General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This killer that went on a rampage shooting [View all]laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)We have reflexes and drives. A reflex is breathing or sneezing - it is "an unlearned, biologically determined involuntary response to a physical stimulus." A drive is a unlearned, biologically determined impulse common to all members of a species that satisfy needs (like sleep, eat, reproduce etc). The difference is that, unlike an instinct which makes a spider spin a web given certain environmental circumstances, a drive means you WANT to fill your needs, but that you can come up with many, many different ways to satisfy your drive - there is nothing in us humans that says we have to do things a certain way to satisfy our 'needs'. We have free will to determine how we fill our needs. In fact, we have so much free will to determine our own behavior, that we even have certain societal rules regarding our reflexes, like covering your mouth when you sneeze.
Anyway. Thought I'd throw that in there.