Last night while getting ready for bed, I watched as my dog walked around the perimeter of the second floor in search of a terrific hiding place for the dog bone which she had received earlier in the night. She would paw at the hard wood, tuck her nose behind the curtains, and then she found a blanket next to her bed. She set the bone down, and pulled the blanket back as if she was outside digging a hole. Carefully, she set the bone into the void and used her nose to push it back over the tasty treasure to burry it for a latter occasion.
I thought nothing of it at fist but then I asked my self why did she do that? It is not like the evil squirrels are going to break in and steal it. Additionally, where did she learn to do such a funny thing? Instinct!
It makes me wonder how much of our actions are actually learned and hat is instinct? Furthermore, how can a series of actions with a desired outcome be something that any animal does as instinct, when it is entirely voluntary. Granted where are things like breathing, sleeping, and basic motor skills that are inherently done, often with a set pattern or repetition, however, something like burying a bone is a series of actions with no real understanding of why.
I am fascinated with this because what are instinctual traits that humans have? No not something that is involuntary such as breathing, but series of actions that we do, with no real rhyme or reason, and not something that we have learned, either by witnessing it or in school.
Furthermore, how does the mind process something from genetic information? It makes me wonder what other genetic information is being stored, waiting for something to unlock it. Much like how a person can speak a dead language which they had never heard before, but for some reason just know it. Imagine the potential that humans could have if we could unleash this ability!
What are your thoughts? Are there skills and knowledge locked inside our heads that might not only solve the secrets of the past, but open new possibilities for the future? Have you ever just done something instinctually without any knowledge of it before hand?
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