Where does instinct come from?

Originally posted by Maestro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innate_behaviour

http://pixnaps.blogspot.com/2005/08/innate-information-and-behaviour.html

Yes. However, what about a baby that can swim at birth or an animal that can walk at birth?

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Yes, and were is consciousness in a bacteria?

I mean consciousness in the broadest sense; awareness. Bacteria are aware of and can respond to their environment.

I always liked this comparison: Mass and Density are to Gravity as Complexity and Integration are to Consciousness.

Originally posted by Mindship
I mean consciousness in the broadest sense; awareness. Bacteria are aware of and can respond to their environment.

I always liked this comparison: Mass and Density are to Gravity as Complexity and Integration are to Consciousness.

The level of awareness = Level of consciousness.

Originally posted by Blue nocturne
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't information a result of how we interact with matter?

You ain't wrong.

Yes, awareness = con'ness.

Originally posted by Mindship
You ain't wrong.

Yes, awareness = con'ness.

Score one for me.

Originally posted by Blue nocturne
Score one for me.

But that's for the purposes of this discussion. It's what I like. Not everyone sees it like that. Some prefer "consciousness" as in "self consciousness" (self-awareness, not embarrassment). The word is reserved for what only humans seem to have, an egoic presence.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Yes. However, what about a baby that can swim at birth or an animal that can walk at birth?

In the majority of cases, its the mother of the new-born which initiates the creature to walk and swim, by providing them the means of attempting it, by prodding them, as a way of force. It can also be in a passive way, for example, the new-born seeing how their mother does a procedure, in which the new-born watches, and attempts to do it until they finally learn. To look at it, in the wider sense, I think that along with innate behaviour, another thing thats being passed on from different generations is the principle of being able to analyse, learn and teach to one generation to the other.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
The first thought that I can come up with is that the information is stored in the genes, but there is a problem with that. When you are born, your genes are set, and the things you experience in life do not change your genes. So, if a gazelle knows how to walk at birth, how does this advantage get passed on to the next generation?

The next thought is natural selection, but this too has a problem. Many instincts are complicated strings of events that must be done in a particular order. How dose a dragonfly know that once it reaches maturity it must mate and reproduce?

There is the concept of the collective consciousness; a dance of desires. Could instinct be stored within a mechanism similar to this?

According to Buddhism, there is what is known as the 8th level of consciousness, were all karma is stored. Could this be a better solution?

I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to this because frankly, we don’t know. However, let’s try to see if we, all together, can come up with other possible answers.

I don't think genes are as set as many say. I have noticed that a lot of things are "genetic", because they are indicative of the previous generation. And, many things are "genetic" because we can't explain them. However, I think it is both. There are certain traits and actual habits I display that only my father exhibited. (drinking, arrogance, self-importance, blue eyes, cheek bones, hand writting, bagging my own groceries, fair skin) But, there are a lot of habits my father didn't display. ( dark hair, eye brows, Star Wars, black people, finger nails, irrational anger, rock music) which come from my mother, alone. However, I believe that our genes have the utmost influence over our eventual personalities. There's not much that can be done about who we are, only how we use those gifts and disabilities for the understanding of another person in this world. Granted, we can control ourselves. But not who we really are.