11 



Instinct 



In this and the following chapter we will examine the 

 two axes or paths along which nature traveled in evolving 

 the perceptual organization necessary to occupy and suc- 

 cessfully exploit the orderly, objective world of space and 

 time; namely, the inherited perceptual patterns (or instinct) 

 and the individual acquisition of perception (or intelli- 

 gence). The second, which finally culminates in the con- 

 ceptual thought of man, has led life to much higher levels 

 than the first, which is best represented by the instincts of 

 insects like the ant and the bee. We must, however, guard 

 against the assumption that either has evolved independently 

 of the other, or that either is the sole controUing force in 

 any animal whether an amoeba or a man. And we must also 

 guard against the assumption that nature cannot evolve 

 high-level "concepts" along the instinct axis. This smug 

 claim of man to absolute uniqueness has been destroyed 

 once and for all by the incredible talents shown by bees in 

 inventing and using a language of their own. 



Before Darwin's time "instinct" was usually defined as 

 an urge or impulsion, and the term is still sometimes used in 

 that general sense, particularly when discussing instinctive 

 behavior in man. The modern use of the word "instinct" is 

 defined by Whyte as behavior controlled by organized 

 processes resulting from stabihzed heredity forms. In con- 

 trast, behavior is called intelligent when it is facilitated by 

 individually learned responses to particular situations. From 



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