Reply #356: Well, by golly, I did - surprising even me now that I read it. [View All]

[Rabrrrrrr]

I *do* think it is a basic human instinct, though with limitations. I *don't* think it's a basic instinct toward outsiders, or The Other, though.

And I don't think it's strong enough to work on a mass scale.

It works in family units (sometimes), and that's about it.

Greed and self-preservation are also basic instincts, I would say.

We have basic instincts that work toward the good, and those that work toward the bad - and each of those instincts, depending on how they are used, are sometimes bad and sometimes good. Altruism can also be an evil, just as much as greed can at times be a good.