I'm not sure that involuntary reactions can be defined as a "want". My body doesn't "want" to survive, it just reacts to me having a lack of oxygen. Or food.
I think that's part of why you get simple animals like ants as hive animals, but get more complex pack animals like dogs. An ant doesn't have the intelligence to "want" to survive, so it's much more capable of sacrificing itself for the good of a hive. A dog *does* conciously (probably) "want" to survive and avoid pain, so it's much less likely to sacrifice itself. It *will* because it's a pack animal. So what is happening in the case of the dog is that, as well as the "want" to survive, it has other "wants" such as "protect the pack" and "make sure we kill this animal so there will be food".
The ant is going "I smell danger pheromones" then instinctively reacting, without a "want" being involved.
If you "actually have no choice but to do your will", wouldn't that be considered a need?
If you can't resist fulfilling a want, isn't that a need?
(yes, I know that definition makes "eating sweets" a need for certain people)
Rat |