Ayn Rand took great pains to assert the premise than human beings have no instincts. She identified an instinct as an automatic form of knowledge. I have long harbored reservations about this premise. It seemed to me that a baby's ability to suckle at its mother's breast was an innate form of knowledge. I am since informed by one in a position to know that this behavior has to be taught. Also, I have since found out that a human baby and a chimpanzee baby develop in much the same way until around two years of age. At that point the behavior of the human child diverges very rapidly. The reason for this is that the human child's brain has grown to the point where it is finally able to function at the conceptual level. The child could not have had any conceptual knowledge before that time because it did not have the mental capacity to hold a concept. Thus, with no other contradictory evidence at hand, I have been obliged to agree with Rand that insofar as innate knowledge is concerned, humans are born with none such.
However, it is apparent from the behavior of chimps that they have an innate set of emotional drives. To the extent that they have a conceptual faculty, they cannot populate that faculty on their own, yet they do exhibit repeating behavior patterns, so some mental apparatus other than a conceptual one has to be driving this behavior. We know from introspection that emotions effect human behavior. Therefore it is appropriate to conclude that emotions play a significant role in the repetitious behavior we see in chimps.
I propose to call these innate emotional drives in chimpanzees instincts. Even with a quarter million words in the English language it still seems that there are not enough to uniquely label each and every concept we are obliged to deal with. While I have chosen to reuse the word instinct, I am not aware of a convenient vernacular with which to describe emotional states. Rather than load this paper with reams of clumsy phrases, obtuse metaphors and oblique references, I propose further to introduce a series of new words for that sole purpose. These words will all end in the suffix "ity" and will be capitalized. I also propose to reuse some other existing words and give them exclusively emotional connotations.
Instincts are neurological states that exist and operate below the conceptual level of mental functioning. Instincts can come into play on a spontaneous basis or as a reaction to circumstances. They are a direct product of a physical apparatus that has its origin in the mammalian genetic code. From the viewpoint of natural selection, it is very highly likely that every emotion contributes to the survival of the organism at least in some circumstances. In this context emotions are not arbitrary, rather they are a focused and organized form of mental activity. Arguably, there is only one emotion: the desire to survive, and all other emotions can be understood of as derivatives of it. While this may well be fundamentally true, we cannot really understand simian or human behavior unless we resolve the subject of emotions down to some finer granularity. The question thus arises: Given a desire to survive, what emotions most commonly manifest themselves in the mundane circumstances that a chimp encounters?
Before I go any further in identifying these emotions, I would like to make some very explicit qualifications:
The procedure I followed in identifying instincts rests upon three primary premises:
All that being said, I think I have identified the main instincts. In the process of identifying these instincts, it became apparent that there were relationships between instincts. An analysis of these relationships resulted in a basic model of how the simian emotional faculty operates. I propose to conduct this discussion of simian instincts in the context of this model. Briefly the model involves three functional components:
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The Interface emotions are the focused receptors through which the chimp emotional faculty receives input from the external world. Each external event results in one or more of the Interface emotions being stimulated. It would be fair to call the Interface emotions drives for they represent the basic context and viewpoint from which the external world is evaluated.
The interface emotions can be subdivided into two classes:
The Solitary Interface instincts are those that are applicable to single chimp living alone. Many of these instincts are applicable to groups of chimps as well, but I have not relied upon that as an identifying attribute.
| Instinct | Identity |
|---|---|
| Survivity | A chimp's desire to survive |
| Autonomity | A chimp's desire to control its own body. |
| Territoriality | A chimp's desire to control a resource. |
| Curiosity | A chimp's attraction to a perceived difference. |
The Social Interface instincts are those that are applicable to the circumstances of chimps living together and which only make sense and/or confer survival benefits when practiced within a group of chimps.
| Instinct | Identity |
|---|---|
| Sexuality | A chimp's desire to procreate. |
| Hierarchity | A chimp's desire to impose its own preferences on other chimps and a chimp's willingness to subordinate its own preferences to the those of another chimp. |
| Fosterity/Suplicaity | A chimp's desire to provide for its own progeny and, the desire of a chimp's progeny to be provided for. |
| Gregarity/Alienaity | A chimp's attraction or animus to other chimps. |
Following the receipt of input by the Interface, an Integrator mechanism takes over and combines and reconciles the Interface emotions into a net emotional state.
| Instinct | Identity |
|---|---|
| Security/Fear | A chimp's reaction to the absence or presence of a threat. |
| Tranquility/Anger | A chimp's reaction to the absence or presence of resistance. |
| Elation-Gratification/ Frustration-Sorrow |
A chimp's rewards or sanctions for having achieved or failed to achieve a goal. |
After the net emotional state has been realized, a final Translator mechanism prompts the chimp to take some kind of action. This may actually involve initiating action or stopping a presently executing action.
| Instinct | Identity |
|---|---|
| Passivity/Aggressivity | A chimp's desire to translate preferences into actions |
Chimps will flee from predators, and chimps are careful to maintain a grip when they move through the trees. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Survivity: the desire to survive.
On the face of the geologic record, it seems that an emotional drive for survival is not an absolute necessity. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it is evident that survival behavior can be implemented without the support of an emotional faculty. Many animals without any emotions at all (e.g. reptiles) have managed to get along without it. But for chimps, it is hard to conceive of how one without this drive could survive the rigors of natural selection. This is to say that chimps, having emotions, would quickly become extinct if their emotional faculty operated in an anti-survival manner.
Chimps do not like being caged and will escape from captivity if possible. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Autonomity: the desire to act autonomously, or the desire of a chimp to impose its own preferences on its own body, or the desire of a chimp not to have outside forces constraining its actions.
Ayn Rand identified life as self-sustaining action. In the case of chimps, confronting the forces of natural selection, action is literally necessary for survival. A chimp that behaved in a constantly passive manner would die of hunger, thirst or predation in short order. Given the direct neural connection between a chimp's brain and its muscles, it seems natural to a chimp to control the actions of its own body. Indeed, this is the natural state of affairs dictated by reality. The emotional manifestation of this natural state of affairs is Autonomity.
Chimps will monopolize a food resource if possible. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Territoriality: the desire to control a resource.
A resource may be a piece of geographic territory, but I am using the term here in the more general sense of objects external to a chimps' own body. For chimps, the most desirable resource is food. Since food sources are more-or-less attached to discrete geographic areas, chimp gangs that can lay claim to a geographic area and reserve its resources for their exclusive use have a competitive advantage over the chimps they have excluded.
This instinct is powerful enough in chimps to motivate them to conduct pogroms against neighboring groups of chimps. It is not a case of massive confrontations between gangs but of a small frenzied sub-gang exterminating a foreign individual. It is also not a daily pastime for chimps but only an infrequent frenzy. Ultimately, in piecemeal fashion, this can result in the extermination of a neighboring gang and the takeover of its territory by the killers. Although I am listing this phenomenon under Territoriality, it seems likely that the instincts of Alienaity and Aggresivity also play a role in this behavior.
Chimps will pick up objects and examine them. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Curiosity: a chimp's attraction to a perceived difference.
The more information a chimp collects about its environment, the better able it is to cope with that environment. Curiosity is the device natural selection has created to motivate chimps to collect information about food sources, other chimps, predators, etc.
Chimps engage in sexual behavior. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Sexuality: a chimp's desire to procreate. Obviously chimps without this desire become extinct after a single generation.
In chimpanzees Sexuality only operates when a female is in estrus. This is to say that females are receptive only when in estrus, whereas males are continually ready to serve any female in estrus. From the viewpoint of natural selection, this all makes perfect sense.
Since female chimpanzees cannot conceive save during estrus, there is no point in wasting time and energy on a sex drive that cannot result in propagated genetic code. For males, a different mandate applies. Any male that is not ready to propagate his genetic code at every opportunity is at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis a male who is. And any male who is sexually interested in non-receptive females is wasting time and energy that could otherwise be used to pursue females who are receptive.
Apparently the genetic code driving sexual behavior in chimps is small enough to be fairly amenable to genetic variation. Bonobos differ from chimps sexually in that females in estrus show no visible physiological changes. Bonobo males thus have to be more attentive to female behavior to know when opportunity has arrived. Also bonobos very commonly engage in homosexual behavior. This is especially true of female bonobos. It is as if lacking a convenient physiological signal about when to have sex, bonobos compensate by having a lot more sex so that real opportunities are not missed.
Chimpanzee social organizations have an alpha male at the top; Bonobo social organizations have a dominant female at the top. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Hierarchity: a chimp's desire to impose its own preferences on other chimps.
This desire cannot possibly be implemented unless other chimp's are willing to acquiesce. Thus Hierarchity involves companion dominant/subservient aspects that I like to refer to as Dominaity and Subservity. As a practical matter, Subservity does not so much involve a continuing eagerness to submit as much as it involves the ability of a subservient chimp to adopt the preferences of a dominant chimp as its own.
The relationship between Dominaity and Subservity is polar in character and reflects a basic requirement imposed by natural selection. Two chimps that were utterly and irrevocably committed to dominating each other would necessarily end up in a fight to the death, and that would be a survival disadvantage. Subservity is the governor that allows chimps to practice Dominaity in a survivable manner.
Dominaity/Subservity can be understood as a way of resolving contests over an external resource. One commonly occurring circumstance is what I like to refer to as the "two monkeys, one banana dilemma." Four potential courses of action are possible:
As previously mentioned, an inclination to fight to the death has obvious survival disadvantages. Discarding the banana wastes a valuable food resource and would be a survival disadvantage. Sharing the banana does not seem to be a preferred behavior possibly because it conflicts with Survivity. Finally, if some mechanism could motivate one chimp to assert a claim to the banana that another chimp would acquiesce to, it would solve all the problems inherent in the other alternatives. In fact, this is the option that has been implemented under natural selection. The mechanism for implementing this option is Dominaity/Subservity.
Dominaity and Subservity do not impact males and females equally, indeed there are dramatic differences. These differences are so dramatic that I think it necessary to set up yet another pair of concepts to specifically denote the differences. These two concepts are Androgity and Gynecity.
Among chimpanzees, Dominaity manifests itself in the institution of the alpha male. I would like to refer to this brand of Dominaity as Androgity. Chimpanzee body chemistry and physiology better adapts males for aggressive behavior and makes them the most common practitioners of aggressive behavior. Size is not the sole factor determining which male is dominant; attitude counts for a lot. Politics also counts for a lot. Typically the alpha male has the support of brothers or uncles and may even enjoy a degree of female support. In chimpanzees the alpha male leads raids against neighboring gangs and is the primary instrument for sustaining the gang's territorial claim.
For chimpanzee females aggressive behavior is generally a waste of time. As individuals they stand little chance of winning a confrontation with a male. Even if they could win they don't usually stay around long enough to reap benefits on a sustained basis. The ephemeral nature of female participation in chimpanzee gangs makes it difficult for females to create and sustain the friendships that would be a precursor to a cooperative aggressive effort. Experiments in zoos have shown that a chimpanzee female will take on the role of the alpha male in the absence of any males, but once males are introduced it is only a matter of time before the males come to be the dominant personalities of the hierarchy.
Among bonobos, Dominaity manifests itself in the institution of the dominant female or the female gang. I would like to refer to this brand of Dominaity as Gynecity. Bonobo females are much more likely to practice aggressive behavior. Females can overcome their size disadvantage by ganging up on individual males and since bonobo gangs are more stable and long lived, females can reap the benefits of aggressive behavior on a long-term basis. They can build the friendships that are the foundation of cooperative aggression. Although bonobo males have the physical ability to dominate any lone female and could form their own cooperative for the purpose of dominating the gang, they lack the motivation to do so.
I refer to the combination of Dominaity/Subservity or Androgity/Gynecity as Hierarchity because it is what drives chimps to create social hierarchies. These serve not only to resolve issues of control of resources but also serve as a mechanism for coordinating group activity including mating, hunting, control of territory and defense against predators.
Chimps care for their children. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Fosterity: a chimp's desire to provide for its own progeny.
Fosterity is a chimp's desire to promote the welfare of his/her progeny. Mammalian progeny are commonly born in a state of relative immaturity, and this is dramatically true for chimps. Obviously, chimps that do not care for their progeny become extinct in short order. It is fair to say that chimps owe their existence to this instinct.
This instinct does not impact both sexes equally. Female chimps cannot escape being present when their progeny are born, and having mammary glands, they are equipped to provide directly and immediately for at least one primary need of the newborn. At birth an automatic and very strong emotional bond forms between mother and child. Although males are strongly affected by this emotion as well, and examples can be pointed to where a male was affected more strongly than a female, females are generally impacted to a greater degree.
Chimp infants cling to their mothers and cry to their mothers for help when they are in pain. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Suplicaity: a desire to be provided for or cared for.
This emotion originates as part of a push-pull mechanism involved in motivating parents to care for their children. Briefly, infant and young chimps need the care of an adult if they are to survive. Supplicaity is the emotion that drives infants to want and seek the help of an adult.
This emotion gets carried forward into adulthood and is involved in the grooming rituals chimps engage in. Gratification of this emotion in adults is a means of relieving stresses created by the hierarchy system.
Chimp social organizations exist. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Gregarity: a chimp's attraction to other chimps.
It manifests itself as a desire to congregate, interact with and reside with other chimps. Simply put, the organizational mechanism of the chimpanzee gang gives chimps a survival advantage. At the very least a social organization of mother and baby has to exist. And since chimps are not born with the innate knowledge of how to care for children, adolescent females must stay near their mothers if they are to learn the maternal skills. A few dozen pairs of eyes make a much more efficient mechanism for detecting the presence of a predator than would just a single pair, and several males acting in concert have a much better chance of intimidating a predator than would one male acting alone. Similarly, discovered knowledge about where food can be found can be easily shared among congregated chimps, and hunting is much more easily accomplished with a cooperative effort between several chimps. Finally, procreation can be conducted much more efficiently (i.e. more-or-less continuously) if males and females live in close proximity to each other.
When chimps detect a chimp from another gang trespassing on their territory, they announce the fact with a vocalization called a "pant hoot." Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Alienaity: a chimp's animus to other chimps.
This emotion overlaps Gregarity and Territoriality and is, in a sense, a complementary emotion to those. I submit that natural selection has resulted in a push-pull system of drives that are involved in creating and maintaining a chimpanzee gang. On the one hand chimps are attracted to other chimps. If every chimp was attracted equally to every other chimp, there would be no basis for creating separate gangs and all chimpanzees would be motivated to live in exactly the same geographic area. This would obviously be untenable because any given geographic area contains only a finite amount of food resources. Therefore, for the gang system to work (i.e. for chimpanzee populations to be distributed in an ecologically balanced manner) chimpanzees must be repulsed by some chimpanzees even as they are attracted to others. The emotion of Alienaity is the repulsion mechanism.
Chimps will flee from predators and the alpha male. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Fear: a chimp's reaction to the presence of a perceived threat.
It is a simple reactive emotion created when the desire to survive is combined with a threat to survival. Fear, as a product of natural selection, is a necessity in that survival requires more than just the perception of a threat; it requires a chimp to do something. Fear acts as a trigger and amplifier for Aggresivity. This is to say that it serves to goad chimps into some kind of action when a threat materializes.
Security is the complementary emotion that goes with Fear. A feeling of Security is a chimp's reward for having successfully averted threats to his survival. It is also a regulator of Aggressivity in that it is instrumental in evoking Passivity.
Chimpanzees may choose to fight rather than relinquish a resource to the alpha male. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call these emotions Anger and Tranquility: a chimp's reaction to the absence or presence of resistance.
Anger is a chimp's animus to a thwarted instinct. In that sense Anger is similar to Fear but, Anger is more generic in character in that it can be invoked as an amplifier to any other instinct, whereas Fear is focused on Survivity. Anger is also temporary in character in that it is most applicable to situations where there is still some possibility of achieving gratification. Anger, like Fear, has the effect of compelling a chimp to action and hence makes a contribution to the survival of chimps.
Tranquility is the complementary instinct that goes with Anger. A feeling of Tranquility is a chimp's reward for having successfully fulfilled the mandate of another instinct.
Rivals for the position of alpha male fidget and give indications of agitation. Ultimately they can work themselves up to the point where they are willing to challenge the alpha male. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Frustration: a chimps sanction for having failed to achieve a goal.
Frustration-Sorrow is a single graduated instinct that is a chimp's animus to a thwarted instinct. It is similar to Anger in that it can be invoked as an amplifier to any other instinct. It differs from Anger in that it is more permanent in character in that it is most applicable to situations where there is little or no possibility of achieving immediate gratification. It is gradational in character in that Frustration is the less intense form, and Sorrow is the most intense form. Frustration-Sorrow is a kind of time-delayed motivational tool. Even if gratification cannot be achieved immediately, circumstances may change and when they do, it is a survival advantage if an opportunity is pounced upon rather than idly pursued.
Elation-Gratification is the complementary instinct that goes with Frustration-Sorrow. A feeling of Gratification or Elation is a chimp's reward for having successfully fulfilled the mandate of another instinct. It is gradational in character in that Gratification is the less intense form, and Elation is the most intense form. It differs from Pacifity in that Elation-Gratification is a more ephemeral state and Tranquility is more enduring.
The chimpanzee alpha male uses loud and violent "displays" to intimidate other chimps. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Aggressivity: a chimp's desire to translate preferences into actions.
Aggressivity is an amplifier emotion that serves to multiply and reinforce the effects of other emotions. It is the primary mechanism involved in translating desires into actions.
Chimps engage in quiet grooming rituals. Some kind of emotional state must constitute the motivation for this behavior. I submit that we may fairly call this emotion Passivity: a chimp's desire to translate Tranquility into behavior.
Passivity is the obverse side of the Aggressivity coin. Situations that do not call for action result in a passive emotional state. Passivity can also be thought of as the braking emotion that turns Aggresivity off when it is no longer needed.