My sociology professor states that there is no mothering instinct...?

Question

he says we have no instincts at all.. Its all learned or predetermined in our genetic make up. I told him a story where I had a 2 year old in my arms when I went to step over a baby gate....my foot got caught and we fell.. my "instinct" was to make sure the baby was safe...I ended up in the ER with a sprained foot...baby was safe.. He said that wasnt instinct .. the baby was unharmed because I am altruistic... I think he is a quack... what do you all think????

Professor has 2 teenage boys.

* How does he explain animals then?*
He states animals DO have instincts..just not humans..arent we ALL animals???

Answer 1

There are lots of people who have gone to school for a very long time, read lots of books and still have no sense.

This person is entitled to his opinion, of course, but it is not more important or more valid than your opinion.

I'm happy not to be his wife or his child.

My opinion? We have instincts and we have intuition. Neither are foolproof, but they are nice additions to education and intelligence.

Answer 2

Maybe what he means is larger than that. So not only are your instincts predetermined, but the fact that you caught the baby and ended up in the hospital were also predetermined, as is the fact that you are here now asking this question. But yeah he sounds a bit of a quack, he IS a sociology prof, not an amazonian mystic

Answer 3

He is a quack quack quack, LOL

We do have mothering instincts and things that men don't even understand, without any training at all a mom will know how to breastfeed her babies if it is all she can do at the time and no one is around, that is an instinct based on survival.

I know one woman that had six kids at home without a doctors help at all, that was from an instinct to birth them.

Answer 4

Things that are predetermined in our genetic make up are....... instincts. It's genetically learned through natural selection. The ones with such traits reproduced more often and thus we now have these instincts to further the human race's existence.

So, yes, the drive to protect the children is instinctual.

Answer 5

I agree with you completely. The sociologist tries to see life through objective, humanistic means. They deny the existence of spiritual motivations or gender based intinctual behavior. I have six children and I know that some of them just have natural protective behaviors. My second daughter used to hold her dolls protectively as any good mother would do. She was barely able to walk herself, yet she cradled her dolls lovingly in her arms without having to be taught how to do it. Her older sister, however, would carry the dolls around by the hair or the arm or leg without thinking about it at all. She has turned into a fine mother now that she has three of her own. Thus, you could say that my oldest daughter would prove your professor's point of view but my second daughter would prove our point of view. Their youngest sister is more like my second daughter, a nurturer.
Changing the subject slightly, my three sons have always been respectful and protective of girls, accept their own sisters of course, and have naturally carried the male responsibilities of life.
I would not place too much credit on the professor's opinion. Go with what is obviously right in front of you, what nature tells you is correct.

Answer 6

I think that there is a concensus among psychologists that humans have no instincts, since they define instincts in such a way that there is basically no cognition involved in instinctive behavior. In the incident you describe, for example, you instantly thought of your baby's safety; hence, your behavior was not instinctive.

Words often have special meanings in various academic disciplines that differ from their every day, informal meanings. I'd say that that is what you are describing here.

Answer 7

I think that much of what we do, how we act, etc. is instinctual. For example, I was raised by my mother, but I share more personality traits with my father.
Your professor must be an extreme behaviorist. I agree that some behavior is learned, but not all.

Answer 8

there is a mothering instinct. i am such a mother hen very protective of my kids til they grow old. and it's always my motherly instinct that tells when one of my kids is sick and needs immediate attention. is that professor a parent or not?

Answer 9

I agree he's a quack. He must have had a bad mother. To make it better for himself, he's decided that it is that way for all mothers.

Answer 10

I agree with B Dorian's answer.