Scientists call anthropogenesis the period from the appearance in East Africa of the first ancestral forms of man (about 1.7 million years ago) to the present, and they also try to determine the place of man in the system of the organic world. The result of this study was the creation of a whole group of scientific disciplines: anthropology, social psychology, socionics, which consider a person as an object of the animal world, taking into account that he is a completely unique creature of a spiritual nature. In this article we will answer the question of what is the place of a person in the system of the organic world, taking into account its duality, which consists in combining the features of a physical and subtle nature.
Systematic position of Homo sapiens
All living creatures that live on our planet have a strictly defined position in the classification system of nature. Let us consider what is the place of man in the system of the organic world.
Empire is the dominant systematic category. It is called Life. Then follows a taxon such as a domain (supremacy). Life includes two sub-kingdoms: Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes. Man enters the domain of Eukaryotes (Nuclear organisms). The kingdom then follows Animals, type of Chordata, class Mammals, infraclass Placental, order Primates, family Hominids, genus Humans, species Homo sapiens. All living individuals included in the taxonomic units listed above form a totality called humanity.
How to prove the animal origin of man
Studies conducted by systematic scientists have confirmed that a person’s place in the system of the organic world is the Mammals class, which also includes such taxa of animals as the Feline, Canidae, Batwing family, Rodents, Artiodactyls, etc. Despite external differences in structure, all representatives of placental mammals, which includes humans, have common anatomical and physiological features. These include a 4-chamber heart, two circles of blood circulation, warm-bloodedness. The general plan of the structure of the front and hind limbs, as well as their belts in all animals of this taxon is similar to the anatomical structure of man. For example, the upper limb in all mammals consists of the humerus, ulna, and radius, as well as the bones of the wrist, metacarpus, and phalanx of the fingers.
Metabolic reactions are quite similar in humans and placental mammals. For example, the breakdown of organic compounds by digestive enzymes, the transfer of oxygen by red blood cells, the formation of uric acid as the final product of the excretory system. Common are the mechanisms of neuro-humoral regulation of life. This confirms the fact that a person in the system of the organic world is closely connected with representatives of vertebrates belonging to the class Mammals.
Embryological evidence of animal nature of man
Not only the results of research in the field of anatomy and physiology prove that we have a common origin with the animal world. A serious confirmation of this fact are studies in the field of embryology, which studies the embryonic development of vertebrates, from the superclass Pisces to the class Mammals. The biogenetic law formulated by E. Haeckel and F. Müller combined the historical development of each species with the ontogenesis of a single individual. All vertebrates, including humans, undergo embryogenesis at the stage of the egg, a single-layer embryo - blastula, and a two-layer embryo, consisting of ectoderm and endoderm - gastrula.
In the early stages of development, without exception, all chordate embryos have gill slits, a tail, and a similar body shape. This serves as evidence that the place of man in the system of the organic world is next to animals. Moreover, many scientists are sure that all terrestrial vertebrates are descended from common ancestral forms.
Rudiments and atavisms
With the help of such a discipline as comparative anatomy, you will determine the place of a person in the system of the organic world, since in the structure of the body and individual organs in mammals you can see a clear connection. For example, the appendix is a rudiment, confirming that the herbivorous forms of animals were our common ancestors. And although it has lost its significance in human digestion, it continues to play an important role in the breakdown of fiber in artiodactyls and other herbivorous animals. Such a rudiment as the third eyelid, which does not perform any function in the human organ of vision, plays a large role in vertebrates of the Reptile class, for example, in snakes.
The human ear muscles are rudimentary, therefore the auricle is almost motionless. But in the predatory detachment this muscle group is especially well developed, which provides them with protection and orientation in the environment.
Atavisms: the appearance of the tail, polygosity, abundant development of hair on the face and other parts of the body - indicate a person’s place in the organic world, taking into account his animal origin.
Anatomical features associated with upright posture
The phenomenon of the vertical position of the body entailed the appearance of certain features in the anatomical structure of the human body. For example, the S-shape of the spine, which increases flexibility and softens strokes and shakes when walking and running, the cup-shaped form of the pelvis, in which the internal organs are located, the special structure of the foot - it has a arch that provides cushioning and protection of the lower limbs when walking. All of these signs are inherent only to humans and are not found in any animal species. This indicates a special modern place of man in the system of the organic world, separating him from other representatives of the animal kingdom.
Social factors of human evolution
Homo erectus played an important role in the development of the human individual. The upper limb - the hand - freed itself from the functions of movement and began to be used to perform delicate and complex operations: writing, labor, playing musical instruments, etc. The ability to extract and use fire for both protection and the preparation of thermally processed food separated the representatives of the species Homo sapiens from other animals and designated the exceptional place of man in the system of the organic world.
Development of thinking and speech
The use of artificially created tools and life in primitive communities entailed the formation of a qualitatively different signal system that is different from the "animal language". The increasing complexity of interneuronal contacts in the left hemisphere and frontal lobe (Wernicke and Broca zones) provided activation of areas of understanding and speech motor skills. The ability to complex mental operations: analysis, synthesis, abstraction - was the result of human evolution - anthropogenesis. He led to the formation of the modern biological species Homo sapiens.
Anthropogenesis and the dual nature of man
Being a part of living nature and subject to its evolutionary development, human society as a whole, like every individual, is a reflection of its social relations that have developed as a result of the historical, religious and cultural characteristics of various human populations. Such a scientific discipline as sociobiology, which, in fact, is a compilation of genetics, sociology, biology, psychology, is trying to integrate the postulates of natural selection, acting in nature, into such purely human phenomena as altruism and culture. They are dominant in human behavioral reactions and determine its radical difference from reflexes and animal instincts.
Humanity and its social model
Objectively assessing the role of the biological component in human evolution, and also taking into account the close relationship with wildlife, it is necessary to remember that all the above facts prove that the biological species Homo sapiens was formed throughout the course of anthropogenesis according to the laws of development of human society, which are studied by sociology, social studies, psychology . The connection of man with the animal world is clearly traced by such a science as biology. A person’s place in the system of the organic world is unique, since it is he who is a dual being.
This is evidenced by all the well-known spiritual and philosophical theories that arose in Ancient Babylon, Greece and the Roman Empire. They transformed and formed as ideas of the main religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. The largest centers of world civilizations have arisen on the basis of socio-economic relations. Thanks to them, a special form of life appeared on Earth, called humanity.