Thoughts on UFO's??

[The Conquistador]

Originally Posted by Tread

Ever saw someone watch an ant or a snail and heard the person say: WOW! What great instinct it has? Or remember the epic instinct of the Dodo?

Remember, these are exceptions, not the norm. Besides, if ants and snails had such horrible instincts they would have been wiped out a long time ago or would have ended up as a frenchmans dinner.

[Tread]

Originally Posted by TheAngryPostman

Remember, these are exceptions, not the norm. Besides, if ants and snails had such horrible instincts they would have been wiped out a long time ago or would have ended up as a frenchmans dinner.

Ants are some of the, perhaps the, most successful Animals on earth. A single individual is nothing, a single ant can't do much, the group make them strong. They don't need something like instinct to survive. Same successful collective strategy as bees, wasps, hornets, termites, roaches (in an early state), some crabs and naked mole rats.
A high individual amount, a good shell or stings, chemical weapon or poison, fast reaction (senses not instinct), simple bigness or a good camouflage are other great working strategies to survive.
The most animals of one kind on earth are little crabs that are one component of plankton. Instinct wouldn't help them.

I would say that the biggest animal group (insects) don't have something that could be called instinct.

[Jenae LaTorque]

Originally Posted by Tread

I would say that the biggest animal group (insects) don’t have something that could be called instinct.

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What you say couldn't be more wrong. From the Encyclopedia Britannica:

Natural history » Behaviour » Instincts

The insect orients itself by responding to the stimuli it receives. Formerly, insect behaviour was described as a series of movements in response to stimuli. That hypothesis has been supplanted by one that holds that the insect has a central nervous system with built-in patterns of behaviour or instincts that can be triggered by environmental stimuli. These responses are modified by the insect’s internal state, which has been affected by preceding stimuli. Patterns of behaviour range from comparatively simple reflex responses (e.g., the avoidance of adverse stimuli, the grasping of a rough surface on contact with the claws) to elaborate behavioral sequences (e.g., searching for mates, courtship, mating, and locating egg laying sites; hunting, capturing, and eating prey). The highest developments of behaviour, found in social insects such as the ants, bees, and termites, are based on the instinct principle.
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As far as determining the most successful animal on Earth? No contest. What animal could be found on anyplace on Earth except the extreme depths of the oceans. What animal can create an environment that is totally devoid of other life than that which is contained within himself? What animal can escape the boundries of Earth and travel to another planetary body? What animal is the most adaptive to the most extremes of physical surroundings?
I can guarantee it isn't crabs or ants.

[Tread]

The problem is that instinct hasn't a clear defintion. I was referring to fear or to be aware of danger. I took the meaning of instinct from the mention in this thread:

animals have good instincts about things and people and since my dog didn't see them as hostile or a threat

I should have say this explicit.

You described another meaning of instinct that is correct, but this would exclude the meaning of instinct we are talking here. Because the fear or recognizing danger of dogs or wolves is a learned behaviour and not an automatically, irresistible, occur at some point in development, be triggered by some event in the environment, occur in every member of the species (or castes), be unmodifiable and govern behaviour.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Ok, Tread, we only seem to disagree, so why don't we agree to disagree?

Cause to me this isn't going anywhere.


JohnDowe.

[Tread]

I agree with you to agree to disagree.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Message recieved and aknoledged.

JohnDowe.