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Self preservation is essentially the process of an organism preventing itself from being harmed or killed and is considered a basic instinct in most organisms. Most call it a "survival instinct". Self-preservation is thought to be tied to an organisms reproductive fitness and can be more or less present according to perceived reproduction potential. If perceived reproductive potential is low enough, self-destructive behavior(the opposite) is not uncommon in social species. Self-preservation is also thought by some to be the basis of rational and logical thought and behavior.

Self Preservation in General

An organism's fitness is measured by its ability to pass on its genes. The most straightforward way to accomplish this is to survive to a reproductive age, mate, and then have offspring. These offspring will hold at least a portion of your own genes, up to all of your own genes in asexual organisms.. But in order for this to happen, an organism must first survive long enough to reproduce, and this would mainly consist of adopting selfish behaviors that would allow organisms to maximize their own chances for survival.

Self-Destructive Behavior

An interesting phenomenon sometimes occurs in social animals. Animals in a social group(of kin) often work cooperatively in order to survive, but when one member perceives itself as a burden for an extended period of time, it may commit self-destructive behavior. This allows its relatives to have a better chance at survival, and if enough close relatives survive, then its genes get indirectly passed on anyways. This behavior works in the exact opposite direction of the survival instinct and could be considered a highly altruistic behavior evolved from a cooperative group. Self-destructive behavior is not the same as risk-taking behavior(see below in Social Implication(Human), although risk taking behavior could turn into destructive behavior.

Social Implications(Human)

The desire for self-preservation has led to countless laws and regulations surrounding a culture of safety in Western society. Seat belt laws, speed limits, texting regulations, and the "stranger danger" campaign should all be familiar examples of societal guides and regulations to enhance survival and these laws are heavily supported due to the animal need we possess for self-preservation. However, while more safety laws and regulations are created constantly, voluntary risky behaviors such as skydiving, free-climbing, and scuba diving have been on the rise. This is counter-intuitive to the rise of this culture of safety that we have developed and is currently unexplained and requires more research in order to explain this ironic behavior. It is suggested that this may be related to short-term pleasure gains in a similar fashion that drinking or smoking is self-damaging but causes a euphoric sensation so individuals continue the sub-optimal strategy and attempt to adapt to the new situation as best as they can.

Economic Impacts

Self-preservation urges animals to collect energy and resources required to prolong life as well as resources that increase chances of survival. Basic needs are available to most humans(roughly 7 out of 8 people), and usually rather cheaply. The instinct that drives us to gather resources now drives us to over-consumption or to patterns of collection and possession that essentially make hoarding resources the priority.

Cellular Self-Preservation

Self-preservation is not just limited to individual organisms, this can be scaled up or down to other levels of life. Narula and Young indicate that cardiac myocytes have an acute sense of self-preservation. They are able to duck, dart, and dodge foreign substances that may harm the cell. In addition, when a myocardiac arrest - a heart attack - occurs, it is actually the cardiac myocytes entering a state of hibernation in an attempt to wait out a lack of resources. While this is ultimately deadly to the organism, it prolongs the cell's survival as long as possible for hopeful resuscitation.

Group Self-Preservation

When scaled in the opposite direction, Hughes-Jones makes the argument that "social groups that fight each other are self‐sustaining, self‐replicating wholes containing interdependent parts" indicating that the group as a whole can have self-preservation with the individuals acting as the cells.