system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Biologically, what is instinct?

In the wild, how do animals know that they have to migrate/hibernate/groom etc...
There are probably better examples but you get the idea -- where does the survival instict come from and what *is* it when you boil it down to just a process between the cells?

What are the biological processes that govern these behaviours which (I would assume) seem to be hardwired into the DNA? Human children are *taught* a lot of concepts/skills by adults; do adult animals teach their young a lot of these survival skills too? (Hunting being the obvious one)

(Not a biology nerd, so please explain in a quiet, soothing manner)
gpt
By definition an instinct is NOT taught. Truthfully, we don't know a lot about the exact mechanisms through which they are activated and maintained.

Though, we know it is based on specific patterns recognized by the brain that, through years of evolution, have led to its automatic execution of behaviors that benefit its chances of survival and production of offspring.