"From Charles Darwin to Malcolm Gladwell, writers and scientists have been fascinated by what prompts us to make snap decisions. In Basic Instinct, award-winning neuroscientist Mark S. Blumberg provides readers with a logical perspective that does not rely on the cliched explanations that have become so prevalent among scientists and laypeople alike. Blumberg delves into the debate between the nativists and evolutionary psychologists, who believe we are born with a instinctive knowledge about the world, and the epigeneticists, who believe that instincts are built anew in each of us generation after generation. The result is an entertaining and balanced examination of the role of genes, experience, and evolution in the construction of behavior."--Jacket.