Possibly dumb question about socialization/sociability

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

At 05:03 PM 4/24/01 -0500, Carrol wrote:
>What do you mean by "instinct"? A bird sits on her eggs without knowing
>they are eggs or that they are going to hatch. Migratory birds follow a
>route without knowing they are following a route. What do humans do
>without knowing they are doing it? I don't claim to have the foggiest
>notion of what an "instinct" is, and I have never seen anyone on lbo use
>the word in any remotely sensible way.
>
How do you know what the birds know or do not know?  Perhaps they know what
they are doing but do not know why.  That is not far apart from much human
behaviour.  We know what we are doing when we help a person whom we are
unlikely to meet even again, refrain from stealing money from the hat of a
blind beggar knowing that he would not know who took it, leave tips in
restuarants to which we will never return and so on -  but can anyone
explain WHY are we doing it?  The rat-choice crowd certainly can't, and
those who call it "altruism" far no better than those who might call it
'instinct.'

wojtek