Joel Hagstrom- How We Exhibit Animality

Although humans have the ability for creative thought, there are some things that are hard wired into our brains that work without our cognitive recognition.  Jorge Bataille says that animality is to be immersed in instinctual actions.  While we are not driven by animality, we do exhibit some aspects of it.     The fight-or-flight instinct that we all have is remnant from our more animalistic past (many thousands of years ago).  The adrenaline gland that is attributed with this response is used to complete our instinctual needs.  Also, our sense of smell carries out more instinctual functions than we are aware of.  Smell is a major factor used in picking out a significant other, even though most people think that it can be based off of visual appeal.  The brain picks up smells from other human beings and processes them instinctually, without us knowing it, and leads to the decision of whether to pursue someone or let them go.  So although we are not constantly acting on instinct, in some of the more stressful and important times in our lives we are in fact exhibiting animality, simply because thats what we already "know."