Chapter 23 Darwin's Theory of Human Origin and Labor Creation Theory①

Darwin's theory In 1859, the evolutionist Darwin published his masterpiece "On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection" (abbreviation).In the book, he pointed out based on a large number of indisputable facts: organisms are not fixed; species evolve through heredity and variation, survival competition, natural selection and survival of the fittest, causing divergence of characters.It reveals the law of biological change and development, and scientifically explains the origin of different species.For the first time put biology on a solid scientific basis.What is the point of Darwin's theory of biological evolution?On the basis of summarizing the experience of predecessors, Darwin established this theory through his own painstaking research, especially inspired by Malthus' population theory and the practice of artificial selection. Its core idea is "natural selection".He believes that since "artificial selection" plays a leading role in agricultural seed selection and animal breeding, the driving force of biological evolution in nature is only the specific nature, that is, "natural selection". The main points of the theory of "natural selection" are:

① Originally contained in "The Rising Civilization--Cultural Perspective of Human Origin", Northeast Forestry University Press, 1996 edition. 1.Heredity and Variation.Variations in traits are ubiquitous in organisms in nature, and this variation includes: conventional certain variation and rare indeterminate variation.They are all hereditary, and the latter in particular, are the chief material of natural selection. 2.Competition for survival.The reproduction of biological individuals increases geometrically, but in fact there are not many individuals that can survive. This is due to the existence of biological competition mechanisms for survival in nature.This competition can occur between different individuals within the same species, or between different species, or even between organisms and the living conditions of the outside world.

3.natural selection.On the one hand, organisms mutate under different living conditions; on the other hand, there is a complex competition for survival between organisms and between organisms and the inorganic world.In this case, any favorable mutation would favor the competition and thus the chances of survival.Unfavorable mutations are not conducive to competition, but will cause the elimination of individuals.This process is called "survival of the fittest" or "natural selection" - it seems that nature is playing this selection role.It is through this process that organisms can better adapt to complex living environments.

4.The traits are different.Biological evolution is adaptation to the environment.Due to adapting to different ecological conditions or geographical conditions, species are differentiated, resulting in many differences in morphological structure.This process reflects the differentiation of biological characters, that is, the process of "divergence".Different new species are created from this, and this is how living things evolve.Darwin also pointed out that biological evolution is a continuous process of gradual changes, and organisms originate from a common ancestor.Darwin's theory of biological evolution drove the idea of ​​no connection between original organisms, divine creation and immutability out of the field of life sciences, and greatly promoted the development of biology.

Darwin himself admitted that he did not fully understand the laws of biological inheritance.In fact, genetics at that time was still in the classical period of development, and later, the challenges of modern science to Darwin's evolutionary theory mainly came from new concepts produced by the progress of genetics. In 1871, Darwin published the book "The Descent of Man and Sexual Selection", in which he used his whole set of theories about biological evolution to study and prove that human beings originated from animals, determine the position of human beings in the biological world, and the relationship between human beings and human beings. The blood relationship between higher animals uses the theory of "natural selection" to explain the evolution process from animals to humans.

First of all, Darwin studied the variability of human beings, and affirmed that human beings, like animals, have the ability to mutate, and all kinds of variation are hereditary, not only body structure and physiological characteristics can be inherited, but also mental and psychological characteristics can be inherited. Second, he believed that humans are also affected by the same laws that govern biological evolution.The formation of human beings, like other creatures, is carried out under the complex influence of "natural selection". He believes that the reason why human beings have an advantage over other animals in the struggle for survival not only depends on their own physique, but also on their own high intelligence and social habits-the morality of mutual assistance and gregariousness, etc.The development of intelligence is an important condition for human evolution, and high intelligence has promoted the development of language, which is an important factor for the obvious progress of human beings.

Next, Darwin used "natural selection" as the driving force of evolution, just like explaining the evolution of other animals, he explained all the changes in the development process from apes to humans.Various characteristics such as uprightness, hands, teeth, skull, brain, intelligence, and human wisdom, and even various characteristics of society, human social habits, morality, and ethics are all the results of natural selection. Regarding the differences between races, such as skin color, hair color, facial shape, etc., different races are different. Darwin believed that this cannot be explained by different living environment conditions, that is to say, only natural The general laws of selection are not fully explained.He supplemented it with the so-called "sexual selection", thinking that the aesthetic standards of men and women in different regions are different. Through sexual selection (that is, choosing a spouse) and heredity, the differentiation of male and female traits is gradually obvious, which promotes the formation of different races. .

This is how Darwin explained the origin of human beings and the origin of the human race through natural selection plus sexual selection. So where did humans come from?Darwin collected a large amount of scientific data, proving that human beings and some animals, especially apes, have a similar relationship in physical structure.Embryonic development also proves that humans originated from animals; there are still some degenerated traces on humans, called relic organs, such as the ear muscles, third eyelids, cecum, tail vertebrae, etc.; there are also atavistic phenomena, such as the birth of individual children. Some women still have tails, long hairs on their faces, and some women have double uteruses.Based on these facts, Darwin pointed out that only by admitting that man evolved from animals can he explain why man and animals have some similar characteristics.

Darwin believed that apes are the closest relatives of humans among mammals, and that humans and apes have many fundamental similarities.Therefore, man and ape could not have developed independently.He speculates that humans came from some kind of ancient ape in the Old World, and is careful to point out that this ancient ape should not be confused with the existing great apes, because the existing great apes have undoubtedly "specialized" along their own developmental paths, and are similar to humans. The ancestors of the ancient apes were different.According to Darwin's fossil of the ancient ape found in France in 1856 (forest ape-Fonton species), higher apes had already diverged from lower apes in the late Miocene, so it was speculated that humans evolved from catarrhine monkeys The time of differentiation may be the so-called Eocene Epoch between about 40 million and 60 million years ago.He also described our immediate ancestor as an ancient ape, concluding: "The probable world was rightly prepared for the emergence of man for a long time, since man descended from a chain of ancestors in which As long as one of the links is lost, there will be no human beings."

After the unremitting efforts of Darwin and others, the question of where people come from has basically been explained scientifically.Man is the product of the long-term development of animals. Modern humans and modern apes have a common ancestor. It has become an irrefutable conclusion that the common ancestor of man and ape.In the face of a large number of scientific facts and the theory that human beings originated from animals, the theory that God created man is untenable.Darwin theoretically liberated human beings from God.Although there were not many direct materials in paleontology and paleoanthropology proving that humans originated from ancient apes at that time, Darwin believed and predicted that such materials would be discovered in the future.

Questioning, Supplementation and Development of Darwin's Theory 100 years on, Darwin's theory has stood the test of time.But the development of modern science pointed out the shortcomings of the theory.When we evaluate Darwin's theory, we should first know that when the theoretical system was established, the research of genetics was not as deep as it is today, and we only knew about chromosomes and genes, but more subtle structures, such as ribonucleic acid (RNA). , deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is still at a loss, and the discovery of human fossils is still rare.Until modern times, the study of genetics has developed by leaps and bounds, resulting in modern Darwinism (also known as Neo-Darwinism).Also, along with the development of molecular biology, this new molecular evolution theory of "neutral mutation theory" has been produced.These new theories either supplemented the deficiencies of Darwin's theory, or challenged it.But in any case, they are not a complete negation of Darwin's theory, but a more complete and essentially enriched and perfected theory of life science on earth. Take neo-Darwinism, also known as "synthetic evolution", which supplements Darwin's theory of evolution from the perspective of population genetics.It studies heredity and variation by taking the group as the unit rather than the individual as Darwin did. Its basic thesis is that organisms differentiate species and form subspecies through the three linked links of variation, selection and isolation. , and then develop from a subspecies to a new species.According to the theory, there are two types of genetic variation: "mutation" (including genetic factor--gene mutation and gene carrier--chromosomal dislocation) and different combinations of genes.Due to changes in genetic material, changes in the appearance of the body (so-called "phenotype") are caused, which provides a rich source of material for the evolution of organisms. The "selection" of neo-Darwinism still refers to natural selection, which is the dominant factor of evolution, which can lead to the differentiation and development of groups, the differentiation of species and the formation of new species.The conditions for the formation of new species are "isolation" - mainly spatial geographical isolation and genetic isolation.This is the mechanism that prevents different groups from mating with each other under natural conditions. Therefore, different groups can be kept evolving independently, which can cause inconsistencies in phenotypes, divergent development of the original species, and formation of new species through subspecies, thus making the original species a group differentiation.In short, the image of biological evolution depicted by neo-Darwinism is an evolutionary image of biological phenotype, so it develops Darwin's theory of evolution.But it fails to explain the genetic mechanism at the molecular level, so it is still not perfect. With the establishment and development of molecular biology, this deficiency has been overcome by another new theory "neutral mutation theory".This theory holds that: the evolution of organisms at the molecular level is based on the result of the continuous generation of "neutral mutations" in genes, which are also produced in groups, unlike the mutations advocated by neo-Darwinism, which are both good and bad, and this A "neutral mutation" is neither beneficial nor harmful.It is not affected by natural selection, but through the random mating of individuals in the group and the mutant genes along with some genotypes are fixed or disappear (that is, they are eliminated). This process is called "genetic drift".Because it is not affected by natural selection at all, it actually denies natural selection, and even believes that biological evolution has nothing to do with the environment, so this theory is "non-Darwinian".The contribution of this theory to the understanding of species evolution lies in that it reveals the particularity of gene mutation evolution at the molecular level, which is beyond the reach of Darwinism and neo-Darwinism.But its biggest flaw is that it cannot explain how "genotype" (that is, a certain possibility) becomes "phenotype" (that is, reality) and the reason for the formation of species. Therefore, it is still insufficient in explaining biological evolution of.Under the current scientific conditions, it can be regarded as the supplement and development of Darwin's theory of evolution (including neo-Darwinism). In addition to the above-mentioned complement and development of Darwin's theory in genetics, progress has also been made in the understanding of the way of species formation.Many scholars believe that in addition to the gradual and slow continuous process emphasized by Darwin, there is also an "explosive" speciation process. In fact, no matter whether it is new progress in genetics or new discoveries in paleontology, it cannot overthrow the basic thesis of Darwin's theory of evolution.In fact, these new developments and discoveries were unexpected by Darwin himself at the time.Science is developing, so is Darwin's theory of evolution. We should look at and evaluate Darwin's theory from the perspective of historical development. The Proposal of Labor Creation Theory Darwin's theory of biological evolution was regarded by Engels as one of the three major discoveries of natural science in the 19th century. He regarded the book as an epoch-making work, and believed that no matter what changes in the details of this theory, in general, it The question has now been answered more satisfactorily.But at the same time, he also pointed out that the theory of evolution of the German evolutionist Haeckel seems to be more advanced than that of Darwin. He believed that Haeckel's adaptation and heredity could determine the entire evolution process without the need for natural selection and Malthusianism.In fact, no matter how high the development level of biology and genetics is, the basic law of biological evolution is indeed a process of interaction between heredity and adaptation.At the same time, Engels did not fully agree with Darwin's theory of the origin of human beings. He believed that Darwin's theory of evolution still had serious flaws in some aspects, and believed that the most materialistic natural scientists of the Darwinian school could not figure out how human beings came into being. Because under the influence of idealism, they did not realize the role played by labor in the middle.Why did Engels comment like this?In order to understand this, it is necessary to briefly introduce Engels' theory as follows: It is labor rather than anything else that creates man himself. To demonstrate this, we must first confirm that labor is the first basic condition of the entire human life. Engels further pointed out that the role of labor is not limited to this, and its role even reaches such an extent that we have to say that labor creates man himself in a sense. "Labor creates man himself", I understand that it has double meanings. Broadly speaking, it not only refers to the transformation from ancient ape to man, but also includes the further transformation of primitive human beings by labor, even reaching the level of modern humans. This kind of "transformation" also belongs to the Create the category of man himself.In a narrow sense, it refers to the role of labor in the transition from apes to humans. Engels described this transformation process in detail: various organisms are produced by the gradual differentiation of protists.Man is also produced by differentiation.The freedom of human hands is achieved by the differentiation of hands and feet.Engels pointed out in the article "The Role of Labor in the Transformation from Ape to Man": "After tens of thousands of years of hard work, the differentiation of hands and feet, upright walking, and finally determined." Engels also pointed out in this article : "If it is said that the upright walking of our hairy ancestors must have first become customary and then gradually became inevitable, then there must be such a premise: the hands have been more and more engaged in other activities during this period. . "The "several tens of thousands of years of hard work" and "engaged in other activities" here refer to nothing else, mainly labor.New skills are constantly acquired in labor practice, and the hands become more dexterous. These characteristics are passed down from generation to generation and developed from generation to generation.So Engels further pointed out: "The hand is not only an organ of labor, but also a product of labor." As the hands gradually become more dexterous, the feet also develop more adapted to walking upright.The freedom of both hands and upright walking are two aspects of the same process, which are mutually conditioned, influenced and restricted by each other.But the freedom of hands through labor is a more important aspect: the specialization of hands means the appearance of tools, and tools mean the unique activities of man, the reaction of man's transformation of nature, and production. In addition, the development of labor will inevitably promote more mutual help and cooperation among members of the group, and promote them to be more closely integrated, which leads to the urgent need for language communication.To express ideas, to exchange experiences, and to pass on accumulated experience from generation to generation, these developing beings have come to the point where they have something to say to each other.Need produced its own organs.Due to labor, the differentiation of hands and feet caused people to stand upright, which liberated the lungs and larynx. The pronunciation organs of the ancient apes were gradually modified, and it was possible to produce clear syllables one by one, which produced language.Language emerges from and with labor. Language is the tool of thought.Labor and language give a strong impetus to the development of the brain, the material basis of human thinking activities.So Engels believed that labor was the first, and then language and labor became the two most important driving forces.Under their influence, the ape brain gradually becomes the human brain.Along with the development of the brain, the senses such as vision, hearing and touch are also further developed.Especially since language is produced in the labor process, people can understand and reflect the real world with the help of abstraction and generalization of words.Thus, with the development of the hand, the brain develops step by step, first giving rise to awareness of the conditions of individual practical benefits, and later ... from this an understanding of the natural laws governing these benefits.In this way, human-specific consciousness activities are produced in labor. It should also be pointed out that the production and development of labor, language, and consciousness are all based on the group activities of human ancestors, that is, social activities.In the process of human evolution, the sociality of group relations is an important premise and guarantee for realizing the creation of human beings through labor.Engels further pointed out: as the most social animal among all animals, it is obviously impossible to develop from a non-social recent ancestor.With the advent of fully formed man comes a new factor - society.That is to say, society is formed simultaneously with the formation of human beings.With the formation of society, Engels further proposed that the characteristic that distinguishes human society from ape groups is labor.In elucidating this point, Engels compared the way humans obtain the means of subsistence with apes and other animals.He noted that apes and other animals, content to eat up food in their areas, "misuse resources."Engels also emphasized that real labor begins with making tools.Generally speaking, human labor uses labor tools, especially tools made by people.Just as Marx pointed out in the first volume of "Das Kapital": "Although the use and creation of the means of labor are inherent in certain kinds of animals in their embryonic state, they are, after all, unique to the human labor process. characteristics, so Franklin defined it as an atoolmakinganimal, an animal that makes tools." Human making tools is a purposeful and conscious activity, so the first time human beings make tools is the first real labor of human beings.It is in this sense that labor starts from making tools, and the characteristic that distinguishes human society from apes is labor. When Engels explained that the characteristic that distinguishes human society from apes is labor, he not only pointed out that real labor starts from making tools, but also pointed out that this difference actually reflects the essential difference between humans and animals.For the animal uses only the external nature, and changes it simply by his being; but man, by the changes he makes, makes it serve his purpose, and dominates it.This is the final essential difference between man and other animals, and it is labor that makes this difference. In this way, Engels materialized and dialectically expounded the differentiation process of human beings produced by labor. Labor Creation Theory and Darwin Theory The division of human beings produced by labor described by Engels-the process of human beings produced by labor has been described above.If we compare Darwin's theory, we will find that the two are almost identical in the main points. Engels believed that the hands of human ancestors engaged in activities different from those of the feet when climbing, and more and more engaged in other activities during the transition period. This is the process of specialization of hands, which means the emergence of tools. Hands are not only organs of labor , or a product of labour. Darwin pointed out in his book "The Descent of Mankind and Sexual Selection": "If it is beneficial for man to free his hands and arms and stand on his feet more firmly, then there is reason to believe that the ancestors of man became more and more It is to their advantage that they walk more upright on two feet. Hands and arms cannot become sufficiently developed to make weapons or purposefully throw if they are only used habitually to support the whole body weight, or are specially adapted to climbing trees. Stones and spears." He added: "I thought we could partially understand how he achieved one of the most distinctive features of his upright posture. Without the use of hands, human beings could not achieve the dominance they have in the world. His The hand moves so beautifully at his will." Darwin went even further: "The use of the arms and hands, partly the cause and partly the consequence of the upright posture, seems to have led, in an indirect manner, to the structural other changes." Engels mentioned in the article "The Role of Labor in the Process of Transition from Ape to Man": "What is the characteristic that distinguishes human society from apes? It is labor." The labor here, according to Engels, refers to Real labor is labor that begins with making tools. In emphasizing the argument that tools are unique to man, Darwin quoted a passage from the Duke of Argyll: "The manufacture of tools suitable for a particular purpose can only be done by man." He believed that "this is the difference between man and beast Difficult to quantify differences between the two," adding: "There is no doubt that this is an important distinction." Engels believed that the main impetus for the transformation of ape brain into human brain came from language and labor. Darwin also emphasized: "The relationship between the continuous use of language and the development of the brain is undoubtedly much more important." Engels believed that human ancestors without weapons had to make up for their shortcomings with group joint strength and collective action during the development process.Emphasize that the most social animal, man, could not have developed from an unsocialized most recent ancestor. Darwin also emphasized: "Man's strength is small, his speed is slow, and he has no natural weapons, etc., which can be balanced by the following points...Second, his sociality has led him to help each other with his companions." He cited Modern Bushmen (now called "San") - who lived in South Africa full of dangerous animals found nowhere else in the world - and Eskimos (now called "Inuit") - who lived in conditions They can survive the extremely harsh Arctic, thanks to their sociality.He also emphasized that "anyone will admit that humans are a social animal" and that "humans' early ape-like ancestors were probably also social."Darwin also pointed out: "Primitive man and even the ape-like ancestors of mankind probably lived social lives, and natural selection of animals with regard to strict sociality has from time to time acted on individuals by preserving variations beneficial to the group." From the comparison above, it can be seen that Darwin did not negate the important role of the invention and use of tools (which actually means "labor") in the transition from ape to man, including the differentiation of human hands and feet, the free use of hands, language and Dialectics of brain development.Then why was it still criticized by Engels? This is because Engels considered the problem from a different perspective than Darwin.In his article "The Role of Labor in the Transition from Ape to Man", Engels first criticized Lassalle's argument that "labor is the source of all wealth" from the perspective of Marxist political economy, and believed that labor can only interact with nature. Together is the source of all wealth.Nature provides materials for labor, and labor turns materials into wealth. From this, labor is the first basic condition of human life, and its role even reaches such a degree that in a sense, we have to say that labor creates human beings. itself. Although Darwin also talked about the role of tool creation and use in the origin of man, he emphasized the role of "mind".When Darwin mentioned that man's power is small, his speed is slow, and he does not possess natural weapons, etc., which can be balanced by the following points, he first emphasized: "First, he made weapons, utensils, etc. for himself through his intelligence, Even in a barbaric state, it can be so." The emphasis here is first on "intelligence".Referring to language, Darwin emphasized: "Before even the most imperfect language was used, some of the early ancestors of man must have developed much more mental powers than any living apes, but we can be sure that the continuation of this power Use and its progress, in turn, will have an effect on the mind itself." Darwin also emphasized: "The biggest difference between man and animals in language is that man's ability to connect an extremely large number of sounds and ideas is almost infinite. This obviously depends on the high development of mental ability." The "intelligence" and "psychological ability" here are all reflections of "mind". From this, we see the key points emphasized by Darwin and others.Just because Engels considered the issue from the perspective of political economy, emphasizing the importance of human material production and the primary role of productive labor, it is natural to think that Darwin emphasized the mind and failed to see the role of labor.In all fairness, it seems a bit of a stretch to say that Darwin failed to see the role of labor.In Darwin's works on human beings, he once quoted a passage from Sir Bell: "The human hand provides all the tools, and the hand and wisdom are consistent so that human beings become the masters of the world." Literally speaking, it seems that the human hand acts first, and the wisdom follows. thereafter.Human hands provide all tools, how can it not include labor tools?In my opinion, the role of labor here is not the first, but it is also side by side with wisdom (consistent). Engels' "labor creation theory" actually summarizes the main points of Darwin's theory of human origin, which is based on political economy. The reconstruction of the political economy is the view of the origin of human beings.Darwinism, by contrast, is the biological view of human origin.The starting points of the two are different, but they lead to the same goal by different routes.Today we use a new perspective to examine this issue, and we should see the complementarity of their theories instead of opposing them.In fact, we have already seen the first basic condition of human life - the existence of labor and human intelligence are mutually presupposed, and the development of the two is mutually causal. If we only emphasize the role of one and deny the other If the role of the aspect, then the process of human origin will cease to exist.