Significance of Instinct
In the context of India history, instinct is defined as a sub-conscious state of knowledge that enables animals to recognize poisonous from edible plants, albeit with limitations. This concept highlights that while instinct can guide actions reliably in familiar situations, it lacks awareness and adaptability to novel circumstances. Additionally, instinct is associated with unconscious behaviors in lower animals, emphasizing that these actions occur without conscious thought or awareness, forming part of the unconscious plane.
Synonyms: Intuition, Feeling, Impulse, Natural tendency, Reflex, Inclination, Sixth sense, Predisposition
The below excerpts are indicatory and do represent direct quotations or translations. It is your responsibility to fact check each reference.
The concept of Instinct in local and regional sources
Instinct describes the unconscious behaviors in animals, reflecting a subconscious knowledge that enables them to identify familiar dangers, like poisonous plants, despite having a limited awareness of new experiences.
From: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
(1) This is the lowest form of knowledge, most developed in animals, and it serves as an inadequate instrument for acquiring knowledge in human beings.[1] (2) Instinct is the term used to describe unconscious work in lower animals, which is a part of the unconscious plane where actions are performed without awareness.[2] (3) Instinct is a sub-conscious state of knowledge that is almost infallible, but very limited, and the animal almost instinctively knows a poisonous herb from an edible one, but is blind to something new.[3]