Scientists, theologians, philosophers since ancient times have been trying to answer the question of where man came from on Earth. At the same time, they were divided into three camps: some believe in God's providence, others - in Darwin's theory, the rest - in alien intervention (and even here there are variations). There are also supporters of other versions - absolutely fantastic.
Jaguar kidsThe most ancient version of human origin is totemism. These were the beliefs that the American Indians and representatives of the northern peoples adhered to. It was believed that the ancestors of certain groups of people were sacred animals. Each tribe had its own totem (for example, a wolf or a jaguar, like the ancient Maya). From the mythology of Ancient Greece it follows that in the beginning there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos, which contained the source of life (you must admit that it somehow echoes the Big Bang theory). The whole world, immortal gods and man, arose from him. At the same time, some Greek tribes considered themselves "autochthonous" who arose from the land. In particular, the Thebans thought that they came from the teeth of the dragon killed by the Phoenician Cadmus, which he sowed into the ground. Generally speaking, there was no consensus among the Greeks about where people came from. For example, Plato quite seriously assumed that they descended from the androgyne - the first people who combined the characteristics of both sexes. By the way, the idea that a man and a woman were originally one whole is close to many world religions. Thus, in one of the Talmudic interpretations of the first chapters of the Book of Genesis, it is said that Adam was also androgynous.
Created by GodIn the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), it is believed that God created the first man in his own image and likeness, and Eve - from his rib a little later. In Hinduism, there are at least five versions of the creation of the world and man. An interesting (albeit very difficult) version is offered in the Kabbalistic teaching. It says that the creator created a harmonious soul, which was named Adam Rishon - “the first man”. However, he took on a huge spiritual light (which was roughly equivalent to eating the "forbidden fruit" in Christianity). As a result, the soul could not stand it and split into 600 thousand parts, and each of them - into many more parts. All these fragments are now in the souls of people. Ultimately, after a chain of rebirths, they must carry out “correction” and re-assemble into a common spiritual complex called Adam. That is - where did you start,so we will finish.
Darwinism and evolutionary theory The famous postulate that man descended from ape is attributed to Charles Darwin, although the scientist himself formulated the idea differently: humans and monkeys had a common ancestor - an ape-like creature. According to Darwin, the genus Homo originated about 3.5 million years ago in Africa (modern scientists have already found out that the lineage with which the origin of Homo sapiens is connected, separated from other hominids 6-7 million years ago). In the course of evolution, our ancestor began to walk on two legs, use his hands as a tool of labor, he began a progressive transformation of the brain, and articulate speech appeared. Well, the reason for its evolution, like all other species, was natural selection - the principle when only the strongest forms of life survive, adapting to changing environmental conditions.
Synthesis of opposites
As science developed, creationists (those who believe that man is a creation of God) had to somehow adapt. A kind of compromise between the theory of creation and Darwinism was the so-called theistic evolutionism. He does not reject evolution, but considers it an instrument in the hands of God. Simply put, God created “material” - the genus Homo - and set in motion the process of evolution. The result is a man. An important point of evolutionary creationism is the statement that although the body changed, the human spirit (that is, the immortal soul) remained unchanged. This is the position that the Vatican has officially adhered to since the time of Pope John Paul II.
Ancient astronauts
According to another theory (very popular at the moment), the appearance of people on Earth is associated with the activities of alien civilizations. In its simplest form, humans are the direct descendants of aliens who landed on Earth in prehistoric times. But there are also more complex options: crossing of otherworldly people with human ancestors; generation of Homo sapiens by genetic engineering methods; control over the evolutionary development of terrestrial life by the forces of extraterrestrial superintelligence and so on. By the way, one of those who not only supported the theory of paleocontact, but was also its ardent supporter, was the famous Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. And now very many representatives of various scientific fields are sure that the reason for the origin of man must be sought in space.
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CURIOUS
The scientific world respects the biblical texts, considering them important (albeit sometimes rewritten) historical chronicles. But unlike theologians, they do not recognize the title of “mother of humanity” for Eve at all. At the moment, this title is held by a female Australopithecus named Lucy (she was named after the heroine of The Beatles' song “Lucy in Heaven with Diamonds”), who lived 3.2 million years ago. Fossilized elements of her skeleton were discovered in 1974 in the Awash River valley in Ethiopia. It is believed that this is the first known to science representative of the species "Australopithecus Afar", from which the genus Homo originated. Recent studies (including computed tomography and 3D scans) have shed light on the circumstances of her death. It turns out that the “foremother of mankind” died from numerous fractures, falling from a height of more than 12 meters. Considering,that Australopithecus lived in trees, it's scary to imagine the height of the then palm tree!
COMPETENTLY
Vadim Lakiza, Deputy Director for Research of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences, archaeologist, candidate of historical sciences, associate professor:
- Recently, probably under the influence of fiction and cinema, alternative versions of our appearance on Earth are growing like mushrooms. I must say that any thoughts about the origin of a person have a right to exist - people generally tend to fantasize, and this is good. But here we need to determine what is important for us - unfounded (albeit very fascinating) hypotheses or scientifically proven facts. At the moment, the only proven version of the development of events is Charles Darwin's theory of the origin of species. Moreover, literally every year, research adds more and more missing fragments to it.
In particular, the finds made by archaeologists on the territory of Belarus also testify not to some kind of spontaneous surge, but to the progressive movement of the evolutionary process. For example, it has been established that man appeared on the territory of our country in the period from 100 to 40 thousand years ago. The tools of labor of the Neanderthals (which, by the way, are considered an extinct branch of humanity), found near the villages of Obidovichi (Bykhovsky district) and Svetilovichi (Vetkovsky district), date from this period. As for our distant ancestors, they were Cro-Magnons - their sites are well preserved in Berdyzh (Chechersky district) and Yurovichi (Kalinkovichi district). Of the so-called bone material, the most valuable find (about 5 thousand years old) is the skeleton of a man, discovered during excavations near the village of Krasnoselsky in the Volkovysk region. Apparently, it was a worker who worked in an ancient silicon mine and died there.