the origins of Instinct ??

[james bond]

Simply

My question is how instinct happens.. or what is the origin of instinct ??

[Strange]

Can you define what you mean by "instinct"?

 

I assume, from the context, you mean:

 

2 a : a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/instinct

 

In which case, these are behaviours that have evolved for a particular purpose. For example, single celled organisms will move towards areas that have the characteristics the need (nutrients, light, or whatever). This is simply because those that [have the genes that cause them to] move at random will not survive as well as those that [have the genes that cause them to] move towards sources of food. (But they will survive better than those that [have the genes that cause them to] move away from such necessities).

 

At this point "natural selection" (you might have heard of it) comes into play: those that are genetically better able to find food will grow and reproduce more successfully than those that that are not.

 

The same argument applies to the more complex behaviours of more complex organisms. Spiders whose genes cause them to build better webs, will reproduce and survive better than those who make poor webs. The successful genes are passed and we get "better" spiders.

 

Is that the sort of thing you are thinking about?

[Phi for All]

My dog was a rescue, a puppy that didn't spend much time with other dogs before we brought him home. He didn't learn anything from his parents, yet when he poops, he does that scratching with his hind legs that looks like he's trying to cover it up.

 

I've heard various reasons for this. It seems unlikely that a dog would want to hide itself, and a little dirt isn't going to fool many animals who rely on scent. He spends just as much time scratching in grass as he does dirt, though the grass is much less likely to cover anything. It's more likely that the dog is giving a visual cue by scratching, as if to draw an arrow to the fact that he's claiming this area. But my dog wasn't taught this behavior, not unless he's figured it out himself from our daily walks.

 

I think aggressively marking territory is a trait that has been selected for over generations, and the individual dog finds ways to apply it effectively, with olfactory and visual cues. It may look "instinctual", but it's really just behavior that works for an animal that's smart enough to use what it can. Dogs have all the evolutionary tools for aggressively marking their territory, and it works well for them, so they naturally use it to their advantage. But we favor our own intelligence, so we attribute it to "instincts" in animals.