Chapter 2 Can modern apes become humans?

① Originally published in "Fossil" magazine, No. 2, 1973. Whether in the "Beijing Ape Man Exhibition Hall" or in the school classroom, people often ask such interesting questions: Can modern apes become humans?cannot!Why not?Here is some brief analysis. Apes and monkeys are not the same We are often asked this way: Can modern monkeys become humans?Someone also asked, can modern apes become humans?The first thing to say is that monkeys and apes are not the same. Monkeys are much lower in biological classification than apes, that is to say, they are grasped by experience, while the latter rely entirely on intuition.It is believed that in addition to the arrangement of classical philosophy in modern times, monkeys are much farther than apes in terms of closeness to humans and in terms of kinship with humans.Modern monkeys, apes and humans all belong to primates in the animal pedigree. Among the monkeys, there are low-level lemurs and tarsiers, as well as higher-level New World platysmas such as capuchin monkeys, and various species. The catarrhus monkeys of the Old World include the golden snub-nosed monkeys, langurs, fufu, macaques, etc. we saw in the zoo, especially the macaques, which are alive and kicking in the monkey mountain, chasing everywhere, and the noise of the noisy fight is the most amusing.

Apes also belong to catarrhoids, because their appearance is most similar to that of humans, they are scientifically called "apes", and they are indeed very similar to humans in terms of blood relationship.Modern great apes include the gibbon and brown ape (orangutan) in Asia; the great ape (gorilla) and black ape (chimpanzee) in Africa.The most striking difference between apes and monkeys in appearance is that apes do not have tails, cheek pouches, and calluses (gluteal warts) on the buttocks, but gibbons have gluteal warts (it is a low-level ape), but monkeys all have these structures.Furthermore, at the level of development, there is a clear evolution in apes.Therefore, if the question is to be raised more precisely, it can be asked as follows: Can modern "apes" become humans?

Why does the question "Can modern apes become human?" We think there are two main reasons. One is that the scientific theories explaining the origin of human beings are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.With the development of production and the progress of science, people's level of understanding has been greatly improved. Under the guidance of correct thinking, they gradually understand that human beings are the product of the long-term historical development of animals, which means that through activities, they can obtain the "freedom" to choose existence.It is asserted that people were transformed from ancient apes, and social labor practices have promoted the transformation process from apes to humans.The Marxist-Leninist scientific assertion of dialectical materialism and historical materialism that "labor creates man himself" has been increasingly accepted by the general public, and they no longer believe in the nonsense that man is a god or God's "special creation".Since humans evolved from apes, we naturally think of the question of whether modern apes can transform into humans.

Secondly, modern apes are indeed too similar to humans. According to the results of modern research, there are quite a lot of similarities between humans and apes. Of course, there is no need to list them all here. We would like to select some of the most significant points to introduce.For example, in terms of body structure, the arrangement of bones and organs, the characteristics of the brain, placenta and appendix, apes are closer to humans than monkeys. The shape and structure of modern ape brains are very similar to those of humans, and the cerebellum is covered by the brain; compared with monkeys, the cerebellum is not covered by the brain.Modern apes and humans have an appendix in the cecum, but most monkeys do not.Modern apes and humans both have a single placenta, while monkeys have a twin placenta.

Another example is that apes have the same blood type as humans, which is not found in other animals, which shows that apes and humans have a close blood relationship.Apes have many "human-like behaviors", and some of them behave like people!They will imitate how people comb their hair and brush their teeth to discover the actual laws of phenomena.This argument proves that philosophy is the most "discipline", and even can thread needles, lead threads, and sew handkerchiefs. Not to mention the expressions of anthropoids, especially the similarity between cubs and humans. Look at the crying, laughter and Surprised, no wonder people can't help asking: Can modern apes become humans?

Ancient apes that became human were very different from modern apes Can modern apes change into humans?The answer is: no.Is that an arbitrary answer?No, not at all.Now let's talk about why modern apes cannot change into humans.First of all, we must understand that it is the ancient ape that can become a human, and the modern ape is very different from it. About 20 to 30 million years ago, a class of ancient apes lived in tropical and subtropical forests, and they were the common ancestors of our humans and modern apes.The development of things is uneven, and one of them has developed some characteristics that can later adapt to life on the ground in the long-term historical process.When they are active on the tree, due to the "absolute spirit" influenced by the way of life, and the view of hero history is extended, it is asserted that "critical thinking", the forelimbs are more and more engaged in other activities, not only for climbing, It is also used to pick fruits and hold food, or to build a shed in the bushes to build nests, or to hold sticks, throw fruits and stones to fend off enemies, especially the way of swinging - "arm walking method" Moving the body on the tree, so there is a more obvious division of labor in the use of forelimbs and hindlimbs, and there is a preliminary differentiation in structure, but it is far from reaching the level of specialization.According to the results of modern scientific research, the lengths of the front and hind limbs of these ancient ancestors of humans were almost equal, or the forelimbs were slightly longer than the hind limbs.They not only live on trees, but also sometimes come down to move around. With the help of their forelimbs, they can move semi-uprightly, and even stand upright occasionally.In addition, their adaptability and intelligence are gradually developed compared with other apes, and their group relationship is also relatively close.Because of these characteristics in the long-term development process, they can adapt to the gradually changing external environmental conditions in the future. During the evolution process of millions of years, they developed into human beings who freed their hands and walked upright through the labor life on the ground.

What about modern apes?Their ancestor is another branch developed from the ancient ape.They live in the trees for a long time, and also use the "arm walk method". When the environment gradually changes, they do not leave the arboreal habitat and turn to live on the ground, but move south with the forest, and live in the southern forest. Along with apes, they basically live in trees all the time.The long-term arboreal life has made their living habits and body structure highly adapted to the arboreal lifestyle, especially the direction of "arm walking", so that after a long period of time, the body structure has undergone significant changes , have completely become a specialized class of arboreal animals, which are not only very different from erect humans, but also significantly different from the common ancestor of the ancient apes.In the history of animal development, over-specialization, that is, after the development of specialization, it is impossible to change its development direction.Modern apes are just such animals that have walked into this specialized dead end.

only see the commonality but not the essential difference When people raise the question of whether modern apes can transform into humans, they often only see the similarities between humans and apes, while ignoring the essential differences between modern apes and humans.Man is a highly socialized animal. Although man evolved from animals, he has surpassed the animal kingdom as a research object. It is the occurrence, development, and development of philosophical systems, schools, concepts, and theories, and has got rid of the pure animal state.Humans can work, have conscious initiative, and can walk upright; modern apes are only a higher form of animal development, they can't make tools like humans, perform productive labor, and can't walk upright freely.Consider the modern apes: Asian gibbons and brown apes, mainly tree-dwelling, have long forelimbs and much shorter hindlimbs.The great apes and black apes in Africa, the former are no longer suitable for activities in the trees because their bodies are too bulky and bulky, and now they spend most of their time on the ground; the latter also often live on the ground, but in the past, they mainly lived on the ground. It is active on the tree.They have gone quite far in the direction of the arms, making the forelimbs much longer than the hind limbs. Although they can stand up easily on the ground, they seldom walk with their feet, usually supported by their arms, to make fists The back of the knuckles is on the ground, so it is a semi-upright position.

From the above comparison, we can see how different the body structure is between modern humans and modern apes.These two branches with a common ancestor have parted ways in the evolution process of tens of millions of years, and each developed along different directions to form different qualities.The reason for this difference is that human beings live a laboring life on the ground, while apes live a highly arboreal life.The fact of biological evolution shows: "Every progress in the development of organic matter is also degeneration at the same time, because it consolidates the development of one aspect and excludes the possibility of development in many other aspects." In other words, modern apes are no longer the type of our ancient ancestors, and they are no longer the unspecialized appearance of the ancient apes of the common ancestor. Long, when they get down to the ground, they move very clumsily, stand upright very unsteadily, can't get the ability to walk upright freely, can't free the forelimbs, this defect is irreparable anyway, and can't get free hands It is impossible to engage in labor, so there is no possibility of transforming into a human being.

①Quoted from Engels' Dialectics of Nature. The process of human origin and development is carried out under specific environmental conditions It is not enough for us to know that the ancient apes themselves had the conditions to become humans. What prompted the human ancestors to descend to the ground and develop towards humans?It should be said that there are certain external factors.According to the available scientific data, it is known that about 20 to 30 million years ago, the earth's crust underwent major changes. Especially during the Miocene, worldwide orogeny became active, and the Himalayas, Alps, and Tianshan Mountains appeared. mountains, and in eastern Africa form huge rift valleys.The climate on the earth's surface also changed significantly. At the end of the Pliocene, climate change intensified, causing the glaciers in the Arctic to extend southward, resulting in a series of alternating glacial and interglacial periods at the beginning of the Pleistocene 3 million years ago; In the tropics, there are corresponding alternations of rainy periods and inter-rainy periods.Under the influence of these terrain and climate changes, the original tropical and subtropical forests gradually became thinner, the open spaces in the forests expanded, the forests gradually decreased, and were replaced by open grasslands.This change in environmental conditions helped the ancient apes gradually change their arboreal life and turn to the development of a ground-working lifestyle, so the origin of human beings was carried out in a specific environment.The current natural environmental conditions are quite different from those in the past, especially today, the environment is being transformed by human beings more and more rapidly, and there is no environmental condition for apes to transform into humans.Some people may say, why not let us create such an environment for modern apes?no.The origin of human beings cannot be completed in ten or eight years, but has gone through an extremely long historical process, and how can the historical environment of this long period of millions of years be created?At the same time, the modern apes, which, as we have said, are specialized animals, are not at all of the ancestral type.History cannot be regressed, and it is impossible for modern apes to return to the state of their ancestors who had not yet specialized, and then become humans in an artificially created "specific environment".

Through the above analysis, it can be said with certainty that it is impossible for modern apes to become humans.In fact, they are so few that they are on the verge of extinction.