The Death of Instinct in the Modern World: Why the Cage Stays Shut
Instinct—the raw, immediate intelligence that kept humans alive for millennia—is now one of the most undervalued forms of intelligence. The modern world, with its endless distractions, artificial stability, and manufactured narratives, has dulled it to the point where most people don’t even realize they’ve lost something essential.
The Dulling of Instinct by the Hegemony
The hegemony—media, institutions, social structures—doesn’t want people to think for themselves. It wants them to follow. Instinct is dangerous to control systems because instinct doesn’t wait for permission. It doesn’t ask if it’s politically correct or acceptable. It reacts, perceives, and moves without needing validation.
- Fear is installed → People are taught to distrust their gut. If something seems off, they’re told it’s just paranoia
- Overrationalization replaces instinct → Instead of reacting naturally, people second-guess, hesitate, and ask what the “right” response is.
- Disconnection from real-world consequences → When everything is filtered through screens and abstract theories, people lose the ability to gauge reality as it is, not as they’re told it should be.
Result? A generation of people who might be intelligent in specific ways (coding, finance, law, academia) but lack a broader understanding of how the world actually works.
Island Intelligence: Knowing a Lot, Understanding Nothing
This is what I call island intelligence—the ability to master one domain while being completely lost in the bigger picture.
- A software engineer can build complex algorithms but believes everything the news tells him.
- A professor can analyze ancient texts but can’t see the obvious manipulation in modern politics.
- A journalist can construct the perfect narrative but has no understanding of the forces that shaped the story they’re writing.
They have data but lack wisdom. They can recite facts but fail to see patterns. They have an education but no instinct.
This is why, even in highly developed societies, people fail to see the obvious. They walk into self-destruction with confidence because they have been trained to ignore their gut feeling.
Rumi’s Open Cage: The Final Irony
Rumi’s words cut through time:
“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?”
Because instinct—the very thing that would tell them to leave—is gone.
- People are free to think, but they parrot pre-approved thoughts.
- They are free to move, but they stay within prescribed social boundaries.
- They are free to choose, but they pick from the same manufactured options.
The door is wide open, but they stay inside because they no longer trust themselves to walk out.
Conclusion: The Return to Instinct
To break out of this prison, one doesn’t need more knowledge. One needs less hesitation.
Instinct must be revived—through real-world experience, through rejecting fear-based narratives, through reconnecting with unfiltered reality.
Because the truth is, the ones who still trust their instincts are already outside the cage.