a. 1. (Computers) Contained within the circuitry of a computer or computer peripheral device, and not changeable by programming; -- of functions; as, error correction is hard-wired into the circuit of the disk drive, so it proceeds very rapidly. [ PJC ]

2. Connected by a continuous electrical wire, rather than through a switch; as, the air-conditioner was hard-wired into the wall circuit, so moving it would require an electrician. [ PJC ]

3. (Metaph.) Performed by an inborn pattern of neural circuits; instinctive; not learned; as, many bird songs are hard-wired, but some are learned. [ PJC ]

People, as the cybernetic metaphor now has it, are “hard wired” to do good in order to enhance their own happiness. Andrew Delbanco (New York Times Magazine, May 7, 2000; p. 46). [ PJC ]