Creationism and evolutionary theory. Creationism, creationist science

CREATIONISM

(from lat. creatio - creation), re-league. the doctrine of the creation of the world by God out of nothing. Characteristic of the theistic. religions - Judaism, Christianity, Islam.

Philosophical encyclopedic dictionary. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ch. editors: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov. 1983 .

CREATIONISM

(from lat. creare to create)

religious doctrine of the creation of the world by God from nothing; in patristics and scholasticism - according to which only arises as a result of conception, while the soul is created by God from nothing and unites with the body (see. Traditionalism).

Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2010 .

CREATIONISM

(in biology) (from lat. Creatio - creation) - biological. , interpreting the variety of forms organic. the world as gods. creations. K. denies evolution and species. In biology, the creationist church dogma continues from the Middle Ages until the 19th century, embodied in the anti-evolutionist idea of the immutability of species, shared by most natural scientists of that time.

K. received a scientific form from. anatomist and paleontologist J. Cuvier. The consistently creationist concept of the multiplicity of acts of creating catastrophes was brought up by his students and followers A. D "Orbigny and J. Agassiz. the immutability of species), especially Lamarck, but only Darwin's theory of the origin of species undermined his influence. In the course of the 19th century, he fought to oust K. from biology. It was carried out especially fiercely in England (A. Sedgwick, Wollaston, etc.), France (M. Flourance, A. Milne-Edwards, J. Catrfages, etc.) and the USA (the Swiss biologist Agassiz, who lived in America) 20th century - the end and complete triumph of evolutionary doctrine, as a result of which creationist views become an anachronism. However, right up to the present time, K. has been used as a banner in the unceasing efforts of the church to subordinate science to its influence, attempts continue to put evolutionary theories under the evidence. origin of species (B. Troll), about the "invalidity" of natures. selection in creation means. evolutionary transformations, progress in evolution (J. Dewar), etc. The "shameful" form of K. is that Darwinism is only one of the possible hypotheses (F. Fothergill). This t. sp. merges with other direction of modern. K. - attempts to "assimilate" the evolutionary. doctrine, subordinating it to the idea of deities. creations. Such are the various vitalistic concepts: the theory of emergent evolution, "telefinalism" by Lecomte de Nuits, the theory of "primary activity" by R. Ruyet, and many others. Dr. K. enjoys recognition in neo-Thomism. Being devoid of any scientific content, K. in present. time has only negatives. ideological weapons of struggle of religion against scientific biology.

Lit.: Cuvier J., Discourse on upheavals on the surface of the globe, trans. from French, Moscow–Leningrad, 1937; Davitashvili L. Sh., History of evolution. paleontology from Darwin to the present day, M.–L., 1948; Platonov G.V., Darwin, Darwinism i, M., 1959; Frolov I. T., About causality and expediency in living nature, M., 1961; Zimmerman, W. Evolution. Die Geschichte ihrer Probleme und Erkenntnisse, Münch., 1953.

M. Levit. Moscow.

Philosophical Encyclopedia. In 5 volumes - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia. Edited by F. V. Konstantinov. 1960-1970 .

Synonyms:

See what "CREATIONISM" is in other dictionaries:

Novolatinsk., from lat. creare, to create, from Greek, ending. Ancient Greek belief that God creates human souls in time and combines them with bodies at birth or 40 days after conception. Explanation of 25,000 foreign words that have come into use ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (from the Latin creatio creation), the religious doctrine of the creation of the world by God from nothing. Characteristic of the theistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam... Modern Encyclopedia

- (from lat. creatio creation) the religious doctrine of the creation of the world by God from nothing. Characteristic of the theistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (from Latin creatio creation), the concept of the constancy of species, considering the diversity of the organic world as a result of its creation by God. The formation of K in biology is associated with the transition to con. 18 early 19th centuries to the systematic the study of morphology, ... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

Exist., number of synonyms: 2 pseudoscience (34) teaching (42) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

An idealistic view of the creation of organisms by a higher creative force. Geological dictionary: in 2 volumes. M.: Nedra. Edited by K. N. Paffengolts et al. 1978 ... Geological Encyclopedia

- (lat. creatio - creation) the religious doctrine of the creation of the world by God from nothing; ideas about the creation of the world. Big explanatory dictionary of cultural studies .. Kononenko B.I .. 2003 ... Encyclopedia of cultural studies

creationism- CREATIONISM (from the Latin creatio creation, creation) is a religious doctrine about the creation of the world by a supernatural being. The basis of K. Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) is based on the story of a six-day creative act ... ... Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science

creationism- (lat.creatio zhasau) adam men bukіl dunienі zharatushy Құdai dep moyyndaytyn kozқaras. Ol barlyk dүniezhүzіlіk dіnderge tәn. K. Linney, A. Cuvier, J. Agassisterdin zhanuarlar men өsіmdіkterdің barlyk turlerinіn tabiғattan tys payda boluy turaly… … Philosophical terminderdin sozdigі

creationism- The concept of the constancy of species, considering the diversity of the organic world as a result of its creation by God ... Geography Dictionary

Books

The case of Galileo. Are there points of contact between science and theology? Origin of the Universe. Miracles and laws of science. Creationism and the Theory of Evolution, Charles Hummel. `The Case of Galileo` - a unique study of the historian Charles Hummel about the complex fate of the relationship between science and religion. Using examples from the life of famous scientists, the author debunks the myth about ...

The question of the origin of life on Earth is one of the most difficult questions of modern natural science, to which there is no unambiguous answer so far.

There are several theories about the origin of life on Earth, the most famous of which are:

theory of spontaneous (spontaneous) generation;
the theory of creationism (or creation);
steady state theory;
theory of panspermia;
theory of biochemical evolution (the theory of A.I. Oparin).

Consider the main provisions of these theories.

Theory of spontaneous (spontaneous) generation

The theory of spontaneous generation of life was widespread in the ancient world - Babylon, China, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece (Aristotle, in particular, adhered to this theory).

Scientists of the ancient world and medieval Europe believed that living beings constantly arise from inanimate matter: worms from mud, frogs from mud, fireflies from morning dew, etc. So, the famous Dutch scientist of the 17th century. Van Helmont quite seriously described in his scientific treatise an experience in which he got mice in a locked dark closet directly from a dirty shirt and a handful of wheat in 3 weeks. For the first time, the Italian scientist Francesco Redi (1688) decided to subject a widely accepted theory to experimental verification. He placed several pieces of meat in vessels and covered some of them with muslin. In open vessels, white worms appeared on the surface of rotting meat - fly larvae. There were no fly larvae in the vessels covered with muslin. Thus, F. Redi managed to prove that fly larvae do not appear from rotting meat, but from eggs laid by flies on its surface.

In 1765, the famous Italian scientist and physician Lazzaro Spalanzani boiled meat and vegetable broths in sealed glass flasks. Broths in sealed flasks did not deteriorate. He concluded that under the influence of high temperature all living creatures capable of causing spoilage of the broth died. However, the experiments of F. Redi and L. Spalanzani did not convince everyone. Vitalist scientists (from lat. vita- life) believed that spontaneous generation of living beings does not occur in a boiled broth, since a special “life force” is destroyed in it, which cannot penetrate into a sealed vessel, since it is transported through the air.

Disputes about the possibility of spontaneous generation of life intensified in connection with the discovery of microorganisms. If complex living beings can't reproduce spontaneously, perhaps microorganisms can?

In this regard, in 1859, the French Academy announced the award of a prize to the one who finally decides the question of the possibility or impossibility of spontaneous generation of life. This award was received in 1862 by the famous French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur. Just like Spalanzani, he boiled nutrient broth in a glass flask, but the flask was not ordinary, but with a neck in the form of a 5-shaped tube. Air, and hence the "life force", could penetrate into the flask, but the dust, and with it the microorganisms present in the air, settled in the lower elbow of the 5-shaped tube, and the broth in the flask remained sterile (Fig. 1). However, it was worth breaking the neck of the flask or rinsing the lower knee of the 5-shaped tube with sterile broth, as the broth began to quickly become cloudy - microorganisms appeared in it.

Thus, thanks to the work of Louis Pasteur, the theory of spontaneous generation was recognized as untenable and the theory of biogenesis was established in the scientific world, a brief formulation of which is - "everything living is from living things."

Rice. 1. Pasteur flask

However, if all living organisms in the historically foreseeable period of human development originate only from other living organisms, the question naturally arises: when and how did the first living organisms appear on Earth?

Creation theory

Creation theory assumes that all living organisms (or only their simplest forms) were created (“designed”) in a certain period of time by some supernatural being (deity, absolute idea, supermind, supercivilization, etc.). It is obvious that the followers of most of the leading religions of the world, in particular the Christian religion, adhered to this point of view from ancient times.

The theory of creationism is still quite widespread, not only in religious, but also in scientific circles. It is usually used to explain the most complex, unresolved issues of biochemical and biological evolution associated with the emergence of proteins and nucleic acids, the formation of the mechanism of interaction between them, the emergence and formation of individual complex organelles or organs (such as the ribosome, eye or brain). Acts of periodic "creation" also explain the absence of clear transitional links from one type of animal
to another, for example, from worms to arthropods, from monkeys to humans, etc. It must be emphasized that the philosophical dispute about the primacy of consciousness (supermind, absolute idea, deity) or matter is fundamentally unsolvable, however, since an attempt to explain any difficulties of modern biochemistry and evolutionary theory by fundamentally incomprehensible supernatural acts of creation takes these issues beyond the scope of scientific research, the theory of creationism can not be attributed to the category of scientific theories of the origin of life on Earth.

Steady state and panspermia theories

Both of these theories are complementary elements of a single picture of the world, the essence of which is as follows: the universe exists forever and life exists in it forever (stationary state). Life is carried from planet to planet by "seeds of life" traveling in outer space, which can be part of comets and meteorites (panspermia). Similar views on the origin of life were held, in particular, by Academician V.I. Vernadsky.

However, the theory of the stationary state, which assumes an infinitely long existence of the universe, is not consistent with the data of modern astrophysics, according to which the universe arose relatively recently (about 16 billion years ago) by means of a primary explosion.

It is obvious that both theories (panspermia and stationary state) do not offer an explanation of the mechanism of the primary origin of life at all, transferring it to other planets (panspermia) or moving it to infinity in time (the theory of a stationary state).

Theory of biochemical evolution (theory of A.I. Oparin)

Of all theories of the origin of life, the most common and recognized in the scientific world is the theory of biochemical evolution, proposed in 1924 by the Soviet biochemist Academician A.I. Oparin (in 1936 he described it in detail in his book The Emergence of Life).

The essence of this theory is that biological evolution - i.e. the emergence, development and complication of various forms of living organisms, was preceded by chemical evolution - a long period in the history of the Earth, associated with the emergence, complication and improvement of the interaction between elementary units, "bricks" that make up all living things - organic molecules.

Prebiological (chemical) evolution

According to most scientists (primarily astronomers and geologists), the Earth was formed as a celestial body about 5 billion years ago. by condensation of particles of a gas and dust cloud rotating around the Sun.

Under the influence of compressive forces, the particles from which the Earth is formed release a huge amount of heat. Thermonuclear reactions begin in the bowels of the Earth. As a result, the Earth gets very hot. Thus, 5 billion years ago The earth was a hot ball rushing through outer space, the surface temperature of which reached 4000-8000°C (laugh. 2).

Gradually, due to the radiation of thermal energy into outer space, the Earth begins to cool. About 4 billion years ago The earth cools so much that a hard crust forms on its surface; at the same time, light, gaseous substances escape from its bowels, rising up and forming the primary atmosphere. The composition of the primary atmosphere was significantly different from the modern one. Apparently, there was no free oxygen in the atmosphere of the ancient Earth, and its composition included substances in a reduced state, such as hydrogen (H 2), methane (CH 4), ammonia (NH 3), water vapor (H 2 O ), and possibly also nitrogen (N 2), carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide (CO and CO 2).

The reducing nature of the Earth's primary atmosphere is extremely important for the origin of life, since substances in a reduced state are highly reactive and, under certain conditions, are able to interact with each other, forming organic molecules. The absence of free oxygen in the atmosphere of the primary Earth (practically all of the Earth's oxygen was bound in the form of oxides) is also an important prerequisite for the emergence of life, since oxygen easily oxidizes and thereby destroys organic compounds. Therefore, in the presence of free oxygen in the atmosphere, the accumulation of a significant amount of organic matter on the ancient Earth would have been impossible.

About 5 billion years ago- the emergence of the Earth as a celestial body; surface temperature — 4000-8000°С

About 4 billion years ago - formation of the earth's crust and primary atmosphere

At 1000°C- in the primary atmosphere, the synthesis of simple organic molecules begins

The energy for synthesis is given by:

The temperature of the primary atmosphere is below 100 ° C - the formation of the primary ocean -

Synthesis of complex organic molecules - biopolymers from simple organic molecules:

simple organic molecules - monomers
complex organic molecules - biopolymers

Scheme. 2. Main stages of chemical evolution

When the temperature of the primary atmosphere reaches 1000°C, the synthesis of simple organic molecules begins in it, such as amino acids, nucleotides, fatty acids, simple sugars, polyhydric alcohols, organic acids, etc. The energy for synthesis is supplied by lightning discharges, volcanic activity, hard space radiation and, finally, the ultraviolet radiation of the Sun, from which the Earth is not yet protected by the ozone screen, and it is ultraviolet radiation that scientists consider the main source of energy for abiogenic (that is, passing without the participation of living organisms) synthesis of organic substances.

The recognition and wide dissemination of the theory of A.I. Oparin was greatly facilitated by the fact that the processes of abiogenic synthesis of organic molecules are easily reproduced in model experiments.

The possibility of synthesizing organic substances from inorganic substances has been known since the beginning of the 19th century. Already in 1828, the outstanding German chemist F. Wöhler synthesized an organic substance - urea from inorganic - ammonium cyanate. However, the possibility of abiogenic synthesis of organic substances under conditions close to those of the ancient Earth was first shown in the experiment of S. Miller.

In 1953, a young American researcher, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Stanley Miller, reproduced in a glass flask with electrodes soldered into it the primary atmosphere of the Earth, which, according to scientists of that time, consisted of hydrogen, methane CH 4, ammonia NH, and water vapor H 2 0 (Fig. 3). Through this gas mixture, S. Miller passed electric discharges simulating thunderstorms for a week. At the end of the experiment, α-amino acids (glycine, alanine, asparagine, glutamine), organic acids (succinic, lactic, acetic, glycocolic), γ-hydroxybutyric acid and urea were found in the flask. When repeating the experiment, S. Miller managed to obtain individual nucleotides and short polynucleotide chains of five to six links.

Rice. 3. Installation by S. Miller

In further experiments on abiogenic synthesis conducted by various researchers, not only electrical discharges were used, but also other types of energy characteristic of the ancient Earth, such as cosmic, ultraviolet and radioactive radiation, high temperatures inherent in volcanic activity, as well as various options for gas mixtures, imitating the original atmosphere. As a result, almost the entire spectrum of organic molecules characteristic of living things was obtained: amino acids, nucleotides, fat-like substances, simple sugars, organic acids.

Moreover, abiogenic synthesis of organic molecules can also occur on Earth at the present time (for example, in the course of volcanic activity). At the same time, not only hydrocyanic acid HCN, which is a precursor of amino acids and nucleotides, but also individual amino acids, nucleotides, and even such complex organic substances as porphyrins can be found in volcanic emissions. Abiogenic synthesis of organic substances is possible not only on Earth, but also in outer space. The simplest amino acids are found in meteorites and comets.

When the temperature of the primary atmosphere dropped below 100 ° C, hot rains fell on the Earth and the primary ocean appeared. With streams of rain, abiogenically synthesized organic substances entered the primary ocean, which turned it, but in the figurative expression of the English biochemist John Haldane, into a dilute "primary soup". Apparently, it is in the primordial ocean that the processes of formation of simple organic molecules—monomers of complex organic molecules—biopolymers begin (see Fig. 2).

However, the processes of polymerization of individual nucleoside, amino acids and sugars are condensation reactions, they proceed with the elimination of water, therefore, the aqueous medium does not contribute to polymerization, but, on the contrary, to the hydrolysis of biopolymers (i.e., their destruction with the addition of water).

The formation of biopolymers (in particular, proteins from amino acids) could take place in the atmosphere at a temperature of about 180°C, from where they were washed into the primary ocean with atmospheric precipitation. In addition, it is possible that on the ancient Earth, amino acids were concentrated in drying up reservoirs and polymerized in a dry form under the influence of ultraviolet light and the heat of lava flows.

Despite the fact that water promotes the hydrolysis of biopolymers, the synthesis of biopolymers in a living cell occurs precisely in an aqueous medium. This process is catalyzed by special catalytic proteins - enzymes, and the energy necessary for synthesis is released during the breakdown of adenosine triphosphate - ATP. It is possible that the synthesis of biopolymers in the aquatic environment of the primary ocean was catalyzed by the surface of certain minerals. It has been experimentally shown that a solution of the amino acid alanine can polymerize in an aqueous medium in the presence of a special type of alumina. In this case, the peptide polyalanine is formed. The polymerization reaction of alanine is accompanied by the breakdown of ATP.

The polymerization of nucleotides is easier than the polymerization of amino acids. It has been shown that in solutions with a high salt concentration, individual nucleotides spontaneously polymerize, turning into nucleic acids.

The life of all modern living beings is a process of continuous interaction between the most important biopolymers of a living cell - proteins and nucleic acids.

Proteins are the "working molecules", "engineer molecules" of a living cell. Describing their role in metabolism, biochemists often use such figurative expressions as "the protein works", "the enzyme leads the reaction." The most important function of proteins is catalytic. As you know, catalysts are substances that speed up chemical reactions, but they themselves are not included in the final products of the reaction. Tanks-catalysts are called enzymes. Enzymes in bend and thousands of times accelerate metabolic reactions. Metabolism, and hence life without them, is impossible.

Nucleic acids- these are "molecules-computers", molecules are the keepers of hereditary information. Nucleic acids do not store information about all the substances of a living cell, but only about proteins. It is enough to reproduce in the daughter cell the proteins characteristic of the mother cell so that they accurately recreate all the chemical and structural features of the mother cell, as well as the nature and rate of metabolism inherent in it. Nucleic acids themselves are also reproduced due to the catalytic activity of proteins.

Thus, the mystery of the origin of life is the mystery of the emergence of the mechanism of interaction between proteins and nucleic acids. What information does modern science have about this process? What molecules were the primary basis of life - proteins or nucleic acids?

Scientists believe that despite the key role of proteins in the metabolism of modern living organisms, the first "living" molecules were not proteins, but nucleic acids, namely ribonucleic acids (RNA).

In 1982, American biochemist Thomas Check discovered the autocatalytic properties of RNA. He experimentally showed that in a medium containing a high concentration of mineral salts, ribonucleotides spontaneously (spontaneously) polymerize, forming polynucleotides - RNA molecules. On the original polynucleotide chains of RNA, as on a matrix, RNA copies are formed by pairing of complementary nitrogenous bases. The RNA template copying reaction is catalyzed by the original RNA molecule and does not require the participation of enzymes or other proteins.

What happened next is fairly well explained by what might be called "natural selection" at the molecular level. During self-copying (self-assembly) of RNA molecules, inaccuracies and errors inevitably arise. The erroneous RNA copies are copied again. When copying again, errors may occur again. As a result, the population of RNA molecules in a certain part of the primary ocean will be heterogeneous.

Since RNA decay processes are also taking place in parallel with the synthesis processes, molecules with either greater stability or better autocatalytic properties will accumulate in the reaction medium (i.e., molecules that copy themselves faster, “multiply” faster).

On some RNA molecules, as on a matrix, self-assembly of small protein fragments - peptides can occur. A protein "sheath" is formed around the RNA molecule.

Along with autocatalytic functions, Thomas Check discovered the phenomenon of self-splicing in RNA molecules. As a result of self-splicing, RNA regions that are not protected by peptides are spontaneously removed from RNA (they are, as it were, “cut out” and “ejected”), and the remaining RNA regions encoding protein fragments “grow together”, i.e. spontaneously combine into a single molecule. This new RNA molecule will already code for a large complex protein (Figure 4).

Apparently, initially protein sheaths performed primarily a protective function, protecting RNA from destruction and thereby increasing its stability in solution (this is the function of protein sheaths in the simplest modern viruses).

Obviously, at a certain stage of biochemical evolution, RNA molecules, which encode not only protective proteins, but also catalytic proteins (enzymes) that sharply accelerate the rate of RNA copying, gained an advantage. Apparently, this is how the process of interaction between proteins and nucleic acids, which we now call life, arose.

In the process of further development, due to the appearance of a protein with the functions of an enzyme, reverse transcriptase, on single-stranded RNA molecules, molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) consisting of two strands began to be synthesized. The absence of an OH group in the 2" position of deoxyribose makes DNA molecules more stable with respect to hydrolytic cleavage in slightly alkaline solutions, namely, the reaction of the medium in primary reservoirs was slightly alkaline (this reaction of the medium was also preserved in the cytoplasm of modern cells).

Where did the development of a complex process of interaction between proteins and nucleic acids take place? According to the theory of A.I. Oparin, the so-called coacervate drops became the birthplace of life.

Rice. 4. Hypothesis of the interaction of proteins and nucleic acids: a) in the process of self-copying of RNA, errors accumulate (1 - nucleotides corresponding to the original RNA; 2 - nucleotides that do not correspond to the original RNA - errors in copying); b) due to its physicochemical properties, amino acids “stick” to a part of the RNA molecule (3 - RNA molecule; 4 - amino acids), which, interacting with each other, turn into short protein molecules - peptides. As a result of self-splicing inherent in RNA molecules, the parts of the RNA molecule that are not protected by peptides are destroyed, and the remaining ones "grow" into a single molecule encoding a large protein. The result is an RNA molecule covered with a protein sheath (the most primitive modern viruses, for example, the tobacco mosaic virus, have a similar structure)

The phenomenon of coacervation consists in the fact that under certain conditions (for example, in the presence of electrolytes) macromolecular substances are separated from the solution, but not in the form of a precipitate, but in the form of a more concentrated solution - coacervate. When shaken, the coacervate breaks up into separate small droplets. In water, such drops are covered with a hydration shell (a shell of water molecules) that stabilizes them - fig. five.

Coacervate drops have some semblance of metabolism: under the influence of purely physical and chemical forces, they can selectively absorb certain substances from the solution and release their decay products into the environment. Due to the selective concentration of substances from the environment, they can grow, but when they reach a certain size, they begin to "multiply", budding small droplets, which, in turn, can grow and "bud".

The coacervate droplets resulting from the concentration of protein solutions in the process of mixing under the action of waves and wind can be covered with a lipid shell: a single membrane resembling soap micelles (with a single detachment of a drop from the surface of water covered with a lipid layer), or a double one resembling a cell membrane ( when a drop covered with a single-layer lipid membrane falls again onto the lipid film covering the surface of the reservoir - Fig. 5).

The processes of the emergence of coacervate droplets, their growth and "budding", as well as "clothing" them with a membrane from a double lipid layer are easily modeled in the laboratory.

For coacervate droplets, there is also a process of "natural selection" in which the most stable droplets remain in solution.

Despite the outward resemblance of coacervate drops to living cells, coacervate drops lack the main sign of a living thing - the ability to accurately reproduce, self-copy. Obviously, the precursors of living cells were such coacervate drops, which included complexes of replicator molecules (RNA or DNA) and the proteins they encode. It is possible that RNA-protein complexes existed for a long time outside coacervate droplets in the form of the so-called “free-living gene”, or it is possible that their formation took place directly inside some coacervate droplets.

Possible path of transition from coacervate drops to primitive flares:

a) the formation of a coacervate; 6) stabilization of coacervate drops in an aqueous solution; c) - formation of a double lipid layer around the drop, similar to a cell membrane: 1 - coacervate drop; 2 - monomolecular layer of lipid on the surface of the reservoir; 3 — formation of a single lipid layer around the drop; 4 — formation of a double lipid layer around the drop, similar to a cell membrane; d) - a coacervate drop surrounded by a double lipid layer, with a protein-nucleotide complex included in its composition - a prototype of the first living cell

From a historical point of view, the extremely complex process of the origin of life on Earth, which is not fully understood by modern science, passed extremely quickly. For 3.5 billion years, the so-called. chemical evolution ended with the appearance of the first living cells and biological evolution began.

Introduction

Theories concerning the origin of the Earth and life on it, and indeed the entire Universe, are diverse and far from reliable. According to the steady state theory, the universe has existed forever. According to other hypotheses, the Universe could have arisen from a bunch of neutrons as a result of the Big Bang, was born in one of the black holes, or was created by the Creator. Contrary to popular belief, science cannot refute the thesis of the divine creation of the universe, just as theological views do not necessarily reject the possibility that life in the process of its development acquired features that can be explained on the basis of the laws of nature.

Among the many theories of the origin of life on Earth, consider the main ones: life was created by a supernatural being at a certain time (creationism); life arose repeatedly from inanimate matter (spontaneous generation); sudden emergence of life (panspermia theory); life arose as a result of processes that obey chemical and physical laws (biochemical evolution).

Let's take a closer look at these theories.

creationism

According to this theory, the Universe arose as a result of a purposeful intelligent act of creation, the emergence as a result of such an act of basic highly organized life forms, changes in life forms within a species as a result of interaction with the environment; it is followed by followers of almost all the most common religious teachings. In 1650, Archbishop Asher of Armagh, Ireland, calculated that God created the world in October 4004 BC. e. And he finished his work on October 23 at 9 am, creating a man. Asher got this date by adding up the ages of all the people mentioned in the biblical genealogy - from Adam to Christ. From the point of view of arithmetic, this makes sense, but it turns out that Adam lived at a time when, as archaeological finds show, there was a well-developed urban civilization in the Middle East.

Creation theory, relegated to the background as a result of the wide spread of evolutionism, has received a "second birth" in our days, thanks to the development of science and the new facts obtained by it.

The creation model was the main one in science for the entire period of its existence, almost until the beginning of this century. Creation scientists included Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Pascal, Linnaeus, Pasteur, Maxwell, and many others.

But towards the end of the last century, when the development of the social sciences began to have a strong influence on natural science, there began a rapid growth of various theories, often of a pseudoscientific nature. The most revolutionary of them was Darwin's theory, which, moreover, was in good agreement with the social doctrine of Marxism, which was very popular in Europe at that time. Quite quickly, Darwinism also developed in the countries of the East - this was favored by its consistency with the main tenets of Eastern religions. It was on the basis of the work of Darwin and his followers that the theory of evolutionary development arose and quickly became the most widespread. For more than half a century, it almost completely dominated science.

And only a few decades ago, new scientific discoveries made many scientists doubt the possibility of the evolutionary mechanism. In addition, if the evolutionary theory has at least some explanation for the process of the emergence of living matter, then the mechanisms for the emergence of the Universe simply remain outside the scope of this theory.

There is another, no less common misconception that creationism is a purely biblical theory, based in its development solely on faith. Indeed, the Bible gives a fairly clear scheme for the emergence of the world around us, which coincides with the creation doctrine. Nevertheless, creationism is precisely a science based on scientific methodology and the results of scientific experiments. This misconception stems primarily from a very superficial acquaintance with the theory of creation, as well as from a well-established prejudiced attitude towards this scientific movement. As a result, many people are much more sympathetic towards completely unscientific theories, not confirmed by practical observations and experiments, such as, for example, the fantastic "contact theory", which admits the possibility of artificial creation of the Universe known to us by "external civilizations".

Creationism does not solve the problem of a narrow, highly specialized field of scientific knowledge. Each individual science that studies its own part of the world around us is organically part of the scientific apparatus of creationism, and the facts obtained by it add up a complete picture of the creational doctrine.

The main goal of creationism is to promote human knowledge of the world around us by scientific methods and use this knowledge to solve the practical needs of mankind.

Creationism, like any other science, has its own philosophy. The philosophy of creationism is the philosophy of the Bible. And this greatly increases the value of creationism for mankind, which has already managed to convince itself by its own example how important the philosophy of science is to prevent the rash consequences of its development.

Creationism is by far the most consistent and consistent theory of the origin of the world around us. And it is precisely its consistency with the numerous scientific facts of a wide variety of scientific disciplines that make it the most promising platform for the further development of human knowledge.

1. Introduction ……………………………………………………. 3

2. Theories of anthropogenesis:

2.1. Theory of evolution …………………………………….. 3

2.2. Theory of creation (creationism) …………………….. 5

2.3. Theory of paleovisit …………………………………….. 7

2.4. Theory of spatial anomalies ……………….. 9

3. Conclusion ………………………………………………… 11

4. Bibliography ……………………………………………… 12

Introduction.

Every person, as soon as he began to realize himself as a person, was visited by the question “where did we come from?”. Despite the fact that the question sounds very simple, there is no single answer to it. Nevertheless, a number of sciences deal with this problem - the problem of the emergence and development of man. In particular, in the science of anthropology, even such a concept as anthropogenesis, that is, the historical and evolutionary formation of the physical type of a person, has been singled out. Other aspects of the origin of man are studied by philosophy, theology, history, paleontology. Theories regarding the origin of life on Earth are varied and far from reliable. The most common theories for the origin of life on Earth are as follows:

Ø Evolutionary theory;

Ø Theory of creation (creationism);

Ø Theory of external interference;

Ø Theory of spatial anomalies.

Evolution theory.

evolutionary theory n assumes that man descended from higher primates - great apes by gradual modification under the influence of external factors and natural selection.

The evolutionary theory of anthropogenesis has an extensive set of diverse evidence - paleontological, archaeological, biological, genetic, cultural, psychological, and others. However, much of this evidence can be interpreted ambiguously, which allows opponents of evolutionary theory to challenge it.

According to this theory, the following main stages of human evolution take place:

§ time of successive existence of human anthropoid ancestors (Australopithecines);

§ the existence of the most ancient people: Pithecanthropus;

§ the stage of the Neanderthal, that is, the ancient man;

§ development of modern people (neoanthropes).

In 1739, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in his "Systema Naturae" classified man - Homo sapiens - as one of the primates. Since then, there has been no doubt among scientists that this is precisely the place of man in the zoological system, which covers all living forms with single classification relationships based mainly on the features of the anatomical structure. In this system, primates form one of the orders within the class of mammals and are divided into two suborders: semi-monkeys and higher primates. The latter include apes, great apes and humans. Primates share many specific features that distinguish them from other mammals.

However, the theory of evolution gained its distribution thanks to the research of the English scientist - Charles Darwin. His theory of natural selection was a real breakthrough, the arguments given by Darwin and his followers led to the fact that the theory of evolution became widespread in the scientific world and the evolution of man from the animal world became the main theory of anthropogenesis.

Today, there are many ordinary people in the world who consider themselves staunch supporters of evolutionary anthropogenesis, but, despite the large number of his admirers, there is a huge number of scientists and ordinary people who recognize the theory as untenable and bring strong, undeniable arguments against the evolutionary view of anthropogenesis. peace. The authoritative part of scientists perceives the evolutionary theory only as a mythology based more on philosophical fabrications than on scientific data. Thanks to this, in the modern scientific world, ongoing discussions about the causes of the emergence of the world and man continue, which sometimes even result in mutual hostility. However, the theory of evolution still exists and is the most serious and justified.

Theory of creation (creationism).

This theory states that man was created by God, gods or divine power from nothing or from some non-biological material. The most famous biblical version is that God created the world in seven days, and the first people - Adam and Eve - were created from clay. This version has more ancient Egyptian roots and a number of analogues in the myths of other peoples.

Of course, the most ardent followers of this theory are religious communities. Based on the sacred texts of antiquity (Bible, Koran, etc.), followers of all world religions recognize this version as the only possible one. This theory appeared in Islam, but its spread in Christianity. All world religions gravitate towards the version of the Creator God, however, its appearance may change, depending on the religious branch.

Orthodox theology considers the theory of creation to be unprovable. Nevertheless, various proofs of this theory are put forward, the most important of which is the similarity of myths and legends of different peoples that tell about the creation of man.

Modern theology uses the latest scientific data to prove the theory of creation, which, however, for the most part do not contradict evolutionary theory.

Some currents of modern theology bring creationism closer to evolutionary theory, believing that man evolved from apes through gradual modification, but not as a result of natural selection, but by the will of God or in accordance with a divine program.

Creationism is thought of as God's Creation. However, at present, some consider it as the result of the activities of a highly developed civilization that creates various forms of life and monitors their development.

Since the end of the last century, the theory of evolution has dominated the world, but a few decades ago, new scientific discoveries made many scientists doubt the possibility of the evolutionary mechanism. In addition, if the evolutionary theory has at least some explanation for the process of the emergence of living matter, then the mechanisms for the emergence of the Universe simply remain outside the scope of this theory, while religion provides exhaustive answers to many controversial questions. For the most part, creationism is based on the Bible, which gives a fairly clear scheme for the emergence of the world around us. Many people believe that creationism is a theory based solely on faith in its development. Nevertheless, creationism is precisely a science based on scientific methodology and the results of scientific experiments. This misconception stems primarily from a very superficial acquaintance with the theory of creation, as well as from a well-established prejudiced attitude towards this scientific movement. As a result of this, many people are much more sympathetic towards completely unscientific theories, not confirmed by practical observations and experiments, such as, for example, the fantastic "paleovisit theory", which admits the possibility of artificial creation of the Universe known to us by "external civilizations".

Often, creationists themselves add fuel to the fire by putting faith on a par with scientific facts. This gives many people the impression that they are dealing more with philosophy or religion than with science.

The main goal of creationism is to promote human knowledge of the world around us by scientific methods and use this knowledge to solve the practical needs of mankind.

Creationism, like any other science, has its own philosophy. The philosophy of creationism is the philosophy of the Bible. And this greatly increases the value of creationism for humanity, which has already managed to see by its own example how important the philosophy of science is to prevent the rash consequences of its development.