we had to mention in the article “On Human Sexuality”, the intimate intimacy of people always carries an additional “social load”; it is always, so to speak, burdened with some additional meaning and significance - by the way, mostly unconscious. Almost all human feelings and sensations are included in the sexual function of people. In general, more than once in my work I had to recall the statement of the famous sexologist G.V. Vasilchenko: “When, excuse me, a male donkey sees a female donkey in a state of estrus (or, in the usual words - in heat), everything will go according to plan and everything It will work out great. That is, in other words, everything that creates anxiety, nervous tension and other problems in a person’s sex arises only because we are people, not donkeys.”

And, returning to the original topic of our conversation - the hiddenness of ovulation in female representatives has finally separated sexuality and reproduction in “Homo sapiens”. As is known, in animals the female is fertile only during estrus: and as already mentioned, finding a male and having sex with him is almost equivalent to fertilization. And for a “human female,” so to speak, not only are ovulation and menstruation separated by time, but there are also no obvious, external signs of the most favorable days for fertilization! Even the woman herself is not able to determine the days of her ovulation without additional measures. Not to mention the fact that sexual desire does not always arise during this period. Thus, at the biological level, the actual process of sexual intercourse and all sexuality in humans have seriously diverged from reproductive function.

In this regard, the common phrase with negative connotations that someone “fucks like brutes” (sorry for the quote) seems especially ridiculous. This means that people accused of this type lead frequent and promiscuous sex lives. However, how valid is such a parallel? As you know, animals “fuck” (that is, perform sexual intercourse) almost always for the sake of conceiving offspring (with some exceptions, and only in higher animals). Thus, if people, I quote again, “fucked like cattle,” then they would have performed exactly as many sexual acts in their lives as they planned to give birth. So such an accusation in this particular form is somewhat unfounded, to put it mildly.

It is man who is the “sexiest animal”, since he can have sex almost at any time, regardless of his fertility (in particular, many women lead an intense intimate life even after menopause, and in general, for representatives of both sexes, the ability to conceive does not affect intensity of sexual desire). Moreover, many sexologists have repeatedly mentioned that there is no upper age limit for a person’s intimate life. And even impotence (age-related) was regarded not as the norm, but as a disorder of sexuality. True, in this case it should be mentioned that a person’s ability to perform sexual intercourse is a complex function, and with more or less constant “use” it remains until very old age, and with equally constant non-use it gradually fades away, and quite early. Interestingly, this applies not only to men, but also to women. In other words, to prolong this period, it is advisable to maintain sexual function and certainly not perform it two or three times in your entire life. And at the same time, taking into account modern realities, do not forget about the required level of contraception.

But then for what – such a rhetorical question! – does “homo sapiens” have sex, if not just for reproduction? Already at the level of primitive people, perhaps the leading function of human sexuality came to the fore: hedonistic. That is, aimed at obtaining pleasure, and even more precisely, at preserving and maintaining “emotional homeostasis.” For example, if we take the same amoeba, then with this homeostasis everything is simpler for it: moving towards food - pleasure, approaching danger - displeasure, moving away from danger - pleasure again. If we consider more complex organisms (the same animals), then for them, on an instinctive level, avoiding danger is also a pleasure. Relatively speaking, if a cat is chasing a mouse, the mouse is scared; if the mouse runs away from the cat into a hole, the mouse feels good.

With man everything is more complicated, even with primitive people. He managed to escape from the saber-toothed tiger into a cave - good. But the man, unlike the mouse, knows that perhaps this giant cat is still wandering around the cave?

In contrast to animals, humans gradually developed the function of “looking ahead,” forecasting, and strategy. At the same time, many dangers began to be seen more clearly, sharply and, as they say, in full (and apparently, this is where the phenomenon of “woe from the mind” and the attitude “it’s easier for fools to live” originates - at least until the moment when the carefree mouse crawled out of the hole without first looking around). Moreover, the more intelligence a person has, the desire to foresee events and see the troubles that threaten him in full, the more “hedonic impressions” he needs to maintain emotional homeostasis. And he began to look for various mechanisms of pleasure for himself. If there is a preponderance of negative factors, there are roughly two ways to maintain emotional homeostasis in a still rather aggressive external environment.

The first is getting rid of the notorious “grief from the mind,” or rather, from this very mind. In modern terms, these are psychotropic drugs, narcotic drugs and alcohol. That is, everything that destroys the corresponding activity of the brain, causing immunity and ultimately complete insensitivity to negative, potentially dangerous environmental factors. As a result, a person stops feeling that he is approaching this or that danger, and he will almost always feel good. Until negative factors have their impact.

The second way is to find something creative and positive in life that, as opposed to negative factors, would fall on the second side of the scale and return the person to a state of emotional homeostasis. But this is much more difficult: not everyone can determine where and what exactly to find for themselves in this regard. And sex, by its original nature, exploits (and quite powerfully) primarily the center of human pleasure. Therefore, many use it as a “counterbalance to negative environmental factors.” And this can work perfectly under one condition - if everything in the sexual life of a particular person goes more or less smoothly. Alas, now this does not happen as often as we would like - precisely taking into account the fact that “we are people, not donkeys.” Although at first some people, blinded by the power of the sexual instinct, may not notice other rough edges.

So, sex in humans itself turns out to be gradually further and further away from the specific function of reproduction. Now even many experts call the hedonic function of a person’s intimate activity the main one.

Over the course of evolution, sexual pleasure, especially with the development of intelligence, moved further and further away from the “rude pressing of a button” and became on a par with those pleasures that are now commonly called intellectual. Moreover, the exploitation of the pleasure center gradually began to be separated from the sexual act itself. If we assume that any component of “reproductive activity” should bring pleasure on an instinctive level, then in humans, part of such activity includes intimacy, communication, flirting, and many other “near-sexual things,” and not just coitus itself.

In general, tracking the evolution of man and his cultural and historical development, it is easy to see how art, developing on the basis of sexuality and eroticism, moves further and further away from sex itself. And perhaps we can say that eroticism and sexuality can be called the foundation of all art. But the erotic culture of an individual, or even an entire society, is largely based on the ability not to highlight this very foundation, not to present only this, excuse the involuntary pun, bare foundation in the form of art. However, at the same time, this foundation must be present one way or another so that art, like love, does not turn into “castles in the air.”

But on the other hand, sex gradually turned into something sacred for people, sometimes endowed with some supernatural properties. And it is not surprising that with the help of sex a person began to solve non-sexual problems. With the help of sex, people sometimes not only reproduce or get pleasure, but also resolve issues of power, self-esteem, and other emotional and censorship needs. And we must not forget that this can also work to achieve “emotional homeostasis” (taking into account the fact that the very concept of this homeostasis in humans is very ambiguous). The feeling of one’s own “adjacent role” in society can be compensated for in one person or another by various behavioral markers that are uniquely perceived in a particular society.

For example, he behaves like a Casanova, primarily in quantitative terms” – in fact, with the goal of feeling “as if he is the leader of the pack and has a harem.” It’s not that he wants all these women as partners for the sake of receiving direct sexual pleasure: he wants to establish himself precisely in quantity, while he can personally regard each specific sex with each specific partner as a difficult task. And what do you think, will he tell anyone the real reason for such behavior? And will he be able to understand this himself at the level of consciousness? That all his exploits on the intimate front are only so that he himself does not feel like an omega in society? (It’s another matter that in such cases a person is banging on the wrong door, and that this problem can be solved in other ways). Such a person will in every possible way support the postulate that “men are polygamous by nature, they strive to sleep with as many women as possible in order to leave their sperm everywhere and give birth to offspring.” But in fact, the reason is not at all in the sperm and not in the offspring - but under such cover, especially considering that ethology has now become fashionable to some extent, he will even more so feel not like an omega, but a “dominant male” at least - he hopes - in the eyes of society. It’s just that behavior that solves completely different tasks of the individual, and tasks that are carefully hidden, is given a socially acceptable and even very “rank” basis.

This is true not only for men: some women can also assert themselves in this way (it’s not for nothing that books from the “How to Become a Bitch” series and the like have become so popular in recent years). Moreover, what is often important here is not the sex itself (in the sense of sexual intercourse), but the process of seduction itself, often in the form of the famous game “dynamo”.

Many more examples can be given here, but in the end we come to the conclusion that a person’s sexuality and his social role (or roles in different societies) become entangled in a rather tight ball, and when this or that person, or even society (sometimes quite large) !) becomes completely entangled in it - the problem is often solved according to the principle of the Gordian knot: by cutting. That is, sexuality is clearly divorced from a person: as a result, we have either specific individuals - “convinced asexuals and antisexuals”, or entire communities in which attitudes like “surrender yourself not for pleasure, but for posterity” reign, up to a complete ban on sex and any mention of him. Simply because it is difficult to give sexuality its proper place in order to use it for the harmonious development of the individual or society. It’s easier to definitely ban it, alas.

Here, as the analysis progresses, an additional question arises: can asexuals be “convinced”? After all, as you know, asexuality is either a complete absence of desire for sex, or such a rare desire that it can actually be considered absent. But if a person doesn’t want something, does he just not want it? For example, someone doesn’t eat honey, someone doesn’t like it, but it can hardly be said that the person is a “convinced anti-honey person”? It seems that he does not solve his problems with honey, he simply does not eat it, and there are no problems. However, the situation changes if the majority of people around, the media and other sources of information, especially among current society, begin to convince a person in every possible way that “everyone should definitely eat honey, and in large quantities, because honey is a terribly healthy product, and whoever doesn’t eat it - everyone faces serious problems.” Then a person can, with sufficient tension, begin to defend his right not to eat honey, as well as the fact that he does not have any serious problems in connection with this.

Roughly the same thing happens to an ordinary asexual if external, “public” censorship puts pressure in the direction of “everyone should have sex a lot and often, and all the problems come from the lack of it.” Then the person, especially when they start asking him (!) when he last had sex, proudly answers: “I’m asexual!” Because this will at least temporarily give him some kind of right “not to have sex” so that he is not pressured with this question. And sometimes asexuality, on the contrary, becomes a consequence of the fact that censorship from childhood gradually convinces the opposite: that “sex is dirt, it’s bad,” and all this penetrates into the unconscious. If, for example, you were told from childhood that honey is not healthy, it’s dirt, it’s bad? One of my clients couldn’t even stand the smell of honey after her grandmother told her as a child that “honey is bee poop” (!). Thus, “convinced anti-copperness” is not always formed, but internal denial is formed at the level of the unconscious. As a result of censorship.

And often the professional task of a psychotherapist is precisely to assist a specific individual in “determining the adequate place of his (her) sexuality.” In this process, the role of sexual-erotic culture and sexual literacy of a particular person is already very large.

...So, sex in a person performs quite a variety of functions: it can also be an expression of emotional intimacy, a sense of ownership, and many other indirect sexual sensations. So it is hardly reasonable, due to one’s own sexual illiteracy, to primitivize a person’s sexual function in general, and thereby first of all cause all sorts of problems for oneself.

And if a person’s sexuality is used by him not only for reproductive purposes, it becomes possible to “exploit” this human function not only in a heterosexual couple. A certain number of homosexual couples and even families are appearing - with all the set of social functions inherent in a family. It’s another matter that in some states such families are not yet officially recognized, but I think it’s still only a matter of time. Precisely given the fact that human sexuality has moved quite far away from fertility, and objections like “they don’t reproduce anyway, why register them” are frankly untenable. In fact, a modern nuclear family is a kind of closed joint-stock company, cemented, in addition to the “mutually accepted Charter” and “movement of the general burden of life in one direction,” also by psychological attachment between partners; but again, what difference does it make to anyone between whom and with whom this attachment arose among specific capable adults? Moreover, I assume that the higher the level of social and intellectual development of a particular society, the less fundamental the heterosexuality of partners in the family becomes, not to mention the “clear delineation of socio-gender roles.”

And the “products of a family joint-stock company” may not necessarily be children. Moreover, speaking not only about same-sex couples, but about all couples, even heterosexual ones, who for one reason or another are not ready or simply do not want to have children - the increase in infant survival by several times compared to previous centuries formally frees people who do not strive for this from “duties of population reproduction.” So childless families, regardless of their gender composition, can also very well bring enormous “benefit to society” (if this is precisely the problem) – “giving birth” to scientific discoveries, works of art “and other good deeds.” Not to mention the fact that such a thing as giving birth to children is hardly worth doing out of duty, duty or obligation.

***

To summarize, I will repeat again that the topic of “Homo sapiens sexuality” is complex and controversial. And that everything written about it may not directly explain the reasons for this or that problem in this area for a particular person, not to mention the ways to solve them. Yes, there is a great temptation to simplify everything by calling yourself an “animal,” or, going to the other extreme, to consider yourself “free from such dirt as sex.” However, it is no coincidence that sexologists quite often repeat that “man does not live by sex alone.” And most likely, we will have to return to this topic more than once, unraveling this tangle gradually and still quite generally. However, as for each specific person who has some unresolved questions and problems in this area, it is much more effective to understand these problems (which, by the way, are not always related specifically to sexuality) when working directly with a specialist: a psychotherapist, a psychoanalyst, sexologist. If you like, this approach to solving one’s own problems is also an essential element of human culture: including sexual-erotic culture.

This material can be discussed on our blog.

“Electronic Doctor” orders most relevant to the article: I want to restore potency I want to return erection I want to restore potency I want to restore erection I want to know the reasons for aggressiveness I want to know the reasons for aggression I want to know the reasons for hysterics I want to know the reasons for the error I want to know causes of psychotrauma I want to know my unconscious Topics: instincts, psychoanalysis, sexual problems, ethology.
© Nikolay Nikolaevich Naritsyn, psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, Moscow