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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Captain · 61-69, M

I think they have to copulate. It may be traumatic for them, and they won't have an emotional supportinve shoulders to cry on, but it has to happen. Maybe they'll generate a genetic freak with gills that can swim away to get them help and rescue them - but yes - I think they defo mate.

Stephie · F

@Captain That's what I am not so sure about. A lot of factors could affect the way they behave with each other. The diet they are subjected to, whether they discover and use fire, whether they have to waste all their energies for survival or even if the one or the other sibling is gay or not.

If you also take into account the so-called "Westermarck Effect", also known as reverse sexual imprinting, that is a psychological hypothesis that states that people tend not to be attracted to peers with whom they lived like siblings before the age of six.

Captain · 61-69, M

@Stephie I hear what you say, that's why I think it might be traumatic, but logic tells me if we got through the mitochondrial eve bottleneck as a (much mutated) species, you leave two individuals togther long enough and they will mate. No one will ever have done that experiemnt of humans but it wouod be interesting to see if its been done on rats or cats. I did experimental psychology as a second year option and no one had done it by then, I think controls will be even stricter now, but bonobobs will copulate with anyone eles eat all and they are our closest relatives remember.

Captain · 61-69, M

@Stephie So I just googled it - as you do - and "in general" is the term used in every response I have seen, "in general' means that under extreme conditions mamals will inbreed so I am going to stick with my first answer. When it comes to the 4 Fs the limbic system is on control and we often react instinctively in sexually excited conditons not rationally.