User:Classic Bee/Instinct

Jean Henri Fabre
Jean Henri Fabre (1823-1915) is said to be the first person to study small animals (that weren’t birds) and insects (Pasteur, Wheeler), and he specifically specialized in the instincts of insects (Pasteur, Wheeler). He was passionate about his research and wrote about instinct in a way that was informative, yet poetic (Pasteur, http://www.efabre.net/ ). Fabre considered an instinct to be a linked set of behaviors that an organism undergoes unconsciously, in response to external conditions (Yavetz, (http://www.efabre.net/chapter-vi-instinct-and-discernment).

Animal Behavior
Fabre concluded that a significant difference between humans and animals is animals cannot reason (Pasteur). He came to this conclusion after observing how insects and wild birds continued to repeat a certain behavior in response to a novel situation (Pasteur). While these instinctive behaviors appeared complex, the insects and animals did not adjust their behavior despite it not helping them in that novel situation (Pasteur, Yavetz).

The following are some insect and animal behaviors that Fabre observed and labelled "instinctive", for they do not involve reasoning: (all from Pasteur)


 * Mimicry
 * Playing dead
 * Molting
 * Metamorphosis
 * Taxis
 * Maternal instincts

Fixed Patterns
Fabre believed instincts were “fixed patterns”, meaning these linked sets of behaviors do not change in response to novel situations. One specific example that helped him arrive at this conclusion is his study of various wasps species (Yevetz, Wheeler). All of the wasps species he studied performed a certain pattern of behavior when catching their prey, which Fabre called a fixed pattern. Then Fabre intervened in the wasps' process of catching prey, and only one of the species adjusted their behavior in response to this unfamiliar interception (Yevetz). Fabre explained this contradiction by arguing that any individuals which stray from the norms of their species are merely an exception (Pasteur, Wheeler).

Fabre's belief that instincts are fixed directly opposes the theory of evolution. He rejected that one species could evolve into another, and also rejected that the consciousness humans possess could be achieved through the evolution of unconscious traits (Yavetz, Pasteur).