Oh let me have a riddle of life
A painfully old riddle ...
Tell me what a man is?
G. Heine
Who are you man?
The pinnacle of evolution? King of nature? Space explorer? The most intelligent creature? An atom in the universe? Creator or destroyer? Where did the planet Earth come from?
The sciences that study man have been searching for answers to these and other questions for many years; researchers and thinkers have been puzzling over them since ancient times.
In various cultures, religions, philosophical teachings, there is a huge variety of views on the nature of man and his interaction with the physical and mental world. This combination can be considered as the primary formation of human sciences.
Why not one science?
There is a science of man anthropology, but it cannot represent the whole spectrum of knowledge, covering only the biological, evolutionary and, separately, philosophical aspects.
What is human knowledge?
According to the classification of V. G. Borzenkov, one can count up to 200 disciplines, which are sciences that study man.
They can be grouped into several blocks:
- sciences about a person as a biological substance (anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, primatology, genetics, paleontology, etc.);
- sciences about humanity (demography, sociology, ethnography, political science, economics, etc.);
- the science of man and his interaction with nature and space (ecology, biogeochemistry, space medicine, etc.);
- sciences about a person as a person (pedagogy, ethics, psychology, aesthetics, etc.);
- sciences that consider a person as a subject of activity (ergonomics, engineering psychology, heuristics, etc.).
These disciplines do not exist on their own: they intersect many times, the methods of some are widely used in others. For example, the study of physiology with the help of certain devices has become widely used in practical psychology and even forensic science (lie detector). There are also other approaches to classifying which sciences study man.
Man as an object of study
Each science of man seeks patterns in the diversity of his nature and the uniqueness of individual manifestations.
Man's knowledge of himself as a species of Homo sapiens, as a subject of social relations, as a carrier of intellectual and emotional abilities, as a unique individuality is a difficult task.
She will never have a single solution, despite the many knowledge gained from the moment when the formation of the human sciences began. The more interesting is the learning process.
European approach
Social thought in the 20th century made philosophical anthropology its most influential direction.
In this teaching, man is the central axis around which all the processes of being in the world take place. “Man is the measure of all things” - this antique principle of Protagoras philosophy gives rise to the theory of anthropocentrism.
Christian ideology, one of the foundations of European culture, also affirms the man-centered idea of ​​earthly life. According to her, it is believed that the Almighty, before creating man, prepared the conditions for his existence on Earth.
How about in the East?
Eastern schools of philosophy, on the contrary, never put a person in the center of the universe, considering it to be a part, an element of nature, one of its levels.
According to these teachings, man should not oppose the perfection of nature, but only follow it, listening, integrating into its rhythms. This allows you to maintain mental and physical harmony.
Is everything known?
The science of the human body using modern technology is developing at a cosmic speed. Studies are striking in their courage and breadth, and sometimes scare the lack of an ethical framework.
Life extension methods, the most delicate operations, transplantology, cloning, organ growth, stem cells, vaccines, chipping, devices for diagnosis and treatment - this could not even be dreamed of by medieval doctors and anatomists who died on the inquisition bonfires for their desire for knowledge and the desire to help patients !
It seems that now everything is thoroughly studied in man. But for some reason, people continue to get sick and die. What has science not done in human life?
Human genome
For several years, genetic scientists from many countries worked together and almost completely deciphered the human genome. This painstaking work continues, new tasks arise that have to be addressed by current and future researchers.
Enormous work is needed not just as “pure” knowledge, on its basis new steps will be taken and will be taken in medicine, immunology, gerontology.
Power of thought
What sciences study man and his abilities?
Studies of brain activity show that a person uses his capabilities very little. Achievements of modern neurophysiology, psychology, pedagogy help to develop many hidden abilities.
Techniques for the development of mental activity are increasingly being introduced into everyday life. What seemed like a miracle, a hoax (for example, the ability to quickly spoken) is now easily mastered by preschoolers in special classes.
Other methods developed in scientific laboratories can give a person super powers for survival in extreme conditions, for example in space flight or military operations.
Stop being a conqueror of nature!
The end of the last millennium was marked by an unprecedented increase in technological progress. It seemed that everything was subject to man: to move mountains, turn back rivers, ruthlessly devastate the bowels and destroy forests, pollute the seas and oceans.
Global disasters of recent decades show that nature does not forgive such an attitude. In order to be preserved as a species, humanity needs to take care not only of individual dwellings, but also of our common home - planet Earth.
One of the most important sciences is ecology, which shows how, by destroying nature, a person harms himself. But the implementation of recommendations developed by scientists, allows you to save and restore the environment.
Man and society
Wars, overpopulation of cities, famines, epidemics, natural disasters expose vast masses of people to suffering.
Social sciences and institutions involved in demography, political science, religious studies, philosophy, economics, obviously can not cope with the information and can not make their recommendations convincing for politicians, heads of state, authorities at various levels.
Peace, tranquility, prosperity remain a pipe dream for most people.
But in the age of the Internet’s development, many knowledge becomes much closer and allows those with access to the resource to apply it in their lives, find like-minded people, help themselves and their loved ones survive in difficult times and keep the Human within themselves.
An appeal to one’s history, to the roots, to the knowledge accumulated by previous generations, a return to the roots of morality and ethics, to nature gives a chance for the life of future generations.
Open question
The versatility of the manifestations and activities of each individual person, the entire human community as a whole makes it extremely difficult to study them.
And hundreds of disciplines are not enough to investigate these processes. The science of man is an almost inexhaustible source of mysteries.
It turns out that, despite the development of technology, mankind did not manage to recognize itself by the methods of biochemistry, physiology, and mathematical processing of data.
Philosophical questions remain eternal. We still do not know exactly why a man appeared, who was his ancestor, what is the meaning of his life, is immortality possible. Who can answer?