Noble as that is, surely our Creator did not mean that the central object of our existence is merely to pass life to the next generation, as animals instinctively do to continue the species.
This unique equipment includes their feathers, wing shape, specialized muscles, body shape, bone structure and, of course, their instinctive ability to handle the many variable factors of flight.
After two or three weeks, the calf instinctively begins to nibble on the tender tips of acacia branches and soon gains enough strength to keep up with its mother’s long strides.
Taylor concerning the genetic machinery, “that it can hand on a behavioural programme of a specific kind, such as the sequence of actions involved in nest building.”a Nevertheless, the instinctive wisdom of nest building is handed down, not taught.
This doctrine is so basic, so oft stated, and so instinctively simple that it can seem to be ordinary, when in reality it is among the most extraordinary knowledge we can obtain.
Unlike animals, which are governed largely by instinct, people are influenced by a variety of factors, ranging from love and other wholesome qualities to hatred and greedy self-interest.
Warfare, he says, “reaches into the most secret places of the human heart, . . . where pride reigns, where emotion is paramount, where instinct is king.”
(Psalm 103:20) Even animals are governed by law as they obey the instinctive commands that their Creator has programmed into them.—Proverbs 30:24-28; Jeremiah 8:7.