Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with instinct

I know you're there.

Pants! — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:29:33 -0800

In the very beginning of Project Grizzly, Troy James Hurtubise talks about how he "could feel a presence that was looking straight at me." Feeling that someone is looking at you seems to be a pretty common human experience, although it's usually a person, not a bear. Is there any documentation about this experience, or research into in its source? (or maybe it's just me?)

"Rules of Thumb" and "Instincts" of the Human Mind

pbh — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:34:43 -0800

What "rules of thumb" or "instincts" of the human mind are commonly applicable? A few months ago, I was reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. Cialdini seems to suggest that we have hard-wired instinctual responses to many types of situations. For example, he cites a religious organisation giving out flowers in the hopes of triggering a reciprocity response, where the receiver feels like they need to give something back. The message seems to be "if {someone gives you an item} then {you feel a social obligation to give something back, even if you don't know them}."

I am curious about two closely related questions:

What instinctual rules, in as close to an "if A then B" form as possible, govern human-human interactions?
What rules, again in as close to "if A then B" form, govern our own minds?

I am curious about pretty much any instinctual interaction that might occur in (my) daily life, from negotiation to introspection.

I have found that popular non-fiction seems to have these themes, but also seems to take a really long time to get to the point and sometimes does not explicitly cite scientific results. (Nonetheless, book recommendations would be OK.) Arguably, books like How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Game, Getting to Yes, and Never Eat Alone all fall into the mould of "if A then B" human-human interactions (though I don't have any particular emphasis on the self-help genre). In terms of our own minds, I suppose I mean things like Dan Gilbert's work, where he says things like "if {you are prevented from selecting among several alternatives} then {you will be happier than if you were given a choice}." Some rules might be easier stated in a direct form rather than "if A then B," for example Gilbert suggests that we vastly overestimate the effect of any particular event on our personal happiness.

I would also be curious about particular psychological experiments along these lines, but I still only want the brief takeaway point (possibly with some background/setup). For example, in the Milgram experiment it was kind of shown that "if {an authority figure tells someone to do something} then {they will do pretty much anything, up to and including killing someone}."

Samsung Instinct Browser Problem

Sangermaine — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:08:42 -0800

I'm having trouble with the bookmark function of the Samsung Instinct's browser and need some help. I recently purchased a Samsung Instinct. It worked fine for about 2 weeks, but yesterday I started having problems with the browser. First, it wouldn't save any new bookmarks I added; if I added them and went back to browsing they wouldn't be there when I brought up the favorites list. Then it progressed to where when I tried to favorite a website while browsing, it would freeze the phone, then the browser would close and the call contacts list would come up. Now, the browser works, but the Favorite button (the little heart icon) doesn't do anything. I can press the button and it is shown as pressed on screen, but the Favorites menu won't open. Nothing at all happens. All the other browser functions seem to work. I made sure the software on the phone was fully updated, but it didn't change. When I poked around for some answers, it seems like other people who have had this problem have had to reset the phone, but I'm hoping there is a way to solve this without doing that. Any help is much appreciated.

As usual, my "gut" is sending me mixed messages.

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:34:20 -0800

Did you marry someone despite misgivings and have actually it work? We always hear about people who didn't "listen to their heart" and married someone despite misgivings, and ended up divorced or in unhappy marriages. But I wonder about those people - like me - who over-overanalyze everything and are never 100% sure how anything will work in the future. Do any of those people actually have happy, successful marriages? I always hear that "when it's the right person, you"ll just know" but that seems impossible because (1) if 50% of marriages end in divorce, than lots of those people who "just knew" were wrong anyway and (2) there are people - myself included - who don't tend to feel certain about any choices, especially huge ones with long term consequences.

As a tiny bit of background, I always wonder and doubt and I never feel any guarantees in life. However, in retrospect I can say that some of most successful decisions I have made, I had huge doubts about, because I was so nervous, and because I'm superstitious about assuming something good will happen to me. I'm currently in a wonderful relationship that does have its flaws (don't they all?), and usually I get very excited thinking about us growing old together, but other times I get petrified thinking about all the ways the relationship could spiral out of control, if x or y happened. We've been together almost 4 years, we're in our late 20s. But the question isn't really about my relationship, I'm just wondering if there are people who were nervous, had doubts, and it turned out wonderful just the same. (I've heard all the bad stories.)

Why do we want to one-up one another?

mireille — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 00:03:45 -0800

Why do people (myself included) feel the need to identify oneself with something cultural (i.e., book, movie, etc)-- as having been interested in it PRIOR to another person? What, if any, is the evolutionary purpose for this instinct? For example, the other day I found myself , when hearing about someone's interest in the film "Running With Scissors", on the verge of explaining that it had been my favorite book for ages and that I'd been anticipating the film for quite some time-- (and then telling all about my experiences with the author's other works). This near-instantly struck me as a non-useful addition to the conversation, so I quelled it, but regardless...

I'm not the only one to feel (and do) this-- but why? What's the purpose? Why the "I knew of it first" impulse?

I'm fine with containing it within myself-- just curious as to why I feel it in the first place.

Linguophiles: Help me settle this debate on the Chompskyian model of linguistics.

Lockeownzj00 — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 16:35:50 -0800

Linguophiles: Help me settle this debate on the Chompskyian model of linguistics. I was talking to a friend recently about "The Language Instinct," by Steven Pinker, which I've been reading recently. He presents many arguments which are fairly thorough as to why the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is wrong and why the systems of language and grammar tap into something innate in our brains which children especially find malleable.

Essentially, my friend's claim was that modern linguists reject the Chompskyian model and it's been largely disproven. One of his major points was that without physical neurological proof, positing any model is useless, but I think this is basically antithetical to the progress of all sciences.

After a bit of hubbub, we concluded that neither of us knows enough about the other's perspective and the arguments already in the public discourse for each.

Basically--is this true? Say what you want about Chompsky's politics, but I find it hard to believe that this model was simply "discarded." It is a lot more logical and thorough, and accounts for a lot more than a Sapir-Whorfian POV.

If there are large bodies of work opposed to this model, which are the most well-known and thorough?

Urge to bite, rising.

lychee — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 00:18:18 -0800

Does anybody else get the urge to bite something (like say, an arm) every once in a while? Okay so last time I was home I was hanging out with my 14yr old brother when he piped up with, "I really want to bite something." He picked up my arm and contemplated it for a second before dropping it and then seeming restless. He wanted to bite something chewy but firm.

Now I wasn't freaked out as I had done the same exact thing a few times as a teenager to our other brother. (I actually did bite him, but I was just exercising my big sis rights to do so.)

I know little kids bite, and babies love to chew on stuff, so is the urge to bite just a holdover from our more primitive days? Something to do with hormones that afflicts teenagers? A nutritional defect? And does it happen to everyone but nobody ever talks about it? (Googling just turned up info on nail-biting, puppy training, and creepy cannibal stories.) Or should my family start shopping for chew toys?