We've been brought up with the idea that humans and animals are nothing alike because we have emotions, feelings, and all that stuff. However, if you really sit down and mull it over, we're a lot more like animals than you'd think. It all comes down to survival of the fittest. Just like animals, we want to be the fittest. We, like animals have learned skills as well as instincts. Over time, since humans have begun to rule the world, our learned skills have become a social issue. However, the instinctual aspect remains the same and continually interferes with our dream of living up to our claim to be above the animal kingdom.

We pride ourselves in our greater ability to learn. We've gone past the concrete and created the concept. We've created the concepts of government, science, and multiple other monumental breakthroughs. We will more likely survive the end of the world than any other living thing due to this.

However, we still have instinct. Studies show that when a mother looks into her baby's eyes, it stimulates the baby's brain, thereby increasing its intelligence. If you've noticed, it isn't all that rare an occasion that a mother makes eye contact with her baby. She enjoys it. Why does she enjoy it? Because it's in her programming. Also, if babies haven't yet learned anything, then why do they do what they do? As they progress, they start to try to grab, push, pull, kick, and bite. What are they doing? They are exercising, learning, and doing countless other things. How do they know to do this? Again, it's in their programming. Instinct. What drives us to do these things? They aren't involuntary. Isn't instinct a natural, involuntary thing? No. Instinct is put in motion by a drive. Emotions, hormones, hunger, thirst, pain, etc. Yes, these are all drives that exist specifically to tell us how to react in order to survive. When we are in danger, our body tells us to run. How does it tell us? Fear. When we need food, we sense it. Do we sense a lack of nutrients? No, what we are feeling is an alarm that our brain is sounding. Same with everything else. Sexual hormones encourage reproduction. What? I thought we were different than animals. Nope. We are driven by the same thing.

Our natural tendency to group together in families is an instinct that helps us to protect our children as well as raise them properly so they can reproduce and keep the human race alive. What about child-raising? Studies show that children function better as adults if they were raised in the traditional family setting (both female and male parents present). Also, studies show that a mother's gentle treatment and the father's roughness are necessary. Each parent has an inherent role whether they know it or not. Why? That's the way our species has decided to work. It's the best way to do it.

Furthermore, we tend put our survival at the expense of others. Why? With animals, the winner sometimes comes out the sole survivor. Who better to survive than the fittest? With the weakest gone, their genes will no longer weaken the race as a whole. The race as a whole is strengthened. We do the same thing.

Our instincts and our learned way of life conflict often. Our instinct to compete is obvious. It's a wonder no one acknowledges that this is an instinct. They say we just enjoy it. What decides what we enjoy? Instinct. Competition is what society is built around. Males compete to show the females that they are strong, cool, macho, etc. Mothers want a strong father for their children. Females compete to be the most attractive and healthy for the males. The males want healthy children. We compete for jobs. The better the job, the better our chance for survival. The more money, the better chance for survival. Our need for power fits here as well. Power and survival. Obvious. Our concept of morals and every other restraint we put on ourselves and expect others to follow don't coincide with our instincts. That's why we don't have world peace. That's why we have criminals, abusive parents, and every other thing we just can't seem to understand. We must recognize our similarity to animals in order to rise to our claim. Or alter it.