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SURVIVAL REFLEX

Survival reflex is a biological function which is present in all known living creatures, anthro or otherwise. Occasionally referred to as survival instinct, this behavior pattern is more accurately referred to as a reflex, as it linked to an autonomic response rather than a mental process. Even if one is not consciously aware of the danger, the body will still react according to survival reflex.

Survival reflex is a creature's natural, instinctive response to any force which the body can detect as potentially deadly. Any time a creature is subject to effects which are likely to cause death or serious injury, survival reflex gives them a powerful urge to avoid those effects. This reflex is the reason why handling sharp objects tends to make one nervous, why having liquid or solids in one's lungs causes one to cough, and why it's extremely difficult to simply hold one's breath until one passes out or dies of asphyxiation.

Survival reflex once served the evolutionary purpose of protecting a creature's unborn young. While death rarely affects one's ability to reproduce, the death of a pregnant mother poses a serious risk of the unborn child failing to rescuscitate, which is why expecting mothers are warned not to engage in snuff activities. While it was once an advantage to be repulsed by one's own death, modern society has come with much greater control over when and how one dies, meaning that a strong survival reflex is irrelevant at best, and detrimental at worst. With the rise of snuff culture, a willingness to die has become desirable in a partner, and therefore many younger generations commonly experience a weak or nearly nonexistent survival instinct, able to easily cut themselves, inhale dangerous substances, and otherwise cause their own death with ease.

Building on this, the strength of one's survival reflex seems to be hereditary. While random genetic selection places some uncertainty as to how strong or weak the child's survival reflex will be, if one or both of a child's parents bear a weak survival reflex, the child will in turn have a very high chance of a similarly low survival reflex. As snuff culture favors individuals who enjoy dying, this has created a case of pseudo-natural selection which has resulted in weak survival instinct being common in snuff hotspots like Neon City.

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