SEC17/W2 | While making decisions, what do you prefer to follow: heart or mind?
Humans are often faced with situations where they must make the best decision as quickly as possible. As a husband, father, consultant, and ordinary member of society, I frequently encounter such situations. I have even experienced life-and-death scenarios not just once or twice but several times. Tough choices have become a part of my daily life, and I feel this will always be my "destiny" indefinitely.
In every decision I make, there's always a fierce battle between reason and emotion. Often, this struggle leads to sheer indecision. If it comes down to that, I will always rely on my "last resort," which is INSTINCT. Image source here
"Instinct is a marvelous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored." - Agatha Christie on The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Psychologically, instinct, or intuition is an inherent drive that arises within the psyche to follow a particular tendency of the soul present from birth. Instinct represents a pattern of behavior and response to specific stimuli that is inherited through generations (phylogenetic) rather than learned. It is an involuntary reaction to stimuli that operates without conscious thought
Sigmund Freud categorized instincts into two types: life instinct and death instinct. He stated that the Life Instinct is a drive that ensures survival and reproduction, such as hunger, thirst, and sex (well, now we know why life instinct is represented by the god Eros). This life instinct is what has propelled human civilization to develop to this day.
Meanwhile, the Death Instinct (represented by Thanatos) encompasses expressions of aggression, anger, and violence. Someone driven by the death instinct may engage in self-harm, risky behavior, or violence toward others. Of course, on this occasion, I will not discuss the death instinct because I am talking about humans, and humans are primates with the highest survival rate to the best of my observation and knowledge. If you encounter another primate with a higher survival rate than humans, feel free to share your opinion in the comment section.
"Trust your instincts, and make judgements on what your heart tells you. The heart will not betray you." - David Gemmell
Honestly, up to this day, I haven't found the clearest understanding of what instinct truly means. Especially regarding this contest, is instinct more closely related to logical brain or emotions? Or is instinct a combination of "mind" and "heart"? Pffftt idk yet. Image source here
What I know is that all responses produced by instinct are the result of chemical reactions in our brains. It could be located in the limbic system, brainstem, or maybe the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Because all the articles I've read contain anatomical terms I mentioned earlier. Perhaps among the Steemian friends who delve into the fields of medicine or psychology, I would be very ready to listen to your long lecture along with my friend @wakeupkitty.
There are several instincts that I possess and can explain. One of the most common is Fight or Flight. Back then, our ancestors had to confront situations where they faced large animals that could devour them in an instant. The survival instinct helped them decide whether to confront the threat before them or flee. Our ancestors hadn't learned SWOT analysis in those times, so it was impossible for them to make mathematical calculations about the risks and opportunities they might face if they fought or fled. This instinct is what always saves me when facing wild animals in the forest, and it's this instinct that helps me activate my survival skills in "on" mode.
If you think the Fight or Flight response has died in this age where we feel like all the instincts passed down by our ancestors have vanished due to the presence of technology, you're completely wrong! Without realizing it, many important decisions we make are based on this response. Just think about when you face an angry boss, a nagging wife, or accidentally bump into another vehicle on the road. Do you confront them or avoid them? It depends on the stress you experience when making the decision.
The second instinct I acquired came after the birth of my first daughter. Yes, the instinct I'm referring to is parental instinct. When I first held my 1st born, some force compelled me to think, "I would risk my life for this little human being." Looking back, recalling that experience feels a bit funny. But as time passes, my princesses grow up, and the love I feel as a parent only intensifies day by day. Yes, I'm still willing to die for them. Image source here
Perhaps only those two types of instincts are what I can discuss in this post. Maybe I will write about other points on another occasion, because there are still many types of instincts that humans possess inherited from our ancestors even without our awareness. What's certain is that decisions based on instinct do not deny logic and conscience at all. Rather, decisions made based on instinct have gone through many abstract considerations, including considerations of reason and heart.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post
Have a great day
El-Nailul
I believe if we are able to stop the never-ending thinking, ignore what we are 'taught' about what's good or bad, accepted what is left of how we act is instinct a kind of reflex.
I love your entry in every way it's by far one of the best ones.
I am not sure if seeing your new born and want to protect it is instinct unless you feel it's in danger.
I am glad you wrote this since especially you know how important instinct is if you are at home in the jungle.
❤️🍀
When my firstborn was in my arms for the first time, I had complicated feelings between "fact and dream". As an IFRC worker who worked on a remote island, I arrived 8 hours after her arrival. I call it instinct because it automatically alerts me when she cries for something it is more accurate to call "First Love" perhaps.
What I can "describe" more about instinct is some fact/feeling alerts me in advance that something bad will happen if I don't take action "now". But the fact that I could not ignore is that the instinct is based on experiences and calculations that recalled in my memories and mostly popped up when I feel the unusual or anomaly
Thank you for coming and supporting my post @wakeupkitty
If it automatically alerts you it is instinct and apparantly you differ from many other fathers plus you do not need a certain hormone balance to trigger it (plenty of mothers lack the mother-feeling I see it with animals too).
It's hard to tell after gathering experiences if the instinct calls or memory does since there's no way to figure that out. Instinct is basically everything we do from birth on without being taught to with the main reason to 'survive', stay alive or?
You are welcome. You deserve to be read and upvoted and I'm old school Steemian 😉
A great day to you, blessings to you and the family.
🍀❤️
It is indeed, our instinct is already with us at our first breath even when we are still in our mom's womb, as a basic survival skill (it is what I believe), but for more advancement, it grows along with our experience.
do you believe you can train your instinct to be sharper (stronger)?
What I noticed is that due to rules to live by, strict rules, opinions forced upon me, I ignored my instinct. It was not more than a short flash 'do...' or 'don't...'.
My instinct is way stronger today and I am sure it can be trained if we are able to ignore 'reason'.
Upvoted. Thank You for sending some of your rewards to @null. It will make Steem stronger.
some believe everything is predestined, others believe we create our own paths. Regardless, destiny is a force that guides us towards our future. Whether through intuition, decisions, or external forces, our destinies are shaped by our actions.
While destiny may seem like a guiding force, I tend to believe that we largely determine our own paths through our choices and actions. Although external factors or intuition can influence us, ultimately, our decisions is crucial in shaping our future. Yeah I think this perspective fosters a sense of responsibility as we navigate life's journey as humans
When it actually comes to decision making, it is something that we must not rush so that we will not end up making wrong decisions that we should not actually make
We support quality posts and good comments posted anywhere and with any tag.
Curated by : @𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖺𝖽𝗂