Homeless people are nomads and value nomadic behaviour above
learned behavior. The existence of nomadic behavior is present
in all human beings; "hence, the joy experienced from a simple
road trip to some adjoining state, gazing out the window at
passing mountains and fields. The experience of actively finding
a new panorama (a series of pictures representing a continuous
scene) to travel through is one that has dominated human beings
from prehistoric times, to any of the the explorers that have
charted our planet, right up to today as we build high powered
telescopes and launch satellites into space to increase the
dimensions of our scope of vision. The daily need for nomadic
behavior is more overtly visible in the homeless, who exist in
an ever-changing sea of faces and resting places." (Weeks)
Most people somewhat suppress their instinctual nomadic needs
and develope a social instinctual need, which they place above
their nomadic instinct in order to conform to the demands of
civilization. The nomadic instinct exists within each and every
human being. However, it is in the life of a homeless person
that we see its manifestation. Most housed people have not yet
had cause to switch from the secondary social instinct to the
primary nomadic survival instinct, but would if they had to.
For thousands there has been no way to return to their previous
lives. In other words, if I were to light your pants on fire and
hand you an apple at the same time, which instinct would become
operative?
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