2. Does human instinct always predominate?

Let’s assume for one second that this scenario is possible and disregard reality. This is a fictitious scenario but I am still interested what people think about the possible outcome.

Two newborn, a boy and a girl, are left on a deserted island with absolutely no one taking care of them, talking to them, feeding them or educating them. In this fictitious scenario, they are able to find food, shelter, water and sleep, the 4 basic necessity for every human being.

Assuming again that those children have now reached puberty, are healthy, have no physical challenge except for the lack of parental love and affection. How would they develop?

Would their basic instinct take over, even though nobody ever told them, showed them or educated them?

Could they find love for each other? Would they know how to procreate since they have never had access to any visuals or sounds made by others?

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chilloutab2 · 46-50, M

Firstly, newborn humans cannot survive without being taken care of, so there may be a fault in your starting premise.

Ok, given that they are not newborn but at an age that they can fend for themselves, it's still not certain by any means that they would be able to find food and water or build a shelter. If they did manage to do any of these, it would be by sheer luck. The highest chances are that they would be malnourished and die from either malnourishment or diseases due to underdeveloped immune systems.

If they did manage to survive until puberty and are somehow healthy, then lack of parental love and supervision, and lack of contact wiht other humans or a society would likely make then more violent than normal humans towards each other, which would manifest as actual physical violence from the boy towards the girl and withholding of resources from the girl towards the boy (each fighting with what natural weapons they have). Again, this is assuming that there is no moderating material in their genetics. If they are high-IQ individuals, then they could even be compassionate towards each other... because compassion is a function of IQ.

If they reach puberty, their basic instincts would definitely take over and sex would happen ultimately, firstly as a simple exploration of the differences of each other's post-pubescent bodies, and then actual sex as they get to know their own and the other's bodies. Arousal would happen during the simple exploratory phase, which would be instantly visible in the boy. This would intrigue both and further exploration would ensue. When periods start for the girl, this would further heighten the intrigue for both, and lead to more exploration. All this would ultimately lead to sex, as this is a natural instinct that does not need to be taught.

If sex happens and they are healthy, then they would procreate. And if the girl delivered a baby successfully and survived, then that's where love would begin... as another natural and basic instinct of loving your offspring would take over. This is the beginning of love and through the love for their offspring, the two individuals would start developing love for each other.

However, the entire scenario is highly unlikely, because if two humans that are so young are thus deserted, they would not survive.

Stephie · F

@chilloutab2 That is why I stated that it was more of a hypothetical scenario when I mentioned that those newborn were stranded on an island. I am fully aware that they would not survive if it was to be in a real life situation.

Nevertheless, thank you for you detailed insight and explanations.