The origin of man is studied by various sciences, including anthropology, philosophy, history, theology, paleontology and others. In this regard, today there are a fairly large number of theories of the appearance of people: a social individual, a product of the activity of extraterrestrial civilizations, a biological creature, etc. Until today, none of the existing theories has been strictly proved. It is rather difficult to characterize all existing theories, but it is quite possible to consider the most convincing ones.
The most popular theories of the origin of man are creationism (divine creation) and Darwinism (evolutionary origin).
In creationism, there are several hypotheses at once. According to one of them, people descended from the gods. In another, man was created by a single god. Most scholars reject such religious and philosophical interpretations. About half of the scientific world and other researchers on this issue share the ideas of Darwinism, based on the fact that the origin of man is associated with natural selection.
Creationism is characterized by more philosophical views than scientific ones. Versions of this theory range from purely theological to quite confidently claiming to be scientific. Creationists reject evolution and make determined attempts to scientifically prove the facts described in the Bible. The creation hypothesis is unlikely to be proved or disproved, therefore, it will always exist along with scientific theories.
According to Darwin's theory, the origin of man became possible thanks to the evolution of monkeys, who learned to hold a stick in their hands and stood on two legs. This theory is based on a serious base of facts and anthropological data, is a well-organized scientific system.
The creator of evolutionary theory summarized the results of the achievements of biology, breeding practice and his own observations. He was able to substantiate a hypothesis in which he explained the origin of man by the evolution of a monkey. According to his theory, the diversity of animals and plants that inhabit the Earth is the result of frequent mutations that add up over centuries and millennia. Then natural selection begins . Unsuitable individuals and species are pushed to the periphery, allowing others to develop more quickly, which are more adapted to new conditions.
On the basis of Darwin's theory, such a concept as anthropogenesis was deduced, by which today we understand the process of isolating a person from the animal world. It is believed that the most distant ancestors of humans were anthropoid apes, which in their evolution went through several stages before the formation of the final result. The line of evolution was built in this way: Australopithecus (skilled man) - Pithecanthropus (Homo erectus) - Paleoanthropus (Neanderthal man) - Cro-Magnon man ( Homo sapiens). It should be said that a hundred years ago this theory completely suited the scientific world. But at present, new facts are opening up that lead to criticism of Darwinism.
Today, a theory that explains the origin of man on Earth by external interference is also very popular. According to her, people appeared on Earth through the activities of other civilizations. According to one hypothesis, modern people are the descendants of aliens who landed on Earth in prehistoric times. More complex hypotheses suggest that man appeared due to the crossing of representatives of other planets with the ancestors of modern earthlings; thanks to genetic engineering, spatial anomalies, etc. However, many of these theories resemble the ideas of divine intervention.