I can't reconcile the phenomena of instinct very well

[kackermann]

A salmon navigates complex waterways to spawn. The Arctic Tern migrates half way around the world.

If instinct is coded for in DNA, then that means, somehow, DNA acquired a representation of the physical world. How incredible is that?

Also, is it coded to prewire neural connections that mimic experience? Is it prewired experience, or is a map?

Thank you

[mith]

There's a theory that salmon jump up to smell the odors of the environment...so it might not be much of a map.

[kotoreru]

Migratory birds apparently have magnetite crystals in their heads which likely interact with the Earth's magnetic fields to give the bird a sense of direction.

Not sure if there is any evidence to suggest that the environment, or aspects of it, are mapped in the genome of any organism.

[khenwood]

Kackermann -

If you'd like to pick up a book on the topic, you can try Hardwired Behavior: What Neuroscience Reveals about Morality by Laurence Tancredi.

It's on a loooong list of books I need to read.
Will I ever reach the end of this list? Probably not.

[Darby]

Many of those types of instincts have a strong learning component - the timing and the basic directions, maybe the distance, may be instinctive, for instance, but finding the right spot once you get there is more flexible.

[kotoreru]

Indeed, I actually believe that the migration patterns of North Sea Cod has been changing for some time. It's possibly a result of lowering the overall age of the fish through overfishing i.e. 'population memory' lost with older fish.

[spodar]

Salmon comes back to the place, where they was borned! That is specific of all type of fish which spawn in fresh water and habitate in salt water. Young fish have a lot of meal and little predators around.

[spodar]

It's a pity, but that why huge number of fish was died because of water-electro-station build. And maybe will never recreated again…
And, if Salmon had a DNA acquired a representation of the physical world, they were not die.