Ahem.  Anthropology lesson: all mammals rely to some extent on both
instincts and learned behavior, with some relying more on instincts and
others more on learned behavior.  There are no mammals that rely *only* on
instincts, and there are no mammals that rely *only* on learned behavior.
Humans probably rely more on learned behavior than any other mammal species,
but only slightly more than chimpanzees and gorillas, a lot more than dogs
and cats and cows.  Sex is not instinctive in chimpanzees and gorillas (and
humans), but it is in dogs and cats and cows, for example.  A male dog
raised from puppyhood to adulthood without ever seeing another dog will
still "know" exactly what to do when offered an adult female dog in heat.  A
chimpanzee raised in a zoo will have no idea how to have sex with another
chimpanzee, and no interest in doing so, when offered the opportunity as an
adult.

Breastfeeding is natural in the sense that it has a biological basis.  It is
not natural in the sense that it doesn't have a large learned component,
like almost all human behaviors.  There are, however, quite a number of
things that humans do instinctively.
My favorite example of human instints is this:  Go outside with a
basketball.  Stand still and put one foot out ahead of the other, but still
resting on the ground (got it?).  Now, try throwing the basketball down hard
at that foot.  It's well nigh impossible not to pull your foot out of the
way, even though you know intellectually that it won't hurt if the ball hits
your foot.  It's called an instinct.  Same thing with having someone blow at
your eye (like in a glaucoma test) -- you instinctively blink to protect
your eye.  You instinctively duck when your vision detects something looming
from above.  You instinctively flinch when you hear a loud noise, and turn
to look at the source of the sound.  Re the food example, although every
culture teaches the children what things are edible, and what things are
preferable, humans do have instinctive tendencies to avoid things that are
extremely bitter.

Kathy Dettwyler

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