Have you ever held your hand over a fire - only to snatch it back without even thinking?
Or you’re walking beside a road with your friend - they step out into traffic - and
you instantly snatch them back.
Thousands of years of evolution have conditioned our bodies to protect themselves without us
even realising.
In the majority of cases - we’re thankful that our brains are looking out for us.
But after all - we’re just animals - and sometimes, survival can become /pretty/ scary.
What’s going on guys, I’m your host Jack Finch - and today, we’re going to take a
look at 5 Scary Human Instincts.
Before we get started - make sure to hit that subscribe button -and let us know how you’re
finding the new channel in the comment box below.
Kicking it off at Number 5 - we have Eye Contact.
You may not realise it - but Eye Contact is an incredibly powerful force - and is connected
with humanity’s earliest survival patterns.
As we evolved, children who could attract eye contact from adults had the best chance
of being fed and cared for.
Today - newborn babies will instinctively lock eye contact with their caregivers, which
has a powerful impact in the adult mind.
A huge part of this has to do with the whites of our eyes.
Compared to the other 220 non-human primates - we’re the only species that has evolved
a large, white area of the eye.
Chimpanzee’s can easily be staring at one thing - while their head is pointed in the
complete opposite direction.
And we’d have no idea - because we’re attuned to follow their eye movement.
For humans - eye contact was vital in our early development, and gave us an almost instant
understanding of each other’s intentions, without ever speaking a word.
However, this fact can be easily manipulated by predators.
In the wild, if you lock eye contact with a bear or a silverback gorilla - you’re
pretty much mincemeat.
Direct eye contact is seen as a challenge to the rest of the animal kingdom, but is
almost instinctively done by humans.
So the next time you’re at a zoo - make sure to keep your head down, and leave the
staring contests for another time.
Which leads us to our next point - Number 4 - Fight or Flight.
Under cases of extreme stress - a response is triggered in the human body called fight
or flight.
It involves some pretty complicated hormonal shifts in the body - but the basic signs are
an increase in heart rate, tunnel vision, dry mouth and dilated pupils.
The body needs to survive - and in most cases, remove itself from danger in whatever way
it can.
But when the body can’t run - some pretty insane things can happen.
In 2003, Aron Ralston went hiking in the Utah canyons.
It was all going great - until Aron slipped near a ravine, and a boulder became dislodged
- trapping him next to the wall of a deep, narrow canyon.
His right arm was pinned between the boulder and the rock.
Fight or flight kicked in - and for Aron, the only response left was to fight.
Over a period of 127 hours, Aron realised that the only action left was to cut his own
arm off.
He used his body weight to bend his own arm until the boulder snapped his forearm - and
then began sawing through the bone.
*Ouch*
Aron’s instincts took over - and he survived.
Bringing it in at Number 3 - we have Fear Itself.
A deer in the headlights.
We all know the classic image of a woodland creature freezing when they see imminent danger.
But there’s actually quite a few crazy reasons why mammals have a freeze response.
Some believe that it’s a last ditch effort - after fight or flight has failed - to try
and be left alone.
If they can remain as still as possible, maybe that bear won’t see them - and they won’t
be eaten.
It’s actually down to how your brain has been wired to survive through evolution - and
a moment of pure fear is triggered by cells in the brain that are responsible for extinction
memories.
Basically - any time you freeze in fear, you’re remembering every time your ancient ancestors
thought they would be eaten by a lion - but somehow managed to overcome that fear, and
get the hell out of there.
If not - /you/ wouldn’t really be here.
So when you see someone involved in a crisis, their response to freeze is pretty terrifying.
Because if they somehow can’t snap out of it - and take back control of their own body
- then they’re not going to be passing on those extinction memories to /anyone/, anytime
soon.
Next up at Number 2 - we have our penultimate point - Drowning.
Humans have a deep-rooted fear of open water for a reason - we can’t breathe down there.
Also, krakens.
The terrifying thing is - we’re hardwired to have, what is known as - the Instinctive
Drowning Response.
When a person finds themselves on the cusp of drowning, they enter an instinctive state
of preservation.
Movement becomes impossible, the person bobbing listlessly with their mouth level to the water.
It’s not like in the movies.
The legs don’t kick, and the arms don’t flail.
The response is so undramatic that people often drown in busy bodies of water, without
being noticed by other swimmers or lifeguards.
And an even scarier response can kick in when being rescued.
While the body is under a drowning response, when they grab something buoyant - the body
will mercilessly hold on until it’s safe.
More often than not - this is the person trying to save them.
This is why search and rescue swimmers are taught to punch a person straight in the face,
to knock the victim out before taking control of their body.
There have been reports of both the drowning person - and the lifeguard trying to save
them - slipping under the water, never to return.
All because of the human body’s instinctive response to survive.
And finally - bringing it in at Number 1 - we have, A Mother’s Instinct.
Now, we all love our moms - and they love us too.
Like - to the point of insanity.
A mother’s instinct is so strong, that in some cases - they’ve pretty much developed
superpowers to make sure that their tiny bundles of joy are kept safe.
There’s not really a lot of science behind it either.
It just somehow, sometimes - happens.
The bond between mother and child is something hardwired - an ancient instinct that has kept
us alive for thousands of years.
In 2014 - Chelsi Camp was pet sitting for a friend, when their dog went into a rage
and attacked Chelsi’s daughter.
Well, Chelsi fought back - with her fists, and her teeth.
At one point, Chelsi even bit the dog’s damn ear off.
Her daughter survived.
In 2000 - a 40-year-old mother of seven became the first woman in medical history to give
herself a C-Section.
In an isolated cabin - with no help for miles - Ines Ramirez Perez was driven by pure desperation
to save her unborn child.
She cut into her own abdomen with a 6-inch blade - and safely birthed her baby.
You go, Mrs. Perez.
A mother’s instinct is something that you really, really - don’t want to cross.
So there you have it - the Top 5 Scary Human Instincts.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this video - let us know in the comment box down below.
I’ve been your host Jack Finch, and until next time - take it easy.