IN S T IN CT IVE FACT OR S (^143)
th a t i nstinc tive a c tions a re inh erite d. There
i s a volum e o f significa nc e i n this fo r th e
sell e r, whi ch we sh all p oin t o u t p re sently.
Fo r th e mom en t, l et us el ab ora te upon th e
m ea ning o f th e te rm inh e ri ta nce i n general.
a. Le t u s no te firs t th a t a nything inh erit ed
may come not m e rely from imme diat e p aren ts
but al so from all p re ceding ge ne ra ti ons in th e
line of descen t. S ome o f th e things w e inh erit
m ay h ave o ri gina te d millions o f years a go.
b. An a c t which h as pa sse d d ow n th rough
so ma ny gen era tions i s th u s to b e fo und i n
al l th e membe rs o f th e sp ecies. F or example ,
all h uma n b eings t en d to a c t in abo u t th e sa m e
way wh e n a fraid.
c. A n i nhe rit e d ac t i s firmly fixed. It h a s
b ee n ingraine d within so many gene ra ti on s
a nd t ra nsmitt e d so faith fully from genera tion
to gene ra tio n tha t i t i s qui te fi rmly e mb e dded
wi thin th e organism of th e la s t inh erito r.
d. I t m ay b e quickly aroused. Thi s fol
l ow s from th e fa c t th a t th e pa thways for i t
a re well marke d o ut i n th e nerv ous system.
N o w to wea r dow n a pa thway fo r n on-in
herited a c ti on re quire s c on si derabl e tim e. To
do so th ro ugh rea sonin g p roc esses, fo r ex
a mpl e, require s th e tim e nece ssa ry f or th e
nervou s imp ul se to t ravel t o th e b rai n, p erh ap s
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