Human social evolution: factors and achievements. Driving Forces of Human Evolution

Man, like any other biological species, was formed in the process of evolution and is the result of the interaction of its driving forces. Anthropogenesis is based on such biological factors as hereditary variability, the struggle for existence and natural selection. C. Darwin believed that it was natural selection, and especially one of its forms, sexual selection, that played the main role in anthropogenesis.

The role of social factors in the process of human origin is considered in the work of F. Engels "The role of labor in the process of transformation of a monkey into a man" (1896). F. Engels showed that it was labor, social life, consciousness and speech that distinguished man from the animal world.

Background of anthropogenesis. The highly developed ability to orientate in the environment and the division of functions between the fore and hind limbs were essential prerequisites for further morphophysiological progress during the transition of tree monkeys to a new habitat, to open treeless spaces.

Movement on two legs at first was ineffective and did not provide any special advantages in the struggle for existence compared to other mammals. However, when the forelimbs were freed from the function of walking, the direction of natural selection changed. The shortcomings in movement speed, low muscular strength and the lack of powerful fangs and claws were compensated for by the use of tools for defense and attack. Due to the vertical position of the body, the amount of perceived information significantly increased, which made it possible to react in time to the approach of a predator. Since all this is directly related to survival, the pressure of natural selection increased in this direction.

Labor as a factor in human evolution. The release of the hand from the support function, according to F. Engels, was a necessary condition for its further improvement. The hand became a very special organ that could act at a distance with the help of various objects. In addition, the hand began to be used for the manufacture of tools. This skill has been acquired over a long period of time.

In the process of making and using tools, the hand improved functionally and morphologically, which had an impact on the entire body. Some researchers have noted a link between hand function and the development of certain areas of the brain. Increasing pressure of natural selection in an unprecedentedly short time has led to a significant increase in the size of the brain in hominids. For about 1 million years, the average volume of the cranium almost doubled (Fig. 6.25). Apparently, the intensity of selection in this direction was determined by the need to rationally use tools and the need for an effective system of communication, i.e. speech.

Thus, bipedalism freed the forelimb to turn it into an organ of labor activity. The growing volume of perceived information, together with work activity, led to the rapid development of the brain and the ability to group adaptive behavior.

Public way of life as a factor of evolution. The difficulty of the survival of the ancestors of hominids in the difficult conditions of the struggle for existence during the transition to a terrestrial way of life was aggravated by low fertility. It was easier for a group to resist predators than for individuals. Human ancestors made up for the shortcomings of natural organs with artificial tools. Thus, labor already at its origin was social.

Labor contributed to the rallying of ancient people into collectives. Cases of mutual support and joint activities became more and more frequent. The older members of the team taught the younger generation to find natural materials necessary for the manufacture of tools, taught the methods of making such tools and their use.

Social work had a great influence on the development of the brain and sense organs. Joint labor activity required coordination. There was a vital need for the exchange of information. In the process of evolution, the ancestors of modern man underwent such changes in the vocal apparatus and brain that led to the appearance of speech.

The interconnected development of social labor, speech and consciousness has led to the improvement of the entire human organism and humanity as a whole.

Features of the process of human evolution. The evolutionary transformations of human ancestors, due to the pressure of natural selection, were the biological prerequisites for the development of social relations. Improving the ability to make various tools and use them in their defense, as well as in obtaining food, was a decisive success factor in the struggle for existence and qualitatively separated man from the animal world. However, this did not exclude the effect of the general laws of the development of living nature on man. Biological and

social factors in the process of human evolution operate in parallel, but at different speeds: the first - with a slowdown, the second - with acceleration.

In the early stages of anthropogenesis, natural selection was of decisive importance. First, there was a selection of individuals more capable of making primitive tools for obtaining food and protection from enemies. Gradually, the object of selection becomes such a property characteristic of hominids as herding and the relatively developed forms of communication associated with it. Moreover, individual selection formed predominantly morphophysiological features of the organization of the human type (upright walking, developed hand, large brain), and group selection improved social organization (forms of relations in the herd).

A characteristic feature of anthropogenesis is the unidirectionality of evolutionary transformations associated with the gradual development of upright posture, an increase in the ability to accumulate and practically use information about environment(development of the brain and hand), the improvement of the collective way of life.

Having mastered the culture of producing perfect tools of labor, cooking, and arranging dwellings, a person isolated himself from adverse climatic factors to such an extent that he got out of the strict control of natural selection and to a large extent began to depend on social conditions and upbringing.

Qualitative differences of a person. The first representative of the genus Homo - skillful man isolated from the animal world on the basis of labor activity. Not just the use of a stick or stone as a tool, but the production of various tools was the line that separated man from humanoid ancestors.

Monkeys often use sticks and stones to get food, as do many animals (one of the Galapagos finches, the sea otter). No matter how amazing the manipulations of animals with various objects, they are either accidental, or arose on the basis of conditioned reflexes, or are caused by programmed behavioral features and do not directly determine their survival.

The general plan of the structure of the human body is the same as that of all mammals. Differences are associated with upright walking, the presence of speech and the ability to work. The human skeleton differs from the skeleton of all mammals, including great apes, in the shape of the spine, chest and pelvis, structural features of the limbs, and their proportions.

In connection with upright posture, four curves of the spine were formed in a person. The balance of the skull on the cervical vertebrae is ensured by moving the foramen magnum closer to the center of the base of the skull (Fig. 6.26).

Bipedalism and labor activity of a person also affected the proportions of the body. The bones of the lower extremities in humans are longer than the homologous bones of the upper extremities, the stable position of the body on long legs is ensured by the shortening of the spinal column (Fig. 6.27). The chest is flattened in the dorsal-abdominal direction, the pelvic bones are in the shape of a bowl (due to pressure from the organs of the chest and abdominal cavity) (Fig. 6.28). The monkey's originally flat grasping foot acquired an arched structure (Fig. 6.29). The human hand is distinguished by its small size, thinness and mobility, the ability to a variety of movements. The thumb is set aside and can be opposed to all the others, thanks to which a person is able not only to grab an object, as monkeys do, but also to clasp it, which is of great importance when working (Fig. 6.30).

In connection with the development of the brain, the brain part of the skull reached its largest size (up to 1500 cm 3). In terms of volume, it is 4 times larger than the front one (in primates, this ratio is 1: 1). The lower jaw is horseshoe-shaped, with a protruding chin, which is associated with speech activity and the development of the muscles of the tongue.

A distinctive feature of the higher nervous activity of a person is the presence of a second signaling system, under which I.P. Pavlov understood the word; as well as the abstract thinking associated with it, the construction of logical chains and generalizations.

A person is characterized by a special, not related to genetic mechanisms, form of information transmission in a number of generations - the continuity of culture, knowledge, traditions. The experience acquired by a person throughout his life does not disappear with him, but becomes an integral part of the universal culture. All this became possible thanks to the development of speech, and then writing.

Morphophysiological features of a person are inherited. However, the human body is not yet a person in the social sense. Abilities for labor activity, thinking and speech develop in the process of individual development of a person on the basis of upbringing and education. Outside of human society, the formation of specific human qualities is impossible.

There are cases of development of children under the age of 5 years in isolation from other people. After returning to normal conditions, their ability to speak and think either developed very poorly or did not develop at all (depending on the age at which the child entered isolation).

Anthropogenesis is based on biological (hereditary variability, struggle for existence and natural selection) and social (labor, social life, consciousness and speech) factors. Labor was already social in its inception. It was easier for a group to resist predators than for individuals. Joint labor activity required coordination of actions, necessitated signaling not only with gestures, but also with sounds, which led to the appearance of speech. The interconnected development of social labor, speech and consciousness has led to the improvement of the entire human organism and humanity as a whole. The general plan of the structure of the human body is the same as that of all mammals. Differences are associated with upright walking, the presence of speech and the ability to work. A distinctive feature of the higher nervous activity of a person is the presence of a second signaling system.

1. What social factors were the main driving forces of anthropogenesis?

The social factors of human evolution were revealed by F. Engels in the book "The role of labor in the transformation of apes into humans" (1896). This is labor, its social character, speech, consciousness and thinking. Labor began with the manufacture of tools. Animals can use tools, but they cannot make one tool to create another.

The social nature of labor:

a) The herd way of life is transformed into a social way of life through joint work.

b) Labor increases cohesion, promotes protection, hunting and raising offspring.

c) Common labor led to the development of articulate speech. Changing the larynx and mouth apparatus makes them suitable for speech. A second signaling system appears, allowing you to reproduce the world with the help of words.

Speech and thinking:

a) Joint work leads to the development of the brain, as a result, the tools of labor become more complicated. As a result of labor, the hand develops, which leads to the development of the part of the brain responsible for the development of speech.

b) The development of speech weakened the action of biological factors of development and increased the influence of social factors.

c) If the morphological and physiological characteristics of a person are inherited, then the abilities for collective work, activity, thinking and speech are not transmitted. These specific qualities of a person historically arose and improved under the influence of social factors and develop in each person in the process of his individual development only in society thanks to upbringing and education.

2. What stages (phases) are distinguished in the process of becoming a person? Name the representatives of each stage, characterize them. material from the site

Stage, time of appearance of the symptom	Representatives	signs
Branch of the Vet-Vee hominids, circa 5 Ma B.C.	Australopithecus	Homeland - Southeast Africa; brain volume no more than 600 cm 3, massive jaws, upright posture, thumb well developed, use of natural objects as tools, hunting, gathering
Prehominid stage, 2–3 Ma BC	skillful man	Homeland - East Africa, South Africa, Southeast Asia; brain volume: 500-800 cm 3 , tool making, cooperation during hunting
The oldest people, 1-2 million years BC	Straightened Man: Pithecan Trope Sinanthropus	Homeland - Southeast Asia, Europe; brain volume: 800-1400 cm 3, maintaining fire, simple forms of collective activity, speech primitive Motherland - East Asia; brain volume 700-1200 cm 3, dressed in skins, lived in caves, had more modern tools, used fire
Ancient people, 250 thousand years BC	Homo sapiens: Neanderthals	Homeland - Europe, Africa, Asia, lived in caves in groups; brain volume 1400 cm 3, they used fire and stone tools, the first burials, speech like le-pet
Modern (new) people, 50 thousand years BC	Cro-Magnon, Modern Man	Homeland - Europe, Asia, Australia, America; brain volume: 1600 cm 3, housing, more modern tools, clothing, art, real speech, thinking, agriculture. Painting on cave walls, making jewelry, domesticating the first animals. Distribution everywhere, development of agriculture, industry and culture

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Remember:

What are the factors of biological evolution?

Answer. Biological factors, or the driving forces of evolution, are common to all living nature, including man. These include hereditary variability and natural selection.

The role of biological factors in human evolution was revealed by Charles Darwin. These factors played a big role in the evolution of man, especially in the early stages of his formation.

A person has hereditary changes that determine, for example, hair and eye color, height, and resistance to environmental factors. In the early stages of evolution, when a person was highly dependent on nature, individuals with hereditary changes that were useful in given environmental conditions (for example, individuals distinguished by endurance, physical strength, dexterity, quick wits) mainly survived and left offspring.

Questions after § 29

What factor is decisive in the formation of the Homo Sapiens species?

Answer. The decisive factor in the formation of man is social. The social factors of anthropogenesis include labor, social lifestyle, developed consciousness and speech. The role of social factors in anthropogenesis was revealed by Engels in his work "The Role of Labor in the Process of the Transformation of Apes into Man" (1896). These factors played a leading role in the later stages of human development.

Labor activity contributed to the consolidation of morphological and physiological changes in human ancestors, which are called anthropomorphoses.

An important anthropomorphosis in human evolution was bipedalism. For many generations, as a result of natural selection, individuals with hereditary changes conducive to upright posture have been preserved. Adaptations to upright posture gradually formed: an S-shaped spine, an arched foot, a wide pelvis and chest, and massive bones of the lower extremities.

Which communities of ancient people were more likely to be preserved in the selection process?

Answer. Communities of ancient people were subjected to group selection, which favored the preservation of those collectives in which more socially developed individuals prevailed. This was expressed in the improvement of the inhibitory mechanisms of the brain, which made it possible to reduce mutual aggressiveness, as well as in the development of properties that contributed to the enrichment of knowledge based on one's own and others' experience.

The most important feature of human society is the presence of a fund of social and cultural information that is not biologically inherited and is transmitted from generation to generation through training (and at later stages of the development of society coded in writing) and in the form of tools and other material and spiritual values created by previous generations. The growth and development of this social fund gradually reduced man's dependence on nature, which could not but lead to significant changes in the very nature of man's evolutionary transformations. For any human population, the fund of material culture, accumulated by previous generations, is the most important part of the habitat. Natural selection adapted human collectives to their specific environment - selection in favor of individuals more capable of learning and working, and group selection in favor of collectives in which individuals with more developed social behavior prevailed.

Why do social factors play a leading role in the development of modern man?

Answer. The social factors of anthropogenesis include labor, social lifestyle, developed consciousness and speech. The role of social factors in anthropogenesis was revealed by Engels in his work "The Role of Labor in the Process of the Transformation of Apes into Man" (1896). These factors played a leading role in the later stages of human development.

The most important factor in human evolution is labor. The ability to make tools is unique to man. Animals can only use individual objects to get food (for example, a monkey uses a stick to get a treat).

Labor activity contributed to the consolidation of morphological and physiological changes in human ancestors.

An important change in human evolution was bipedalism. For many generations, as a result of natural selection, individuals with hereditary changes conducive to upright posture have been preserved. Adaptations to upright posture gradually formed: an S-shaped spine, an arched foot, a wide pelvis and chest, and massive bones of the lower extremities.

Upright walking led to the release of the hand. At first, the hand could perform only primitive movements. In the process of labor, she improved, began to perform complex actions. Thus, the hand is not only an organ of labor, but also its product. A developed hand allowed a person to make primitive tools. This gave him significant advantages in the struggle for existence.

Joint labor activity contributed to the rallying of the members of the team, necessitated the exchange of sound signals. Communication contributed to the development of the second signaling system - communication with the help of words. At first, our ancestors exchanged gestures, separate inarticulate sounds. As a result of mutations and natural selection, the oral apparatus and larynx were transformed, and speech was formed.

Labor and speech influenced the development of the brain, thinking. So for a long time, as a result of the interaction of biological and social factors, human evolution was carried out.

If the morphological and physiological characteristics of a person are inherited, then the ability to work, speech and thinking develop only in the process of upbringing and education. Therefore, with prolonged isolation of the child, he does not develop at all or develops very poorly speech, thinking, and adaptability to life in society.

The main trends in human development were upright posture, an increase in the volume of the brain and the complication of its organization, the development of the hand, and the lengthening of the period of growth and development. A developed hand with a well-pronounced grasping function allowed a person to successfully use and then make tools. This gave him advantages in the struggle for existence, although in his purely physical qualities he was significantly inferior to animals. The most important milestone in human development was the acquisition of the ability to first use and maintain, and then make fire. The complex activity of making tools, obtaining and maintaining fire could not be provided by innate behavior, but required individual behavior. Therefore, there was a need for a significant expansion of the possibility of signal exchange and a speech factor appeared that fundamentally distinguishes humans from other animals. The emergence of new functions, in turn, contributes to accelerated development. Thus, the use of hands for hunting and protection and eating food softened on fire made the presence of powerful jaws unnecessary, which made it possible to increase the volume of the cerebral part of the skull due to its facial part and ensure the further development of human mental abilities. The emergence of speech contributed to the development of a more perfect structure of society, the division of responsibilities between its members, which also gave advantages in the struggle for existence. Thus, the factors of anthropogenesis can be divided into biological and social.

Biological factors - hereditary variability, the struggle for existence, natural selection, as well as the mutation process, isolation - are applicable to human evolution. Under their influence, in the process of biological evolution, morphological changes occurred in the ape-like ancestor - anthropomorphosis. The decisive step on the way from ape to man was bipedalism. This led to the release of the hand from the functions of movement. The hand begins to be used to perform various functions - grabbing, holding, throwing.

No less important prerequisites for anthropogenesis were the features of the biology of human ancestors: a herd way of life, an increase in the volume of the brain in relation to the general proportions of the body, and binocular vision.

The social factors of anthropogenesis include labor activity, social lifestyle, development of speech and thinking. Social factors began to play a leading role in anthropogenesis. However, the life of each individual is subject to biological laws: mutations are preserved as a source of genotypic variability, stabilizing selection operates, eliminating sharp deviations from the norm.

Factors of anthropogenesis

1) Biological

natural selection against the backdrop of the struggle for existence
genetic drift
insulation
hereditary variability

2) Social

public life
consciousness
speech
labor activity

At the first stages of human evolution, biological factors played a dominant role, and at the last stages, social ones. Labor, speech, consciousness are most closely related to each other. In the process of labor, the members of society were united and the method of communication between them, which is speech, was rapidly developing.

The common ancestors of man and great apes - small woody insectivorous placental mammals lived in the Mesozoic. In the Paleogene of the Cenozoic era, a branch separated from them, which led to the ancestors of modern anthropoid apes - parapithecus.

Parapithecus -> Driopithecus -> Australopithecus -> Pithecanthropus -> Sinanthropus -> Neanderthal -> Cro-Magnon -> modern man.

The analysis of paleontological finds makes it possible to identify the main stages and directions of the historical development of man and great apes. Modern science gives the following answer: man and modern great apes had a common ancestor. Further, their evolutionary development followed the path of divergence (divergence of features, accumulation of differences) in connection with adaptation to specific and various conditions of existence.

human pedigree

Insectivorous mammals -> parapithecus:

Propliopithecines -> Gibbon, Orangutan
Dryopithecus -> Chimpanzee, Gorilla, Australopithecus -> Ancient people (Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus, Heidelberg man) -> Ancient people (Neanderthals) -> New people (Cro-Magnon, modern man)

We emphasize that the human genealogy presented above is hypothetical. We also recall that if the name of the ancestral form ends in "pithek", then we are talking about a still monkey. If at the end of the name is "anthrope", then we have a person in front of us. True, this does not mean that signs of an ape are necessarily absent in its biological organization. It must be understood that the signs of a person in this case prevail. From the name "Pithecanthropus" it follows that this organism has a combination of signs of ape and man, and in approximately equal proportions. Let us give a brief description of some of the alleged ancestral forms of man.

DRIOPITEK

He lived about 25 million years ago.

Characteristic features of development:

much smaller than a person (height is about 110 cm);
led a predominantly arboreal lifestyle;
probably manipulated objects;
tools are missing.

australopithecines

Lived about 9 million years ago

Characteristic features of development:

height 150-155 cm, weight up to 70 kg;
skull volume - about 600 cm 3;
probably used objects as tools for food and protection;
upright posture is characteristic;
the jaws are more massive than in humans;
strongly developed superciliary arches;
joint hunting, herd way of life;
often ate the remains of the prey of predators

Pithecanthrope

Lived about 1 million years ago

Characteristic features of development:

height 165-170 cm;
brain volume is about 1100 cm 3;
constant upright posture; speech formation;
mastery of fire

SINANTROP

Lived probably 1-2 million years ago

Characteristic features of development:

height about 150 cm;
upright posture;
making primitive stone tools;
maintaining the fire;
public lifestyle; cannibalism

NEANDERTHAL

Lived 200-500 thousand years ago

Characteristic signs:

Biological:

height 165-170 cm;
brain volume 1200-1400 cm 3;
lower limbs shorter than modern humans;
the femur is strongly curved;
low sloping forehead;
strongly developed brow ridges

Social:

lived in groups of 50-100 individuals;
used fire;
made a variety of tools;
built hearths and dwellings;
carried out the first burials of the dead brothers;
speech is probably more perfect than that of Pithecanthropus;
perhaps the emergence of the first religious ideas; skilled hunters;
cannibalism persisted

The qualitative originality of human evolution lies in the fact that its driving forces were not only biological, but also social factors, and it was the latter that were of decisive importance in the process of the formation of man and continue to play a leading role in the development of modern human society.

Biological factors of human evolution. Man, like any other biological species, appeared on Earth as a result of the interconnected action of factors in the evolution of the living world. How, then, did natural selection contribute to the consolidation of those morphological features of man, in which he differs from his closest relatives among animals?

The main reasons that once forced arboreal animals to move to life on earth were the reduction in the area of tropical forests, the corresponding decrease in the food supply and, as a result, the enlargement of body size. The fact is that an increase in body size is accompanied by an increase in absolute, but a decrease in relative (i.e., per unit body weight) food needs. Large animals can afford to eat less high-calorie food. The reduction in the area of tropical forests has increased competition between monkeys. Different species approached the solution of the problems that confronted them in different ways. Some have learned to run fast on four limbs and have mastered open terrain (savannah). Baboons are an example. Gorillas, their enormous physical strength allowed them to stay in the forest, while being out of competition. Chimpanzees were found to be the least specialized of all the great apes. They can deftly climb trees and run quite quickly on the ground. And only hominids solved their problems in a unique way: they mastered the movement on two legs. Why was this mode of transportation beneficial for them?

One of the consequences of an increase in body size is a lengthening of life expectancy, which is accompanied by a lengthening of the gestation period and a slowdown in the rate of reproduction. In great apes, one cub is born every 5-6 years. His death as a result of an accident turns out to be a very expensive loss for the population. Bipedal great apes managed to avoid such a critical situation. Hominids have learned to take care of two, three, four cubs at the same time. But this required more time, effort and attention, which the female had to devote to her offspring. She was forced to give up many other forms of activity, including the search for food. This was done by males and childless females. The release of the forelimbs from participating in movement made it possible to bring more food for females and cubs. In the current situation, movement on four limbs became unnecessary. On the contrary, upright walking gave hominids a number of advantages, the most valuable of which turned out to be the possibility of making tools after 2 million years.

Social factors of human evolution. The creation and use of tools increased the adaptability of ancient man. From that moment on, any hereditary changes in his body that turned out to be useful in instrumental activity were fixed by natural selection. The forelimbs underwent an evolutionary transformation. Judging by the fossils and tools, the working position of the hand, the way of gripping, the position of the fingers, and the force tension gradually changed. In the technology of making tools, the number of strong blows was reduced, the number of small and precise movements of the hand and fingers increased, the factor of force began to give way to the factor of accuracy and dexterity.

A consequence of the use of tools for cutting carcasses and cooking on fire was a decrease in the load on the chewing apparatus. On the human skull, those bony protrusions to which powerful chewing muscles are attached gradually disappeared. The skull became more rounded, the jaws - less massive, the facial section - straightened (Fig. 101).

Rice. 101. Change in the proportions of the skull during the evolution of hominoids

An instrument of labor can be made only if a mental image and a conscious purpose of labor are formed in the imagination of its creator. Human labor activity helped to develop the ability to reproduce in the mind coherent ideas about objects and manipulations with them.

A sufficiently developed brain, which allowed a person to associate various sounds and ideas, had to serve as a prerequisite for the development of speech. Speech owes its origin to the imitation and modification of various natural sounds (voices of animals, instinctive cries of the person himself). The benefits of community rallying through speech cues were becoming apparent. Training and imitation made speech more and more articulate and perfect.

Thus, the distinctive features of a person - thinking, speech, the ability to use tools - arose in the course and on the basis of his biological development. Thanks to these features, a person learned to resist the adverse effects of the environment to such an extent that his further development began to be determined not so much by biological factors as by the ability to create perfect tools, arrange dwellings, get food, breed livestock and grow edible plants. The formation of these skills occurs through training and is possible only in the conditions of human society, i.e. in the social environment. Therefore, tool activity, along with the social way of life, speech and thinking, is called the social factors of human evolution. Children who grew up isolated from people do not know how to speak, are not capable of mental activity, to communicate with other people. Their behavior is more reminiscent of the behavior of animals, among which they found themselves shortly after birth.

The formation of man is inextricably linked with the formation of human society. In other words, anthropogenesis is inseparable from sociogenesis. Together they constitute a single process of the formation of mankind - anthroposociogenesis.

Correlation of biological and social factors in human evolution. Biological factors played a decisive role in the early stages of hominin evolution. Almost all of them are still active today. Mutational and combinative variability support the genetic heterogeneity of humanity. Fluctuations in the number of people during epidemics, wars randomly change the frequencies of genes in human populations. These factors together provide material for natural selection, which operates at all stages of human development (culling of gametes with chromosomal rearrangements, stillbirths, barren marriages, death from diseases, etc.).

The only biological factor that has lost its significance in the evolution of modern man is isolation. In the era of perfect technical means of transportation, the constant migration of people has led to the fact that there are almost no genetically isolated population groups left.

Over the past 40 thousand years, the physical appearance of people has not changed much. But this does not mean the end of the evolution of man as a biological species. It should be noted that 40 thousand years is only 2% of the time of the existence of the human race. It is extremely difficult to catch the morphological changes of a person in such a short period of time on a geological scale.

With the formation of human society, a special form of communication between generations arose in the form of the continuity of material and spiritual culture. By analogy with the system of inheritance of genetic information, we can talk about the system of inheritance of cultural information. Their differences are as follows. Genetic information is passed from parents to offspring. Cultural information is available to anyone. The death of a person leads to the irrevocable disappearance of a unique combination of his genes. On the contrary, the experience accumulated by a person flows into the universal culture. Finally, the rate of dissemination of cultural information is much greater than the rate of transmission of genetic information. The consequence of these differences is that modern man as a social being develops much faster than as a biological being.

In the course of evolution, man has acquired the greatest advantage. He learned to maintain harmony between his unchanging body and changing nature. This is the qualitative originality of human evolution.

human races. In modern humanity, there are three main races: Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Equatorial (Negro-Australoid). Races are large groups of people that differ in some external features, such as skin color, eyes and hair, hair shape, facial features. The formation of racial characteristics was facilitated by the fact that human settlement on Earth 100-10 thousand years ago took place in small groups that made up a small part of the original population. This led to the fact that the newly formed isolated populations differed from each other in the concentrations of certain genes. Since the population of the Earth during this period was very small (no more than 3 million people 15 thousand years ago), newly formed populations in different parts of the world developed in isolation from each other.

In different climatic conditions, under the influence of natural selection, on the basis of differing gene pools, the characteristic external features of human races were formed. However, this did not lead to the formation of different species, and representatives of all races are classified as one biological species - Homo sapiens. All races are the same in terms of the ability to know, to work, to creative abilities. At present, racial traits are not adaptive. The increase in population, a sharp decrease in the level of isolation of populations, the gradual disappearance of racial, ethnic and religious prejudices lead to the blurring of interracial differences. Apparently, in the future these differences should disappear.

What is meant by the biological and social factors of human evolution?
Anthropogenesis is inseparable from sociogenesis. Justify this statement.
Using specific examples, show that unique biological forms (which, no doubt, is a person) can be formed as a result of the action of ordinary biological factors.
Summing up the discussion of possible ways of human development from some lower form, C. Darwin in his book “The Origin of Man and Sexual Selection” concluded that “the physical characteristics that a person has are acquired as a result of natural selection, and some of them - sexual selection.” The Duke of Argyll remarked that, on the whole, "the organization of man has deviated from that of animals in the direction of greater physical helplessness and weakness—an evasion which, of all others, can least be ascribed to natural selection." Darwin came out brilliantly from this situation. And what would you answer from the standpoint of modern knowledge about human evolution?
Does the evolution of man as a biological species continue? Do you think that Homo sapiens will remain a single species?
Give examples proving that the cultural development of mankind is much faster than biological. Why?