Acharya Prashant explains that a reaction is something like a reflex action. He asks where these reflexes come from, noting that even a little baby has them. These reflexes, he states, come from Mother Nature, from the mother's womb, and do not need to be taught; they exist right in the body. For example, a one-month-old baby will instinctively shut its eyes if a finger is brought near them. Nobody taught the baby to do this; it instinctively knows that a foreign object is approaching the eye. Similarly, a baby knows how to deal with heat, cold, or wetness by crying, and it knows how to take feed from the mother's body. These are all reflexes. The speaker clarifies that these reflexes do not turn the baby into a better human being, but they serve the purpose of physical security. He explains that while mankind has progressed remarkably in the last few thousand years, evolution is a very slow process. Our body and the conditioning embedded in it have remained the same as they were millions of years ago, belonging to the jungle. Therefore, our reflexes are very 'jungly'. This is what a reaction is: a wild, uneducated, animalistic, and powerful thing that sits in our body and bypasses thought. It is an instantaneous, chemical, and biological process that does not involve consciousness or thought. Acharya Prashant contrasts this with a response, which involves understanding. He states that animals are supposed to react, while human beings are supposed to understand and then respond. The mark of a human being is consciousness, understanding, depth, and freedom of thought, not reactivity. He points out that being emotionally reactive makes a person predictable and controllable. If someone knows what pleases or displeases you, they can easily control you by pressing those emotional buttons. He particularly addresses women, noting that because their biological role has a lot to do with the body, Mother Nature made them even more reactive. He concludes that to be a free consciousness, one must stop being emotionally reactive, as this reactivity belongs to the animal and the caveman, leading to a life of slavery.