When Instinct Becomes a Whisper: Remembering We Are Still Animals

In the quiet recesses of modern life—between the demands of work, the glow of screens, and the pressure to perform humanity just right—we often forget something vital: we are animals. Homo sapiens. Bipedal mammals who share over 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees, whose bodies respond to moonlight, hunger, arousal, and danger before logic ever enters the room (Marks, 2002).

But we’ve dressed this primal truth in layers of social fabric: etiquette, order, schedules, expectations, and roles. These constructs keep us from tearing each other apart—but they also, if unchecked, keep us from understanding ourselves and those around us.

We’ve created a society that prizes control over vulnerability, logic over emotion, structure over instinct. And yet, the raw parts of us—fear, desire, sadness, awe—never went anywhere (Dotto, 2024). We feel them every day. We just hide them better. Sometimes, we don't even realize we're suppressing them… until it spills out as violence, burnout, anxiety, or disconnection.

Is vulnerability a weakness? Or is it instinct?

As stated by Tomasello (1999):

There is only one possible solution to this puzzle. That is, there is only one known biological mechanism that could bring about these kinds of changes in behavior and cognition in so short a time—whether that time be thought of as 6 million, 2 million, or one-quarter of a million years. This biological mechanism is social or cultural transmission, which works on time scales many orders of magnitude faster than those of organic evolution (p. 4). 

To cry is to signal distress. To love is to bond and protect. To fear is to survive. These aren’t flaws—they’re ancient alerts that once saved our species and still speak to us in ways we've been trained to ignore.

Consider our natural rhythms. Humans are diurnal. We were designed to rise with the sun and rest when it sets. Our circadian rhythms, shaped by thousands of years of adaptation, align us with daylight. Those who work graveyard shifts often suffer physical and emotional costs because their bodies are forced to rewrite evolutionary programming. It’s not a flaw in them—it’s a flaw in the demand to override instinct without pause or reflection.

So what happens when we lose ourselves?

We become foreign to our own bodies. We snap at the wrong people. We lie to ourselves about what we want. We chase validation instead of peace. And we forget how to sit quietly with our animal selves and just be.

But there’s good news: the self isn’t gone. Not even in the slightest... It’s just muffled under the noise of expectation.

To find ourselves again, we must reconcile the animal within us- recognizing its value. We must build lives that honor our biology without rejecting the social frameworks that allow us to live together in relative harmony.

It starts with truth-telling:

Admit when you’re tired.

Cry when you're moved.

Step into the sunlight.

Sleep when it’s dark out (if possible).

Touch with intention.

Ask why you're afraid—and listen to the answer.

In the end, to be fully human is not to reject your instincts, but to live with them wisely. Society doesn’t have to be a cage. Think of yourself as a hummingbird. Hummingbirds do not do well in cages. You are not a caged hummingbird. Embracing your instinct can be a map. But you’ll never find your way if you forget the creature holding the compass.

So breathe. Feel. Remember: you’re not broken.

You’re just… human afterall.



References

Dotto, G. P. (2024). Ambassadors of peace: The anthropology of war and how to overcome the human killing instinct. EMBO Reports, 25(9), 3753–3756. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44319-024-00231-5

Durkheim, E. (1895). The rules of sociological method. University of Chicago Press.

Durkheim, E. (1897). On suicide. Penguin.

Durkheim, E. (1924). Sociology and philosophy. Free Press.

Lawler, E. J., Shane, R. T., & Yoon, J. (2014). Emotions and group ties in social exchange. In J. Stets, & J. Turner (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of emotions II. Springer.

Marks, J. (2002). What it means to be 98% chimpanzee: Apes, people, and their genes. University of California Press.

Tomasello, M. (1999). The cultural origin of human cognition. Harvard University Press.

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