Communication function. Adaptive function of culture

Instrumental function.

Topic 9

Functional design as a method.

Typification as a functional “portrait” of space. The instrumental function as an image of human action aimed at a closed environment in its material and spatio-temporal characteristics.

Involvement of scenario and compositional modeling methods.

The instrumental image of a person as one of the system-forming factors of formation.

Objects as a connecting functional link in the “person – thing – environment” system. Adaptive function as the quality of the environment from a human point of view. A comfortable environment is adapted, “fitted to the person.”

When designing an interior, the designer models various situations of its functioning in the human environment. These functions are diverse, and in order to draw a functional “portrait” of space, it is extremely important to typify this space. Such typification should be based on a holistic and generalized idea of human activity as a system.

So, when designing an instrumental function, the designer must recreate in it the image of human action aimed at the external environment in its material and spatio-temporal characteristics. Here you can use methods of scenario and compositional modeling. Modeling various situations of instrumental action with space (movement, work, rest, etc.), the designer step by step constructs, sculpts, shapes its shape, capturing the image in it human body(it is no coincidence that the concept of anthropomorphism of the subject environment occupies a very important place in design).

The instrumental image of a person is one of the system-forming factors of formation. Objects in the environment are considered in this case as a connecting functional link in the “person – thing – environment” system. The instrumental function covers all the properties of a thing resulting from the way of human action with it. In the process of designing a subject environment, it is almost always extremely important to highlight this function, abstracting from all others. It must be borne in mind that figurative expression instrumental function is normalized by culture. Our movements, postures, gestures - the entire technique of our bodily actions has a cultural background, in connection with this, when designing an instrumental function, it is necessary to recreate the cultural image of the instrumental function itself.

Instrumental function yes reverse side adaptive function and vice versa, because by influencing external nature and changing it, a person changes his own nature. The objective world is the “inorganic body” of a person, and this means that in it a person has acquired his own adaptive functions. The adaptive function is that it maintains the external environment in a state favorable for the flow of life processes. Our clothing, housing, workplace equipment, built environment spaceships- all this is an adapted objective world that creates normal living conditions where a person cannot exist or where his habitat is uncomfortable.

If the instrumental function indicates direction human impact on the external environment, then the adaptive function is about the quality of this environment from a person’s point of view. One of these qualities is, for example, comfort. A comfortable environment - adapted, “fitted” to a person - ceases to be noticed and experienced as something external, since a person does not have to constantly overcome the distance between himself and the world. We feel the air temperature in the room only when it is very different from the optimal one; an uncomfortable chair makes us unkindly remember the person who designed it; a thing that has not found an exact place in the interior annoys us with its constant presence. The main task in functional design is, on the one hand, to determine the forms and methods of human activity that are consistent with nature, and on the other hand, to create a harmonious subject environment for humans.

When designing an adaptive, as well as an instrumental function of a thing, a cultural image of human action is projected onto the external environment. After all, it is obvious that some things create an adaptive environment for a resident of a rural area, others - for a city dweller; a Japanese feels good on the tatami, and a European feels good in a chair, etc.

The design concept of the adaptive function itself should be built inside artistic image, recreating the holistic objective world of a person and determining the functional place of each thing in it. Adaptation processes are considered within the framework of such ideas, where a person acts as the leading element of the system, introducing into it social, psychological, physiological, anthropometric and other parameters.

Adaptive function of consciousness"

Performed:

3rd year student of group IN-31

Faculty of Philology

Minnullina L.F.

Checked:

candidate of sociology Sc., Associate Professor Antonova O.V.

Sterlitamak 2012

Plan

1. General information about psychological adaptation

2. Consciousness as a system

3. Adaptive function of consciousness

Literature

General information about psychological adaptation

“Culture, including language, is the primary human adaptation. Culture consists of the derivatives of experience, more or less organized, learned and newly created by the individuals composing populations, and the interpretation of meanings transmitted from the past generation, from contemporaries or formed by the individual himself. This primarily concerns the nature of culture. The study of culture or cultures, and their reflection in individuals and populations, is the main task of anthropology,” wrote the modern psychological anthropologist Theodore Schwartz. In this section we will look at a number of adaptation concepts and culture as an adaptation mechanism.

In cultural ecology (some of the problems of which we will touch on in this section), “the process of adaptation is considered at two levels: firstly, the method of adaptation of a cultural system to its integral external environment is studied; secondly, it examines the way in which the institutions of a given culture adapt to each other." Unlike cultural ecologists, we will be interested in psychological aspect adaptation at both levels highlighted here. The first of them makes it possible to understand the time (vertical) dynamics cultural tradition, and the second is its horizontal section, that is, the distribution of culture at the social level.

As for the school of psychological anthropology, it considered the problem of adaptation primarily from the point of view of the individual’s adaptation to society, to his social environment.

The process of psychological adaptation of society to the environment is still poorly studied, and therefore ethnopsychology has independently developed an appropriate theoretical framework.

With all the transformations in the life of an ethnic group, with any change in the invariants of the cultural tradition inherent in a particular ethnic group, the “central zone” of its culture remains unchanged. As long as this “central zone” is not destroyed, the ethnos retains its identity, whatever the external forms of expression of this identity. Therefore, with respect to the vertical (temporal) slice of the adaptation process, we can say that the elements of culture crystallize around its “central zone” in accordance with the conditions set by the cultural and political environment. We can observe this process, for example, when changing ideologies accepted in a particular society. Moreover, the change of ideology has its own laws and is caused by the need to express cultural tradition in a new language - a language that corresponds to the current socio-political state of the ethnic group.

It is more difficult to explain the adaptation process in a horizontal section. Here we must answer two questions: what is the content of the “central zone” and how does it this moment provides the distribution of culture that makes it possible for an ethnic group to live. Thus, we are essentially faced with the problem of the relationship between culture and nature (in in a broad sense words).

Let's start with the relationship of nature to culture. How can we imagine the function of culture as a psychological adaptive mechanism? Culture must give a person the opportunity to define himself in the world and give him an image of the world in which he could act - a certain unconscious set of ideas - an ordered and balanced scheme of the cosmos, providing the possibility of human activity in the world, individual for each ethnic group. In our opinion, the primary elements in this scheme are those related to the method and conditions of human action in the world. Defining such a scheme is one of the tasks of our research.

Now about the relationship of culture to nature. The picture of the world formed on the basis of this scheme, inherent in a particular ethnic group, must be stable, that is, not crumble upon contact with reality, and, therefore, certain protective mechanisms must be embedded in the ethnic unconscious to maintain internal integrity ethnic picture world, just as individual defense mechanisms preserve the integrity of the psyche of an individual person.

Conceptually substantiating the nature of the relationship between culture and nature is not an easy task, since, considering the relationship of nature to culture, we must describe new approach to the problem of the ethnic unconscious, and when considering the relationship of culture to nature, it is correct to transfer the theory of the functioning of the protective mechanisms of the individual’s psyche, already well developed in psychoanalysis, into the sphere of collective psychology.

Consciousness as a system

The very first ideas about consciousness arose in ancient times. Self-observation has led people to the conclusion that there are processes going on in their heads that are different from the processes in surrounding nature(fantasies may arise, ideas about objects that we do not currently observe, in a dream a person can see something that he has never seen at all, etc.). At the same time, the idea of ​​the “soul” appeared and questions were posed: what is the “soul”? how does it relate to objective world? Since then, there have been debates around consciousness about its essence, possibilities and ways of knowledge. Some proceeded from the knowability of consciousness, others argued that understanding consciousness is as futile an attempt as the desire of a drowning person to pull himself out of a swamp by his hair or the desire of a person to see himself from a window walking down the street.

The opinions of philosophers were also divided. Idealists and theologians defended the idea of ​​the primacy of consciousness in relation to matter. Idealism snatches consciousness from the material world and considers it the independent and creative essence of all things.

Dualism in the interpretation of consciousness also stands on false positions. Considering the soul, consciousness and body as principles independent of each other, dualism cannot explain the relationship between mental and physiological processes in the body.

So, a supporter of dualism French philosopher R. Descartes recognized the existence of nature independent of consciousness and had no doubt that knowledge about it could be true. But in his dualistic concept, nature and spirit appear as two completely different principles. Descartes considered extension to be the main property of matter, and the ability to think to be the main property of spirit. From this he concluded that just as an idea has no extension, so a body cannot think.

Unlike idealism and dualism, materialism proceeds from the fact that matter is the opposite of consciousness: it exists outside of consciousness and independently of it, while consciousness cannot exist outside of matter. Matter is primary both historically and epistemologically in relation to consciousness: it is both the carrier and the cause of its emergence. Consciousness is something derived from matter: as a property of the brain and as a reflection of the world.

Matter has properties that consciousness does not and cannot have. Consciousness is not connected with all matter, but only with the human brain, and not with the entire brain, but only with its part - the cortex cerebral hemispheres- and not all the time, but certain periods time - during wakefulness, while it is not the brain that thinks, but the person with the help of the brain.

Consciousness is the highest function of the brain, peculiar only to humans and associated with speech, which consists in a generalized and purposeful reflection of reality.

Considering consciousness to be secondary in relation to matter, dialectical-materialist philosophy resolutely opposes the distortion of the nature of consciousness by the so-called vulgar materialists of the 19th century. (K. Focht, L. Büchner, J. Moleschott), who assumed that thought is secreted by the brain in the same way as bile is secreted by the liver, and that thinking in this sense is material. Their mistake lies in identifying thinking, consciousness, psyche with matter, while thought is not a type of matter.

Is it possible to absolutely contrast consciousness with matter? Within the framework of the main question of philosophy - yes, beyond them - no. In fact, thought and consciousness exist as real natural phenomena, but they are not a body or a substance like the mentioned bile or brain.

Recognition of the materiality of thought leads to the fact that the epistemological opposition between matter and consciousness, materialism and idealism, loses all meaning. To call a thought material, some kind of matter, means to reject the distinction between primary and secondary, reflected and reflected, substance and property, and, consequently, to deny the opposition of materialism and idealism. It is also easy to notice that vulgar materialism allows the existence of thought without a brain after it has been “selected” by it. And this is fundamentally at odds with scientific data.

Criticizing vulgar materialism, Lenin showed extremely clearly that within the framework of the main epistemological question (i.e., the question of what is primary - matter or consciousness), the opposition between matter and consciousness, and, consequently, materialism and idealism, is absolute. But the opposition between matter and consciousness, beyond the resolution of the basic question of philosophy, loses its absolute character. Beyond these limits, the relativity of this opposition becomes undeniable, because consciousness is not an independent substance, but one of the properties of matter and, therefore, is inextricably linked with matter.

The absolute opposition of matter and consciousness leads to dualism and idealism, since then consciousness appears as some independent substance, existing along with matter, with nervous matter, with the brain. Therefore, the unconditional statement that thought is immaterial is also erroneous, because such a statement ignores the dependence of consciousness on matter, the connection of mental phenomena with material processes. Excessive insistence on the immateriality of thought, consciousness, and psyche leads to an idealistic separation of consciousness from matter, its material carrier - the human brain.

The psyche and consciousness cannot exist either in the form of “pure” ideas and thoughts remote from the brain, or in the form of any material “excretion” of the brain. Consciousness is one of the properties of moving matter, it is a special property of highly organized matter. This position means that between consciousness and matter there is a difference, a connection, and unity.

The difference is, firstly, that consciousness is not matter itself, but one of its properties that arises at a certain stage of its development, and secondly, that the images of external objects that make up the content of consciousness are different in form from these objects as perfect copies of the latter.

The unity and connection between consciousness and matter is also revealed in two aspects. On the one hand, mental phenomena and the brain are closely related to each other as a property and a material substance to which this property belongs and without which it does not exist; on the other hand, the mental images that arise in consciousness are similar, identical in content with the material objects that cause them.

The deepest essence of consciousness in epistemological terms is its ideality, which is expressed in the fact that the images that make up consciousness do not possess either the properties of the objects of reality reflected in it, or the properties of the nervous processes on the basis of which they arose.

The ideality of consciousness is nothing more than a reflection of reality in the form of knowledge, emotions, will, types and methods (logic) practical activities person.

The ideal acts as a moment of a person’s practical relationship to the world, a relationship mediated by the forms created by previous generations - the ability, first of all, to reflect language and signs in material forms and transform them through activity into real objects. So, if Stone Age people somehow got hold of a book about how to design cars, they would not be able to “idealize” it, i.e. transform it into an ideal, into a concept, a meaningful idea of ​​it, because in their lives those forms of activity have not yet developed that would determine the level of knowledge and activity summarized in this book.

The ideal is not something independent in relation to consciousness as a whole: it characterizes the essence of consciousness in relation to matter. In this regard, the concept of “ideal” allows us to more deeply comprehend the secondary nature of the highest form of reflection and thereby concretize the materialist understanding of the essence of consciousness, its opposition to matter. Such an understanding makes sense only when studying the relationship between matter and consciousness, the relationship of consciousness to the material world.

The ideal is an object “alienated” from itself, existing not in its own concrete sensory form, but on the basis of the substance and processes of the brain (hardness, color, etc.).

At the same time, the ideal and the material are not separated by an impassable line. The ideal is nothing more than material, “transplanted” into the human head and transformed in it. Such a transformation of the material into the ideal, as is known, is carried out by the brain, or rather, by a person with the help of the brain.

As we see, not only matter (objective reality), but also consciousness ( ideal reality) is extremely complex object philosophy. And in order to more fully and more specifically imagine the essence of consciousness, its reverse impact on matter, one should find out its background and history, its role social factors in its formation and development.

The key to unraveling the mystery of consciousness lies, first of all, in clarifying the conditions and forms of its origin. Refusal to raise the question of the origin of consciousness, of course, does not contribute to clarifying its content and essence. And if it is illogical to declare all matter conscious, and even more so to consider matter and consciousness as substances independent of each other, then it remains to try a new, “middle” path, assuming, for example, that all matter has a certain property as a prerequisite for consciousness, which, under appropriate conditions capable of developing into consciousness. In that main meaning Lenin's hypothesis about reflection.

The universality of the property of reflection, which lies in the “foundation” of the building of matter itself, is due to the universality of material interaction. All objects of the objective world constantly influence each other and undergo certain changes, maintaining a “trace” external influence(such as the imprint of a prehistoric plant on a seam of coal).

In the process of developing the concept of reflection, the need arose to correlate it with the concept of information. The latter, which was initially used only to designate information used in communication between people, gradually began to acquire a general scientific status. Information in this regard began to be understood as the property of phenomena to be a stimulator of certain actions, to promote active orientation in the world around us. There are two main concepts of information: 1) as a form of reflection associated with self-governing systems, i.e. living, technical, social; 2) as an aspect, a side of reflection that can be objectified, transmitted, stored.

At different levels of organization of matter, reflection has its own qualitative characteristics. Forms of reflection are improved as the phenomena themselves become more complex, and their role in the existence of the corresponding levels of organization of matter continuously increases.

In inanimate nature, reflection is the property of things to reproduce, under the influence of other things, such traces, imprints or reactions, the structure of which corresponds to some aspect of the things affecting them (a footprint in the sand, mirror reflection etc.). These reflections are characterized by their relative simplicity and passive nature.

A qualitative leap in the evolution of the Universe is the emergence of organic life on our planet. Creature has appropriate activity, it retains its qualitative certainty due to the receipt of energy from external environment in the only way possible in nature - together with matter. Hence the need for metabolism. At the same time, the organism survives by using information coming from the external environment: it reacts to certain influences as signals about the natural occurrence of subsequent events. This allows him to avoid harmful influences, get closer to food, in a word, to adequately and timely respond to vital stimuli with intracellular processes. Biological regulation is the basis and condition of organic life, the most essential aspect of metabolism, since there is no chemical elements, which would not be found in inanimate nature. It's all about bioregulation and the appropriate organization of the cell.

With the advent of life, such a form of reflection as irritability arises, especially characteristic of flora ( flora). Irritability refers to the body’s ability to carry out simple specific reactions in response to certain external factors. For example, the seed basket of a sunflower is directed towards the greatest sunlight.

The emergence of fauna (the animal world) is accompanied by the appearance of a higher form of reflection - sensitivity (the ability to sense). It is already inherent in lower animals and presupposes the ability to respond not only directly to environmental factors that have biological significance for the body (electric shocks or an acidic environment for an amoeba), but also on factors that are biologically neutral for the body, which, however, carry information about other factors that are vital for the body (for example, the relationship between lighting and the presence of nutrients in the pool). True, there is no physiological analysis and synthesis yet; sensations appear as something undifferentiated.

In this regard, a more advanced form of biological reflection is the psyche, which is the ability to create sensory images of external reality, not only in the form of sensations, but also perceptions, thanks to which vertebrates develop a holistic image of the situation, and in “smart” animals (monkeys, cats , dogs, etc.) - also in the form of representations - sensory-visual, generalized images of phenomena that are stored and reproduced in perfect shape and without the direct impact of the phenomena themselves on the senses.

As a result, the possibilities of adaptive activity of animals increase immeasurably, mainly due to the activity of the brain. Unlike other organs, the brain does not perform some particular task in line with mental reflection, but controls the activity of internal and external organs in accordance with the situation in the environment. This is the function of the brain as a special organ of reflection and a central regulator of the body’s activities.

The activity of the higher animal is not limited to the system of conditional and unconditioned reflexes. Complex psychoneural processes take place in the brain, the beginning of which is the biological goal that is formed in a specific situation as an ideal anticipation of the result of the body’s activity. The biological goal, the “model of the required future,” is formed on the basis of the image. Hence the “subjectivity” of the mental image in content and source, the absence in it of any material or energetic components of the brain and the displayed object. In the psyche, the physiological is “removed”, eliminated. That is why psychonervous activity is considered not only as physiological, material, but also as mental, ideal, as a unity of internal and external activity, and the mental reflects the physiological and is, as it were, taken beyond its limits: it is more complex than the physiological.

Adaptive function of consciousness

“There are many meanings of the concept “adaptation”, it is most widely used in the sense of adaptive consequences evolutionary processes. But the consequences of evolutionary processes are not necessarily adaptive, just as the adaptive functions of an organism are not necessarily the consequences of selective evolutionary processes. Utility and versatility taken separately do not prove evolutionary selection. Moreover, the evolution of complex functions typically results from the evolution of a large set of functions and structures. Consciousness is probably one of these complex functions. Our further presentation does not touch on the evolution of behavior, it concerns only those aspects of consciousness that are likely to better adapt us to the world in which we live.” - write psychologists J. Mandler and U. Kessen.

Most general function consciousness – its role in the selection and selection of a system of actions. This function allows the body to adequately respond to action-results that change the likelihood of a particular series of actions occurring. This function also allows you to think about possible actions that the body has never performed before, without allowing real implementation Possibly harmful actions for the body. Consciousness provides the ability to change long-term plans and immediate alternative actions. In the hierarchy of plans and actions, this makes it possible to organize systems of actions oriented to a higher plan.

Consciousness communicates with long-term memory, although the mechanisms of communication remain unconscious. The impetus for retrieving information from long-term memory is often quite simple commands: “What’s his name?”, “Where did I read about this?” Commands can be more complex: “What is the connection between this situation and the previous one that I encountered?” ". Quick access to stored information is an example of the adaptive use of consciousness.

The consciousness represents the current state of the world, as well as thoughts and actions, and all this is recorded in memory for later use. Many researchers have assumed that such encoding of current experience always takes place in the mind. Memorizing experience for its future actualization obviously requires the work of the structures of consciousness. IN social processes problem solving practices stored in memory, together with an adequate group. All this requires the selection and comparison of alternatives stored in long-term memory. Cultural system communications such as natural language benefit cooperative social efforts. Members of society learn about problem-solving practices, avoid unsuccessful actions and, in fact, in a general sense, enjoy cultural heritage transmission from the structures of consciousness to verbal communication is in fact extremely productive. Cultural knowledge is conveyed by shared instructions and inferences, making it socially accessible. The interactions described here demonstrate difficult relationships language and consciousness.

Only the products of cognitive and mental activity are available to consciousness. But many systems generated by conscious processes cease to be conscious over time and become automatic. Such systems, obviously, can again be comprehended by consciousness, especially when defects are discovered in them. Each of us has had the experience of automatically driving a car or having a conversation at a party and suddenly consciously plunging into the situation, faced with a faulty brake or hearing someone say to us: “You’re not listening to me.” The adaptive advantage to act automatically when things are going as usual, and the ability to act deliberately otherwise, are also conditioned by consciousness.

These are the adaptive functions of consciousness. The ethnopsychologist must take them into account, but his main task is to explore the adaptive functions of the unconscious as they operate in a collective, eliminating the idea of ​​a collective unconscious, and seeking to find unconscious patterns of interaction.

Literature

1. Aceves J. B. and Hing H. G. Cultural Anthropology. New York: General Learning Press, 1978.

2. Mandler, G., Kessen, W. The Appearance of Free Will. In S. C. Brown (Ed.). Philosophy of Psychology. London: Macmillan, 1974, p. 35.

3. Danilyan O.G., Taranenko V.M. Philosophy: Textbook - M. Eksmo, 2005.

4. D.V. Olshansky. Adaptive sociology. In the book: Modern Western Sociology. Compiled by: Davydov Yu.A., Kovalev M.S., Fillipov A.F. M.: art of political literature, 1990, pp. 70 - 73.

Adaptive function of consciousness

"There are many meanings of the concept of "adaptation", most widely it is used in the sense of the adaptive consequences of evolutionary processes. But the consequences of evolutionary processes are not necessarily adaptive, just as the adaptive functions of an organism are not necessarily the consequences of selective evolutionary processes. Benefit and universality, taken separately , do not prove evolutionary selection. Moreover, the evolution of complex functions is typically the result of the evolution of a large set of functions and structures. Consciousness is probably one of these complex functions. Our further presentation does not affect the evolution of behavior, it concerns only those aspects of consciousness that are likely better adapt us to the world in which we live,” write psychologists J. Mandler and U. Kessen.

The most general function of consciousness is its role in the selection and selection of a system of actions. This function allows the body to adequately respond to actions that change the likelihood of a particular series of actions occurring. This function also allows you to comprehend possible actions that the body has never performed before, preventing the actual implementation of actions that may be harmful to the body. Consciousness provides the ability to change long-term plans and immediate alternative actions. In the hierarchy of plans and actions, this makes it possible to organize systems of actions oriented to a higher plan.

Consciousness communicates with long-term memory, although the mechanisms of communication remain unconscious. The impetus for retrieving information from long-term memory is often quite simple commands: “What’s his name? ", "Where did I read about this? ". The commands can be more complex: "What is the connection between this situation and the previous one that I encountered? ". Quick access to stored information is an example of the adaptive use of consciousness.

The consciousness represents the current state of the world, as well as thoughts and actions, and all this is recorded in memory for later use. Many researchers have assumed that such encoding of current experience always takes place in the mind. Memorizing experience for its future actualization obviously requires the work of the structures of consciousness. In social processes, problem solving practices are stored in memory, together with an adequate group. All this requires the selection and comparison of alternatives stored in long-term memory. Cultural communication systems such as natural language benefit cooperative social efforts. members of society learn about problem-solving practices, avoid unsuccessful actions and, in the most general sense, benefit from cultural heritage. The transmission from the structures of consciousness to verbal communication is in fact extremely productive. Cultural knowledge is conveyed by shared instructions and inferences, making it socially accessible. The interactions described here demonstrate the complex relationship between language and consciousness.

Only the products of cognitive and mental activity are available to consciousness. But many systems generated by conscious processes cease to be conscious over time and become automatic. Such systems, obviously, can again be comprehended by consciousness, especially when defects are discovered in them. Each of us has happened to be mechanically driving a car or having a conversation at a party and suddenly consciously plunging into the situation, faced with a brake malfunction or hearing addressed to us: “You are not listening to me.” The adaptive advantage to act automatically when things are going as usual, and the ability to act deliberately otherwise, are also conditioned by consciousness.

These are the adaptive functions of consciousness. The ethnopsychologist should take them into account, but his main task is to explore the adaptive functions of the unconscious as they operate in a collective, eliminating the idea of ​​a collective unconscious, and trying to find unconscious patterns of interaction.

Problems of psychological adaptation -

Mandler, G., Kessen, W. The Appearance of Free Will. In S. C. Brown (Ed.). Philosophy of Psychology. London: Macmillan, 1974, p. 35.

D.V. Olshansky. Adaptive sociology. In the book: Modern Western Sociology. Compiled by Yu.A. Davydov, M.S. Kovalev, A.F. Fillipov. M.: izshvo poliyu liters, 1990, pp. 70 73.

source unknown

The term “culture” is heard almost every day. And this term has many definitions. In the most general sense, this is a set of objects of human material and spiritual activity. The concept of "culture" can be attributed to various areas human activity, for example, the culture of politics, the culture of work, the culture of communication, etc.

IN Ancient Greece Close in meaning to the word culture was the term “paideia”, which meant internal organization man, in other words, “culture of the soul.”

IN historical documents on Latin the word "culture" first appears in Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder's (234–148 BC) De Agri Cultura (c. 160 BC). This work deals with issues of agriculture, and this work is also considered early monument prose written in Latin.

The work “De Agri Cultura” examines not only the issues of cultivating the land, but also caring for agricultural land and fields, which involves not just cultivating the land, but also a special, sincere attitude towards it. In particular, Cato gives the following advice on purchasing land: “you need not to be lazy and walk around the acquired land several times; The more often you inspect the land, the more you will “like” it. This is the very thing you should definitely have. If he doesn't exist, then there won't be any good care, in other words, there will be no culture.” In Latin, the word “culture” has several meanings:

• education, upbringing, development;
• agriculture, husbandry;
• processing, care, cultivation, breeding;
• veneration, worship.

Adaptive function of culture

Culture is a complex, multi-level system, therefore it has many functions in the life of a person and society.

Note 1

It should immediately be noted that relatively exact number There are disagreements among researchers regarding the functions of culture. But meanwhile, most culturologists and other cultural researchers agree that culture is multifunctional, that each of its elements is capable of performing a variety of functions.

This article will talk about the adaptive function of culture, one of its key functions that helps a person adapt to the environment.

We all know from the school biology course that the adaptation of living beings to the external environment is the main condition for their survival in the process of evolution. Their adaptation is carried out through the mechanism of natural selection, as well as variability and heredity, which ensure the survival of living beings that are most adapted to their environment, as well as the preservation and transmission to their offspring of the characteristics necessary for survival. But in the human world everything happens completely differently. Unlike animals, a person does not adapt, does not find a balance with his environment, he adapts the external environment to himself, changing it to suit his needs.

By changing his environment, a person creates a “second” artificial nature, which is called culture. In other words, if a human being cannot, like an animal, lead a natural way of life, in order to survive, he builds an artificial habitat around himself, protecting himself from the dangers of the external environment, from natural elements, from animals, and so on.

Note 2

Over time, a person gains independence from natural conditions: if other natural organisms can survive only in their own specific ecological niche, then a person can master, one might even say, subjugate almost any natural conditions by creating an artificial world of culture around himself.

Of course, absolute independence from natural world a person will not be able to achieve, simply because culture largely depends on natural conditions. The type of economy, beliefs, rituals and traditions, even people’s homes and food depend on natural and climatic conditions. Thus, the culture of peoples living in the mountains differs from the culture of peoples leading a nomadic lifestyle. For example, residents of the south add a lot of spices and herbs to their food in order to prevent it from spoiling quickly in hot climates.

Studying the history of development human society tells us that over time, man made his artificial habitat more and more comfortable and safe. The quality of human life, at least in the civilized part of our planet, is constantly improving. However, having eliminated the problems that the natural world brings, man is forced to solve new problems that he creates for himself.

Having learned to treat the diseases of the past, and generally forgetting about them, for example, the plague and smallpox, new diseases appeared, such as swine flu, Ebola, AIDS, for which no cure has yet been created. Another shining example, these are deadly viruses capable of exterminating a good half of humanity, created by man himself for military aggression against neighboring countries. All this says that a person must protect himself not only from the natural world, but also from his own, artificially created world of culture.

The adaptive function of culture is ambivalent. On the one side, this function is aimed at creating specific means of protecting humans from environment. These means include all cultural products that ensure a person’s survival and comfortable existence in the world:

• use of fire.
• stocking up on food and necessary items.
• creation of a developed Agriculture, medicine, etc.

This list includes not only products material culture, but also those specific means that people develop for peaceful coexistence in society, keeping it from mutual destruction and death - the legislative system, state security agencies, moral norms and attitudes, customs, traditions, etc.

On the other hand, a person has specific means of protection in his arsenal - this is culture as a whole, existing as a picture of the world. Understanding culture as artificially created, in other words, “second” nature, we emphasize the key property of culture and human activity - the ability to “double the world,” in other words, to highlight the everyday and spiritual ecumene in it.

Connecting culture with the spiritual ecumene, with the world ideal images, we get the main property of culture - to be a system of views on the world, a certain worldview. Culture as a belief system gives a human being the opportunity to see external reality not as a simple flow of information, but as information ordered in a certain way. Every phenomenon or object of external reality is perceived by a person through his picture of the world. A person finds his place in the world, also guided by his system of views and values.