Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin: "wise man" or "knowing man") in the family Hominidae (the great apes).[Goodman M, Tagle D, Fitch D, Bailey W, Czelusniak J, Koop B, Benson P, Slightom J (1990). "Primate evolution at the DNA level and a classification of hominoids". J Mol Evol 30 (3): 260 – 6. PMID 2109087. ][Hominidae Classification. Animal Diversity Web @ UMich. Retrieved on 2006-09-25.] Compared to other living organisms on Earth, humans have a highly developed brain capable of abstract reasoning, language, and introspection. This mental capability, combined with an erect body carriage that frees their upper limbs for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make far greater use of tools than any other species. DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in Africa about 200,000years ago,[The Smithsonian Institution, Human Origins Program] and they now inhabit every continent, with a total population of over 6.7 billion as of March 2008.[World POPClock Projection. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division/International Programs Center. Retrieved on 2007-06-14.]
Like most primates, humans are social by nature. However, humans are particularly adept at utilizing systems of communication for self-expression, the exchange of ideas, and organization. Humans create complex social structures composed of cooperating and competing groups, ranging in scale from small families and partnerships to species-wide political, scientific and economic unions. Social interactions between humans have established an extremely wide variety of traditions, rituals, ethics, values, social norms, and laws which form the basis of human society. Humans have a marked appreciation for beauty and aesthetics which, combined with the human desire for self-expression, has led to cultural innovations such as art, literature and music.
Humans are noted for their desire to understand and influence the world around them, seeking to explain and manipulate natural phenomena through science, philosophy, mythology and religion. This natural curiosity has led to the development of advanced tools and skills; humans are the only known species alive today to build fires, cook their food, clothe themselves, and use numerous other technologies.
History
Origin
The scientific study of human evolution encompasses the development of the genus Homo, but usually involves studying other hominids and hominines as well, such as Australopithecus. "Modern humans" are defined as the Homo sapiens species, of which the only extant subspecies is Homo sapiens sapiens; Homo sapiens idaltu (roughly translated as "elder wise human"), the other known subspecies, is extinct.[Human evolution: the fossil evidence in 3D, by Philip L. Walker and Edward H. Hagen, Dept of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, retrieved April 5, 2005.] Anatomically modern humans appear in the fossil record in Africa about 130,000 years ago.[Human Ancestors Hall: Homo Sapiens - URL retrieved October 13, 2006][Alemseged Z, Coppens Y, Geraads D (2002). "Hominid cranium from Omo: Description and taxonomy of Omo-323-1976-896". Am J Phys Anthropol 117 (2): 103-12. PMID 11815945. ] The closest living relatives of Homo sapiens are two distinct species of the genus Pan: the Bonobo (Pan paniscus) and the Common Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). These species share the same common ancestor. The main difference between them is the social organization: matriarchal for the Bonobo and patriarchal for the Common Chimpanzee. Full genome sequencing resulted in the conclusion that "after 6.5 millionyears of separate evolution, the differences between bonobo/chimpanzee and human are just 10 times greater than those between two unrelated people and 10 times less than those between rats and mice". In fact, 95 per cent of the DNA sequence is identical between the two Pan species and human.[Frans de Waal, Bonobo. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. ISBN 0-520-20535-9 [1]][Britten RJ (2002). "Divergence between samples of chimpanzee and human DNA sequences is 5%, counting indels". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99 (21): 13633-5. PMID 12368483. ][Wildman D, Uddin M, Liu G, Grossman L, Goodman M (2003). "Implications of natural selection in shaping 99.4% nonsynonymous DNA identity between humans and chimpanzees: enlarging genus Homo.". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100 (12): 7181-8. PMID 12766228. ][Ruvolo M (1997). "Molecular phylogeny of the hominoids: inferences from multiple independent DNA sequence data sets.". Mol Biol Evol 14 (3): 248-65. PMID 9066793. ] It has been estimated that the human lineage diverged from that of chimpanzees about five millionyears ago, and from gorillas about eight millionyears ago. However, a hominid skull discovered in Chad in 2001, classified as Sahelanthropus tchadensis, is approximately seven millionyears old, which may indicate an earlier divergence.[Brunet M, Guy F, Pilbeam D, Mackaye H, Likius A, Ahounta D, Beauvilain A, Blondel C, Bocherens H, Boisserie J, De Bonis L, Coppens Y, Dejax J, Denys C, Duringer P, Eisenmann V, Fanone G, Fronty P, Geraads D, Lehmann T, Lihoreau F, Louchart A, Mahamat A, Merceron G, Mouchelin G, Otero O, Pelaez Campomanes P, Ponce De Leon M, Rage J, Sapanet M, Schuster M, Sudre J, Tassy P, Valentin X, Vignaud P, Viriot L, Zazzo A, Zollikofer C (2002). "A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central Africa.". Nature 418 (6894): 145-51. PMID 12110880. ]
The Recent African Origin (RAO), or "out-of-Africa", hypothesis proposes that modern humans evolved in Africa and later migrated outwards to replace hominids in other parts of the world. Evidence from Archaeogenetics accumulating since the 1990s has lent strong support to RAO and has marginalized the competing multiregional hypothesis, which proposed that modern humans evolved, at least in part, from independent hominid populations.[Eswaran, Vinayak, Harpending, Henry & Rogers, Alan R. Genomics refutes an exclusively African origin of humans, Journal of Human Evolution, In Press, Corrected Proof, retrieved May 6, 2005.] Geneticists Lynn Jorde and Henry Harpending of the University of Utah proposed that the variation in human DNA is minute compared to that of other species. They also propose that during the Late Pleistocene, the human population was reduced to a small number of breeding pairs — no more than 10,000 and possibly as few as 1,000 — resulting in a very small residual gene pool. Various reasons for this hypothetical bottleneck have been postulated, one of those is the Toba catastrophe theory.
Human evolution is characterized by a number of important morphological, developmental, physiological and behavioral changes which have taken place since the split between the last common ancestor of Homo and Pan. The primary change, both in terms of chronology and in terms of it being the trait that defines the human subtribe the Hominina, was the evolution of a bipedal locomotor adaptation from an arboreal or semi-arboreal locomotor adaptation,[Vančata1 V., & Vančatová, M. A. "Major features in the evolution of early hominoid locomotion". Springer Netherlands, Volume 2, Number 6, December 1987. pp.517-537.] with all its attendant adaptations, such as a valgus knee, low intermembral index (long legs relative to the arms) and reduced upper body strength. Later, the evolution of a larger brain cavity and brain itself, which is typically 1,400cm³ in modern humans; over twice that of a chimpanzee or gorilla. Other significant morphological changes included: the evolution of a power and precision grip;[Brues, Alice M. & Snow, Clyde C. "Physical Anthropology". Biennial Review of Anthropology, Volume 4, 1965. pp. 1-39.] a reduced masticatory system, a reduction of the canine tooth, and the descent of the larynx and hyoid bone, making speech possible. The pattern of human postnatal brain growth differs from that of other apes (heterochrony), and allows for extended periods of social learning and language acquisition in juvenile humans. Physical anthropologists argue that a reorganization of the structure of the brain is more important than cranial expansion itself. An important physiological change in humans was the evolution of hidden estrus or concealed ovulation in females, which may have coincided with the evolution of important behavioral changes, such as pair bonding. Another significant behavioral change includes the development of material culture, or the (over time) increasingly wide variety of human-made objects which are used to manipulate humans\' physical and social environments. How all these changes are related and what their role is in the evolution of complex social organization and culture are matters of ongoing debate.[Boyd, Robert & Silk, Joan B. (2003). How Humans Evolved. New York: Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-97854-0.][Dobzhansky, Theodosius (1963). Anthropology and the natural sciences-The problem of human evolution, Current Anthropology \'4 (2): 138-148.]
Rise of civilization
The rise of agriculture led to the foundation of stable human settlements.
The most widely accepted view among current anthropologists is that Homo sapiens originated in the African savanna around 200,000 BP (Before Present), descending from Homo erectus, had inhabited Eurasia and Oceania by 40,000 BP, and finally inhabited the Americas approximately 10,000years ago.[Templeton, Alan (2002). "Out of Africa again and again" Nature 416: 45 - 51.] They displaced Homo neanderthalensis and other species descended from Homo erectus (which had inhabited Eurasia as early as 2 millionyears ago) through more successful reproduction and competition for resources.
Until c. 10,000 years ago most humans lived as hunter-gatherers, although some remote communities persist to this day. They generally lived in small nomadic groups. The advent of agriculture prompted the Neolithic Revolution, when access to food surplus led to the formation of permanent human settlements, the domestication of animals and the use of metal tools. Agriculture encouraged trade and cooperation, and lead to complex society.
Around 6,000years ago, the first proto-states developed in Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley. Military forces were formed for protection, and government bureaucracies for administration. States cooperated and competed for resources, in some cases waging wars. Around 2,000 – 3,000years ago, some states, such as Persia, China and Rome, developed through conquest into the first expansive empires. Influential religions, such as Judaism, originating in the Middle East, and Hinduism, a religious tradition that originated in South Asia, also rose to prominence at this time.
The late Middle Ages saw the rise of revolutionary ideas and technologies. In China, an advanced and urbanized economy promoted innovations such as printing and the compass, while the Islamic Golden Age saw major scientific advancements in Muslim empires. In Europe, the rediscovery of classical learning and inventions such as the printing press led to the Renaissance in the 14th century. Over the next 500years, exploration and imperialistic conquest brought much of the Americas, Asia, and Africa under European control, leading to later struggles for independence. The Scientific Revolution in the 17th century and the Industrial Revolution in the 18th – 19th centuries promoted major innovations in transport, such as the railway and automobile; energy development, such as coal and electricity; and government, such as representative democracy and Communism.
As a result of such changes, modern humans live in a world that has become increasingly globalized and interconnected. Although this has encouraged the growth of science, art, and technology, it has also led to culture clashes, the development and use of weapons of mass destruction, and increased environmental destruction and pollution.
Habitat and population
Humans have structured their environment in extensive ways in order to adapt to problems such as high population density, as shown in this image of
Hong Kong.
Early human settlements were dependent on proximity to water and, depending on the lifestyle, other natural resources, such as fertile land for growing crops and grazing livestock, or seasonally by hunting populations of prey. However, humans have a great capacity for altering their habitats by various methods, such as through irrigation, urban planning, construction, transport, and manufacturing goods. With the advent of large-scale trade and transport infrastructure, proximity to these resources has become unnecessary, and in many places these factors are no longer a driving force behind the growth and decline of a population. Nonetheless, the manner in which a habitat is altered is often a major determinant in population change.
Technology has allowed humans to colonize all of the continents and adapt to all climates. Within the last few decades, humans have explored Antarctica, the ocean depths, and space, although long-term habitation of these environments is not yet possible. With a population of over six billion, humans are among the most numerous of the large mammals. Most humans (61%) live in Asia. The vast majority of the remainder live in the Americas (14%), Africa (13%) and Europe (12%), with 0.5% in Oceania.
Human habitation within closed ecological systems in hostile environments, such as Antarctica and outer space, is expensive, typically limited in duration, and restricted to scientific, military, or industrial expeditions. Life in space has been very sporadic, with no more than thirteen humans in space at any given time. Between 1969 and 1972, two humans at a time spent brief intervals on the Moon. As of early 2008, no other celestial body has been visited by human beings, although there has been a continuous human presence in space since the launch of the initial crew to inhabit the International Space Station on October 31, 2000. Other celestial bodies have, however, been visited by human-made objects.
Since 1800, the human population increased from one billion to over six billion.[Whitehouse, David. "World\'s population reaches six billion". BBC News, 05 August, 1999. Retrieved on 05 February, 2008.] In 2004, some 2.5 billion out of 6.3 billion people (39.7%) lived in urban areas, and this percentage is expected to rise throughout the 21st century. Problems for humans living in cities include various forms of pollution and crime,[Urban, Suburban, and Rural Victimization, 1993-98 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics,. Accessed 29 Oct 2006] especially in inner city and suburban slums. Benefits of urban living include increased literacy, access to the global canon of human knowledge and decreased susceptibility to rural famines.
Humans have had a dramatic effect on the environment. It has been hypothesized that human predation has contributed to the extinction of a number of species. As humans stand at the top of the food chain and are not generally preyed on, they have been described as superpredators.[Scientific American (1998). Evolution and General Intelligence: Three hypotheses on the evolution of general intelligence.] Currently, through land development and pollution, humans are thought to be the main contributor to global climate change.[www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/007.htm. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.] This is believed to be a major contributor to the ongoing Holocene extinction event, a mass extinction which, if it continues at its current rate, is predicted to wipe out half of all species over the next century.[American Association for the Advancement of Science. Foreword. AAAS Atlas of Population & Environment.][Wilson, E.O. (2002). in The Future of Life.]
Biology
Physiology and genetics
Human body types vary substantially. Although body size is largely determined by genes, it is also significantly influenced by environmental factors such as diet and exercise. The average height of an adult human is about 5 to 6feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) tall, although this varies significantly from place to place.[de Beer H (2004). "Observations on the history of Dutch physical stature from the late-Middle Ages to the present.". Econ Hum Biol 2 (1): 45-55. PMID 15463992. ]["Pygmy." Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2006. Answers.com Accessed 30 Oct. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/pygmy] Humans are capable of fully bipedal locomotion, thus leaving their arms available for manipulating objects using their hands, aided especially by opposable thumbs.
Although humans appear relatively hairless compared to other primates, with notable hair growth occurring chiefly on the top of the head, underarms and pubic area, the average human has more hair follicles on his or her body than the average chimpanzee. The main distinction is that human hairs are shorter, finer, and less heavily pigmented than the average chimpanzee\'s, thus making them harder to see.[Why Humans and Their Fur Parted Way by Nicholas Wade, New York Times, August 19 2003, retrieved March 17, 2006.]
An
Inuit woman, circa 1907.
The hue of human hair and skin is determined by the presence of pigments called melanins. Human skin hues can range from very dark brown to very pale pink, while human hair ranges from blond to brown to red to, most commonly, black,[Rogers, Alan R., Iltis, David & Wooding, Stephen (2004). "Genetic variation at the MC1R locus and the time since loss of human body hair". Current Anthropology 45 (1): 105-108. ] depending on the amount of melanin (an effective sun blocking pigment) in the skin. Most researchers believe that skin darkening was an adaptation that evolved as a protection against ultraviolet solar radiation. More recently, however, it has been argued that particular skin colors are an adaptation to balance folate, which is destroyed by ultraviolet radiation, and vitamin D, which requires sunlight to form.[Jablonski, N.G. & Chaplin, G. (2000). The evolution of human skin coloration (pdf), \'Journal of Human Evolution 39: 57-106.] The skin pigmentation of contemporary humans is geographically stratified, and in general correlates with the level of ultraviolet radiation. Human skin also has a capacity to darken (sun tanning) in response to exposure to ultraviolet radiation.[Harding, Rosalind M., Eugene Healy, Amanda J. Ray, Nichola S. Ellis, Niamh Flanagan, Carol Todd, Craig Dixon, Antti Sajantila, Ian J. Jackson, Mark A. Birch-Machin, and Jonathan L. Rees (2000). Evidence for variable selective pressures at MC1R. American Journal of Human Genetics 66: 1351 – 1361.][Robin, Ashley (1991). Biological Perspectives on Human Pigmentation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.]
The average sleep requirement is between seven and eight hours a day for an adult and nine to ten hours for a child; elderly people usually sleep for six to seven hours. Experiencing less sleep than this is common in modern societies; this sleep deprivation can lead to negative effects. A sustained restriction of adult sleep to four hours per day has been shown to correlate with changes in physiology and mental state, including fatigue, aggression, and bodily discomfort.
Humans are an eukaryotic species. Each diploid cell has two sets of 23 chromosomes, each set received from one parent. There are 22 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes. By present estimates, humans have approximately 20,000 – 25,000 genes. Like other mammals, humans have an XY sex-determination system, so that females have the sex chromosomes XX and males have XY. The X chromosome is larger and carries many genes not on the Y chromosome, which means that recessive diseases associated with X-linked genes, such as hemophilia, affect men more often than women.
Life cycle
A human embryo at 5 weeks
The human life cycle is similar to that of other placental mammals. The fertilized egg divides inside the female\'s uterus to become an embryo, which over a period of thirty-eight weeks (9 months) of gestation becomes a human fetus. After this span of time, the fully-grown fetus is birthed from the woman\'s body and breathes independently as an infant for the first time. At this point, most modern cultures recognize the baby as a person entitled to the full protection of the law, though some jurisdictions extend personhood earlier to human fetuses while they remain in the uterus.
Compared with other species, human childbirth is historically dangerous. Painful labors lasting twenty-four hours or more are not uncommon and often leads to the death of the mother, or the child.[According to the July 2, 2007 Newsweek magazine, a woman dies in childbirth every minute, most often due to uncontrolled bleeding and infection, with the world\'s poorest women most vulnerable. The lifetime risk is 1 in 16 in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 1 in 2,800 in developed countries.] This is because of both the relatively large fetal head circumference (for housing the brain) and the mother\'s relatively narrow pelvis (a trait required for successful bipedalism, by way of natural selection).[LaVelle M (1995). "Natural selection and developmental sexual variation in the human pelvis". Am J Phys Anthropol 98 (1): 59-72. PMID 8579191. ][Correia H, Balseiro S, De Areia M (2005). "Sexual dimorphism in the human pelvis: testing a new hypothesis". Homo 56 (2): 153-60. PMID 16130838. ] The chances of a successful labor increased significantly during the 20th century in wealthier countries with the advent of new medical technologies. In contrast, pregnancy and natural childbirth remain relatively hazardous ordeals in developing regions of the world, with maternal death rates approximately 100 times more common than in developed countries.[Rush D (2000). "Nutrition and maternal mortality in the developing world.". Am J Clin Nutr 72 (1 Suppl): 212 S-240 S. PMID 10871588. ]
Two young American girls photographed at an Inter-racial Christmas Seals Camp in August 1943
["USDA Photo by Gordon Parks". United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved on February 05, 2008.]In developed countries, infants are typically 3 – 4 kg (6 – 9pounds) in weight and 50 – 60 cm (20 – 24inches) in height at birth.[Low Birthweight. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.] However, low birth weight is common in developing countries, and contributes to the high levels of infant mortality in these regions.[Khor G (2003). "Update on the prevalence of malnutrition among children in Asia.". Nepal Med Coll J 5 (2): 113-22. PMID 15024783. ] Helpless at birth, humans continue to grow for some years, typically reaching sexual maturity at 12 to 15years of age. Human females continue to develop physically until around the age of 18, while human males until around age 21. The human life span can be split into a number of stages: infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, adulthood and old age. The lengths of these stages, however, have varied across cultures and time periods. Compared to other primates, humans experience an unusually rapid growth spurt during adolescence, where the body grows 25% in size. Chimpanzees, for example, grow only 14%.[Leakey, Richard; Lewin, Roger. Origins Reconsidered - In Search of What Makes Us Human. Sherma B.V., 1992.]
There are significant differences in life expectancy around the world. The developed world generally aging, with the median age around 40years (highest in Monaco at 45.1years). In the developing world the median age is between 15 and 20 years. Life expectancy at birth in Hong Kong, China is 84.8 years for a female and 78.9 for a male, while in Swaziland, primarily because of AIDS, it is 31.3 years for both sexes.["Human Development Report 2006," United Nations Development Programme, pp. 363-366, November 9 2006] While one in five Europeans is 60 years of age or older, only one in twenty Africans is 60 years of age or older.[The World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, retrieved April 2, 2005.] The number of centenarians (humans of age 100 years or older) in the world was estimated by the United Nations at 210,000 in 2002.[U.N. Statistics on Population Ageing, United Nations press release, February 28, 2002, retrieved April 2, 2005] At least one person, Jeanne Calment, is known to have reached the age of 122 years; higher ages have been claimed but they are not well substantiated. Worldwide, there are 81 men aged 60 or older for every 100 women of that age group, and among the oldest, there are 53 men for every 100 women.
The philosophical questions of when human personhood begins and whether it persists after death are the subject of considerable debate. The prospect of death causes unease or fear for most humans. Burial ceremonies are characteristic of human societies, often accompanied by beliefs in an afterlife or immortality.
Diet
Early Homo sapiens employed a hunter-gatherer method as their primary means of food collection, involving combining stationary plant and fungal food sources (such as fruits, grains, tubers, and mushrooms) with wild game, which must be hunted and killed in order to be consumed. It is believed that humans have used fire to prepare and cook food prior to eating since the time of their divergence from Homo erectus.
Humans are omnivorous, capable of consuming both plant and animal products. A view of humans as omnivores is supported by the evidence that both a pure animal and a pure vegetable diet can lead to deficiency diseases in humans. A pure animal diet can, for instance, lead to scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency, while a pure plant diet may lead to vitamin B12 deficiency.[Healthy choices on a vegan diet. Vegan Society. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.] The biggest problem posed by a vitamin B12 deficiency is that it severely limits the body\'s ability to synthesize folic acid, a main source of B group carriage. In order to counter the constant folic acid deficiency, one must regularly consume large amounts of folic acid, as may be found in green, leafy vegetables. Properly planned vegetarian diets have been found to completely satisfy nutritional needs in every stage of life,[ (2003) "Vegetarian Diets". Journal of the American Dietetic Association 103 (6): 748-765. online copy available] significantly reduce risks of major diseases, including cancer,["Meat can raise your lung cancer risk, too", MSNBC, 2007-12-11. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.] promote a healthier body mass index, reduce excess body fat,[ (2006) "Weight gain over 5 years in 21 966 meat-eating, fish-eating, vegetarian, and vegan men and women in EPIC-Oxford". International Journal of Obesity (30): 1389–1396. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803305. (BBC story on paper [2])] and increase longevity[Mattson, Mark P. (2002). Diet-Brain Connection: Impact on Memory, Mood, Aging and Disease. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-1402071294.][Key, Timothy J, et al., 1999 "Mortality in vegetarians and nonvegetarians: detailed findings from a collaborative analysis of 5 prospective studies" American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 70, No. 3, 516S-524S, September 1999 http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/70/3/516S][http://www.llu.edu/news/today/july2601/llu.html], when compared with unplanned omnivorous diets. In particular, non-lean red meat eaten over a lifetime has been found to increase the risks of several forms of cancer by 20 to 60 percent, while possibly causing adverse mutations in DNA.
The human diet is prominently reflected in human culture, and has led to the development of food science.
In general, humans can survive for two to eight weeks without food, depending on stored body fat. Survival without water is usually limited to three or four days. Lack of food remains a serious problem, with about 300,000 people starving to death every year.[Death and DALY estimates for 2002 by cause for WHO Member States World Health Organisation. Accessed 29 Oct 2006] Childhood malnutrition is also common and contributes to the global burden of disease.[Murray C, Lopez A (1997). "Global mortality, disability, and the contribution of risk factors: Global Burden of Disease Study.". Lancet 349 (9063): 1436-42. PMID 9164317. ] However global food distribution is not even, and obesity among some human populations has increased to almost epidemic proportions, leading to health complications and increased mortality in some developed, and a few developing countries. The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) state that 32% of American adults over the age of 20 are obese, while 66.5% are obese or overweight. Obesity is caused by consuming more calories than are expended, with many attributing excessive weight gain to a combination of overeating and insufficient exercise.
At least ten thousand years ago, humans developed agriculture,[Earliest agriculture in the Americas
Earliest cultivation of barley
Earliest cultivation of figs - URLs retrieved February 19, 2007] which has substantially altered the kind of food people eat. This has led to increased populations, the development of cities, and because of increased population density, the wider spread of infectious diseases. The types of food consumed, and the way in which they are prepared, has varied widely by time, location, and culture.
Psychology
A sketch of the human brain imposed upon the profile of
Michelangelo\'s
David. Sketch by Priyan Weerappuli.
The human brain is the center of the central nervous system in humans, and acts as the primary control center for the peripheral nervous system. The brain controls "lower", or involuntary, autonomic activities such as the respiration, and digestion. The brain also controls "higher" order, conscious activities, such as thought, reasoning, and abstraction.[3-D Brain Anatomy, The Secret Life of the Brain, Public Broadcasting Service, retrieved April 3 2005.] These cognitive processes constitute the mind, and, along with their behavioral consequences, are studied in the field of psychology.
Generally regarded as more capable of these higher order activities, the human brain is believed to be more "intelligent" in general than that of any other species. While many animals are capable of creating structures and using simple tools — mostly through instinct and mimicry — human technology is vastly more complex, and is constantly evolving and improving through time. Even the most ancient human tools and structures are far more advanced than any structure or tool created by any other animal.[Sagan, Carl (1978). The Dragons of Eden. A Ballantine Book. ISBN 0-345-34629-7] Modern anthropology has tended to bear out Darwin\'s proposition that "the difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind".[Jonathan Benthall Animal liberation and rights Anthropology Today Volume 23 Issue 2 Page 1 - April 2007]
Consciousness and thought
The human ability to think abstractly may be unparalleled in the animal kingdom. Humans are one of only six species to pass the mirror test — which tests whether an animal recognizes its reflection as an image of itself — along with chimpanzees, orangutans, dolphins, and pigeons.[Robert W. Allan explores a few of these experiments on his webpage:
http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~allanr/mirror.html] In October 2006, three elephants at the Bronx Zoo also passed this test.["Self-recognition in an Asian elephant.". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. PMID 17075063. ] Most human children will pass the mirror test at 18 months old.[Consciousness and the Symbolic Universe, by Dr. Jack Palmer, retrieved March 17, 2006.] However, the usefulness of this test as a true test of consciousness has been disputed (see mirror test), and this may be a matter of degree rather than a sharp divide. Monkeys have been trained to apply abstract rules in tasks.[Researchers home in on how brain handles abstract thought - retrieved July 29, 2006] The human brain perceives the external world through the senses, and each individual human is influenced greatly by his or her experiences, leading to subjective views of existence and the passage of time. Humans are variously said to possess consciousness, self-awareness, and a mind, which correspond roughly to the mental processes of thought. These are said to possess qualities such as self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one\'s environment. The extent to which the mind constructs or experiences the outer world is a matter of debate, as are the definitions and validity of many of the terms used above. The philosopher of cognitive science Daniel Dennett, for example, argues that there is no such thing as a narrative centre called the "mind", but that instead there is simply a collection of sensory inputs and outputs: different kinds of "software" running in parallel.[Dennett, Daniel (1991). Consciousness Explained. Little Brown & Co, 1991, ISBN 0-316-18065-3.] Psychologist B.F. Skinner has argued that the mind is an explanatory fiction that diverts attention from environmental causes of behavior,[Skinner, B.F. About Behaviorism 1974, page 74-75] and that what are commonly seen as mental processes may be better conceived of as forms of covert verbal behavior.[Skinner, B.F. About Behaviorism, Chapter 7: Thinking]
Humans study the more physical aspects of the mind and brain, and by extension of the nervous system, in the field of neurology, the more behavioral in the field of psychology, and a sometimes loosely-defined area between in the field of psychiatry, which treats mental illness and behavioral disorders. Psychology does not necessarily refer to the brain or nervous system, and can be framed purely in terms of phenomenological or information processing theories of the mind. Increasingly, however, an understanding of brain functions is being included in psychological theory and practice, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience.
The nature of thought is central to psychology and related fields. Cognitive psychology studies cognition, the mental processes underlying behavior. It uses information processing as a framework for understanding the mind. Perception, learning, problem solving, memory, attention, languageand emotion are all well-researched areas as well. Cognitive psychology is associated with a school of thought known as cognitivism, whose adherents argue for an information processing model of mental function, informed by positivism and experimental psychology. Techniques and models from cognitive psychology are widely applied and form the mainstay of psychological theories in many areas of both research and applied psychology. Largely focusing on the development of the human mind through the life span, developmental psychology seeks to understand how people come to perceive, understand, and act within the world and how these processes change as they age. This may focus on intellectual, cognitive, neural, social, or moral development.
Some philosophers divide consciousness into phenomenal consciousness, which is experience itself, and access consciousness, which is the processing of the things in experience.[ Ned Block: On a Confusion about a Function of Consciousness" in: The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1995. ] Phenomenal consciousness is the state of being conscious, such as when they say "I am conscious." Access consciousness is being conscious of something in relation to abstract concepts, such as when one says "I am conscious of these words." Various forms of access consciousness include awareness, self-awareness, conscience, stream of consciousness, Husserl\'s phenomenology, and intentionality. The concept of phenomenal consciousness, in modern history, according to some, is closely related to the concept of qualia. Social psychology links sociology with psychology in their shared study of the nature and causes of human social interaction, with an emphasis on how people think towards each other and how they relate to each other. The behavior and mental processes, both human and non-human, can be described through animal cognition, ethology, evolutionary psychology, and comparative psychology as well. Human ecology is an academic discipline that investigates how humans and human societies interact with both their natural environment and the human social environment.
Motivation and emotion
Goya\'s
Tío Paquete (1820) displays an adult male smiling.
Motivation is the driving force of desire behind all deliberate actions of human beings. Motivation is based on emotion — specifically, on the search for satisfaction (positive emotional experiences), and the avoidance of conflict. Positive and negative is defined by the individual brain state, which may be influenced by social norms: a person may be driven to self-injury or violence because their brain is conditioned to create a positive response to these actions. Motivation is important because it is involved in the performance of all learned responses. Within psychology, conflict avoidance and the libido are seen to be primary motivators. Within economics motivation is often seen to be based on financial incentives, moral incentives, or coercive incentives. Religions generally positdivine or demonic influences.
Happiness, or the state of being happy, is a human emotional condition. The definition of happiness is a common philosophical topic. Some people might define it as the best condition which a human can have — a condition of mental and physical health. Others define it as freedom from want and distress; consciousness of the good order of things; assurance of one\'s place in the universe or society.
Emotion has a significant influence on, or can even be said to control, human behavior, though historically many cultures and philosophers have for various reasons discouraged allowing this influence to go unchecked. Emotional experiences perceived as pleasant, such as love, admiration, or joy, contrast with those perceived as unpleasant, like hate, envy, or sorrow. There is often a distinction made between refined emotions which are socially learned and survival oriented emotions, which are thought to be innate. Human exploration of emotions as separate from other neurological phenomena is worthy of note, particularly in cultures where emotion is considered separate from physiological state. In some cultural medical theories emotion is considered so synonymous with certain forms of physical health that no difference is thought to exist. The Stoics believed excessive emotion was harmful, while some Suf
