Instincts drive a lot of human behavior without us always realizing it. Most of these instinct serve us. We are instinctually scared of heights, snakes and spiders; and we have a natural urge to protect our young from danger and to seek out shelter. Some instincts, however, hinder us. Each of us has what is called a Survival Instinct. This is the desire to live. When we receive criticism, our survival instinct kicks into full-gear without us being fully conscious of it. On a primal level, we see criticism as a threat against our lives. If someone tells us something we don't want to hear, there's an automatic almost subconscious reaction of anger, fear and antipathy. If we don't actively think about overriding this particular instinct, our development will stall.