Is desire rooted from instincts?

Question

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Have a great day!

Answer 1

Yes.

Your instincts are basically in built desires to want or avoid things, over time however you can learn to like or dislike things according to instinctive rules. E.g. If foods like vegetables don't make you sick you might eventually grow to like them despite their bitter taste; or get comfortable with being treated badly, if it happens often enough.

Thus you are born liking warmth, soft melodies, cuddles and sweet food, and disliking extreme heat, loud or discordant noises, bitter vegetables and falling.

Thus, everyone is probably born hating vegetables, Rap and loud Rock concerts, but we can be seduced into liking such things if our parents or peers or media sell us on the ideas, with bribery, or brain washing.

Similarly, we might learn to like falling (as in sky diving) if we fight through our initial fears, and get addicted to the adrenalin rush; or get addicted to being miserable if we get enough practice at it.

See the video series "What the Bleep" for details of the chemical and social aspects of forming addictive emotions and behaviors.

Answer 2

Hi Third P,
I agree with Marg... above. It really depends on the desire. Some desires are likely to be instinctive. An instinctive need that sustains our survival. Others are learned and gained through experience.
Pollyanna

Answer 3

I think so. Instincts make up the very definitions of 'human,' streaming life in through a filter of sorts. Humanity is characterized by desire, for from desire springs all emotions. Think about it.

Answer 4

i chose to believe -although they are closely related- Instinct may arise from desire(psychologycaly).
And in some cases (in an Economic view) instincts may gives you passion once you make that choice , but desire is a natural want ( for fullfillment sake)

Answer 5

Some desires are, some aren't.

The instinctual ones are involuntary. They occur automatically, as when you have a strong physical attraction for the opposite sex. You haven't even met the person, but still seen from afar, you are interested!

Other desires, are learned behavior from life's experiences of what has become pleasureable and fun to possess.

Answer 6

According to Freud, all desire & actions derive from our basic & unconscious instincts (id). The ego can transform the instinct (by being in touch with reality) to desire. The benign superego hopefully thinks ahead & can determine any consequences to our acting on our desires (instincts) & adjust them so they are fulfilled to our benefit.

If we have a harsh superego, it can make us feel guilty about our instincts (desires) and block ourselves from fulfilling them.

Answer 7

when you say instincts you mean to say those that are necessary for survival, those that are very basic. and yes, primary desires for food, water, and sex are basically located in the id, that is, the location of all instinctual energies for the preservation of the self. on the other hand, desires not necessary for survival are products of the dissatisfaction of our current state and not from the id.

hope i helped you! ^_^

Answer 8

Desire is rooted in the universal tendency toward balance. It is only due to improper understanding that our desires get distorted, and this balancing mechanism becomes distorted with it.

Answer 9

Totally agree with JDM; we all have desires or wants, the question is, are they necessary? I really want a yacht but am I going to get it? I need to eat at least one good meal a day and that is a definite need strickly for survival. The yacht I can live without; don't want to, but . . . . . . . .

Answer 10

In my view bodily desires such as sex are instinctive, but other desires are rooted in our ego.