Evolution and Cultural Theories

Posted on Oct 27, 2024 in Social sciences

Creationism

Theory that the world and living things were created by God from nothing. This is the basis of many religious concepts and is one of the essential doctrines of Christianity.

Fixity

Scientific theory formulated by Linnaeus. It states that species, both plant and animal, do not evolve, but remain unchanged over time. It is based on Aristotle and fully reconciled with the creationist idea that arose from a literal reading of the Bible, leading to fixista creationism. To explain the disappearance of certain species and the emergence of new ones, the explanation turned to catastrophism. According to this theory, some species disappeared as a result of disasters and others were displaced.

Spontaneous Generation

Stated that organisms originated from substrates. E.g., crocodiles. These theories were dogmatic because they were assumed by society as indisputable truths.

Lamarck’s Theory

Appeared in his Philosophie Zoologique and explained that nature is all created by God, showing that living things are in ascending order, from simple to more complex. The first microorganisms have transformed to suit the environmental conditions where they live. The cause of the diversity of species is due to changes that occur in the behavior of living things by their need to adapt. The theory has two principles:

  1. The Law of Use or Disuse of Organs: Explains the belief that organs develop or atrophy according to the use or lack of use made of them.
  2. The Law of Inheritance of Acquired Characters: Claims that these modifications of the organs are transmitted to the offspring.

Although the theory was false, it was revolutionary because it placed the origin of living things not in the direct intervention of God, as stated by creationism, but in the need to adapt to the environment, a strong natural force.

Theory of Natural Selection

Can be summarized in the following steps:

  1. It is an obvious fact that life is characterized by its enormous capacity for reproduction, so that living things tend to multiply beyond the food resources offered by the environment.
  2. It is also an obvious fact that individuals of the same species have different traits or characteristics that occur at random and make individuals different from each other.
  3. These features make some individuals more advantaged than others. Those with characteristics favorable to the demands of the environment are more likely to reproduce and survive than those with less favorable characteristics.
  4. When transmitted by inheritance, the favorable characteristics will become increasingly widespread, while the unfavorable will become less frequent until they disappear. The result will be a different species.

This theory permanently replaced Lamarck’s first law, but respected the second, the inheritance of acquired characteristics. Darwin used the expressions “struggle for existence” and “survival of the fittest” to describe the rigid selective control nature applies to living beings.

Mendel’s Laws

Explained how inheritance occurs in three acts: the Act of Uniformity, the Act of Segregation, and the Act of Independent Assortment.

Theories of Mutations

Advocated by De Vries, stated that evolution was not a slow and gradual process, as Darwin said, but occurred by jumps from one species to another, without intermediate forms.

Theories of the Gene

Contains the findings from research of Thomas Hunt Morgan, who discovered the role of chromosomes as carriers of genes for the transmission of inheritance and therefore received a Nobel Prize in 1933, working on the fruit fly. The results confirmed the validity of Mendel’s laws of inheritance and that they only failed when a gene is mutated, as De Vries stated.

Synthetic Theory of Evolution

A reformulation of evolutionary theory carried out from 1940 onwards, it was a synthesis of the theories of Darwin and Mendel. The theory has incorporated the most remarkable achievements of molecular biology, including the identification of DNA as the hereditary material of living beings, and the identification of RNA as responsible for the transmission of genetic information. This includes the discovery of the human genome by Severo Ochoa.

Origin of Life

Pasteur

In 1860, showed that no microbe could arise spontaneously, but germs came from the environment. The theory of evolution had failed to prove the falsity of the fixista theory in relation to living things and that creationism was an inadequate explanation.

Oparin

In his theory of the inorganic origin of life, he states that life arose from inert matter from conditions that existed on the early Earth and in the primitive atmosphere. This theory has established the certainty that life is the result of chemical evolution.

Prebiotic Chemistry

Some hypotheses contemplate the possible origin of life in clay material, sometimes in the hot springs of the deep ocean, and others, such as the panspermia hypothesis, postpone the problem of its real origin. Science now addresses the question “What happened?”

Steps of Development

  • Australopithecus: Appeared 7 million years ago in Africa and became extinct 1 million years ago. Characterized by small stature, a brain like a gorilla, pronounced prognathism, sunken face, upright posture, bipedalism, and the use of sticks and stones for feeding and defense.
  • Homo habilis: Appeared 1.8 million years ago, 140 cm tall, cranial capacity of 600 cm3. They were the first toolmakers, with the capacity to make tools and carve stones (choppers on one side; chopping tools on two sides).
  • Homo ergaster: Appeared 2 million years ago, 180 cm tall, cranial capacity of 800 cm3. Common ancestor of all subsequent human beings, fluent in open spaces, and carved stone tools using percussion (blunt instruments) or more developed techniques (bifaces).
  • Homo erectus: Appeared 1.5 million years ago, made weapons, used fire, performed religious activities, had a similar structure to modern man, and a cranial capacity of 900-1200 cm3.
  • Homo antecessor: Appeared 800,000 years ago, cranial capacity of 1000 cm3, practiced cannibalism, was upright, and a browser.
  • Homo neanderthalensis: Appeared 300,000 years ago, cranial capacity of 1250 cm3, 160 cm tall, had a chin and jaw, and was intelligent. Used shelter, bifaces, scrapers, knives, antler and bone tools, lived in natural caves, and worshipped the dead.
  • Homo sapiens sapiens: Appeared about 150,000 years ago, tall, slender build, cranial capacity of 1350 cm3, painted on walls, discovered agriculture and metals, formed cities, progressed culturally and technologically, and used bones, wooden handles, and stone- or bone-tipped spears.

Anthropogenesis

Pongids

The fundamental characteristic of all apes was brachiation (arboreal locomotion with free arms in the quadruped position).

Diversification between Homo and Monkey

Psychological differences (large increase in brain size in Homo) and minor physical differences (similar body structure).

Key Features

  • Bipedalism: Related to climatic changes that forced several adaptations that favored them when looking for food and locating enemies due to their upright position, led to new relationships, changes in their feet, pelvis, and spine, increased brain size and intelligence, and freed their hands to handle sticks and stones.
  • Release of the Hand: Legs became longer and more slender than the arms to take long strides. The arms took on a variety of movements and were used for delicate tasks.
  • Telencephalization: The process of developing the nervous system and the progressive centralization and integration of its functions. Refined their upright position, increased manual dexterity, neuronal brain mutations increased intelligence, will, language, imagination, etc.

Theories of Human Nature

  • Evolution: Darwin argues that the essence of being human is a product of the evolution of the species, as are the capabilities that other animals have. Our essence is determined by our genes, which have enabled the brain to evolve to reach a large capacity, allowing us to understand the world as we do.
  • Ethology: Lorenz argues that much of our behavior is determined by the information in our genes. This means that our instincts determine our actions.
  • Behaviorism: Considers that culture determines our behavior and conduct. Everything humans do is learned. We are all equal at birth and have exactly the same intellectual capacities.
  • Philosophy: Dilthey and Ortega y Gasset argue that man does not have a nature like animals, but a history. Every human being is conditioned by their experiences and circumstances, which are different from anyone else’s. Our behavior is not due to instincts. Existentialism says that by nature, man is a curse to himself as he is forced to decide for himself and be accountable.
  • Sociobiology: Wilson says that our genes determine our behavior through strategies stored in them over evolution. For this theory, human nature seeks to preserve the genes of the species over the individual. If so, the survival of the species will be superior to any individual, which presents a potentially dangerous totalitarian structure.
  • Evolutionary Psychology: Since the 1990s, claims that our brain is the result of evolution. Therefore, our consciousness and our behavior are equipped with a functional and structural design. Our current behavior would be the result of genes, but also the environment and the interaction between them.

Culture

As E.B. Tylor defined it, culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. There are two kinds of culture:

  • Material: Made up of material products and appliances.
  • Mental: Made up of social beliefs, values, and norms.

And two subtypes:

  • Subcultures: Vary according to age, social and economic levels of its members, as well as manifesting in rural areas or in the city.
  • Counterculture: A movement of rebellion against the hegemonic culture that presents an alternative, such as urban tribes (young people concerned with discovering their identity), social revolutionary groups (criminals or aggressive alternative social groups), or alternative social groups (aim to find a new meaning to existence).

Difference Between Culture and Civilization

Civilization is a synthesis of more general traits that have been brought about by a group of cultures that have a relationship with each other. Culture has a partial meaning, while civilization has a more global one.

Cultural Relativism

Analyzing other cultures from the values of those same cultures. Being lenient with them. Although it is an improvement on ethnocentrism, it has limitations:

  • It promotes dialogue between cultures, simply requiring respect for others.
  • It is unable to avoid the risk of racism (considering that every culture should survive separately, preventing immigration), separation of cultures (non-contact), a romantic attitude against ethnocentrism (exaggerating the positive aspects of other cultures without seeing the negative, leading to a loss of critical sense), and cultural paralysis (cultures do not interact, enrich, and develop, considering that the most important thing is to maintain tradition).

Interculturalism

Goes beyond cultural relativism. Not only must there be respect for other cultures, but also encounters between different cultures on an equal footing. It proposes the following objectives:

  • Recognition of the pluralism of society and the world.
  • Understanding the complex relationship between personal and community cultures.
  • Promoting dialogue between cultures.
  • Collaborating on finding answers to global problems.
  • Trying to learn to coexist in a pluralistic and diverse world.

Thus, while multiculturalism is a fact, interculturalism is an attitude that should be adopted in response to that fact. It is committed to integration, not assimilation, separation, or marginalization. Assimilation is imposing behavioral models from one culture onto different ones. Separation tolerates other cultures but does not interact with them. Marginalization fails to preserve the identity of certain cultures, potentially leading to extermination. Integration respects and establishes relationships with other cultures, ensuring that there is interpenetration of ideas.

Differences Between Relativism and Universalism

According to cultural relativism, intercultural communication is impossible. According to universalism (the interculturalist position), there are shared values that allow for dialogue between cultures:

  • Respect for human rights.
  • Appreciation of values such as freedom, equality, and solidarity.
  • A tolerant attitude made possible by active, not passive, tolerance, which aims to achieve communication with others.