From the Unconscious to the Conscious 



But the primordial difficulty the origin of the 

 primary instinct still remains in its entirety. Even if 

 it be possible to attribute the appearance of secondary 

 instincts or the various modes of primary ones to the 

 operation of the classical factors, the origin of these 

 primary instincts is as difficult to discover as the origin 

 of species. 



The instinct to use the poisoned sting puts the 

 same problem as the origin of the sting itself. Neither 

 the organ nor the instinct can play a useful part as agents 

 of adaptation or selection till sufficiently developed and 

 perfected. Therefore, as for species, so for instincts, 

 neither adaptation nor selection can be an essential or 

 creative factor. 



