24. Abstract of : Culture, Evolution, and the Christian psychotherapeutic model A slightly disjointed Commentary analysing human nature in terms of the concept of biological specialisation. It suggests that man is 'the learning animal,' that is, humans are specialised in their learning abilities. It also suggests that this creates in human beings a unique situation in which - as individuals and as a species - we face two alternatives. The first is that if this 'learning ability' is suppressed, humans are more vulnerable to the problems of specialisation than are other animals, since almost the whole of their ability to adapt is invested in this ability. But the human psyche falls outside this rule, having an alternative possibility on which all Christian hopes depend. The second is an exception to the almost-universal rule of biological nature that specialisation reduces adaptability. The exception, in fact, is the human. Although it is true that as long as a creature is ruled by the instincts of its animal nature, it is subject to the penalty of natural specialisation, which is that because instinct acts where no learning occurs, the better an instinct serves one purpose, the less often it will be able to meet other needs. It then suggests that this combination of intelligence and information sharing can be describe as a specialisation in adaptability. Man's specialisation is based on extending the capacity of memory and intelligence through information-sharing. This the unique specialisation of our human nature can in fact allow us to develop our specialisation so as to increase our adaptability to change instead of decreasing it. The more we develop in this direction, the more we become able to adapt. The Commentary then argues that this type of specialisation is best described by human-specific terms such as civilisation and culture; that true civilisation, defined in this way, is generally or always the product of a religious awakening, and that when the religious impulse fades, so does the civilising influence; that Christianity in its early days was such an influence, and that there is a direct relationship between the decline of that influence and the world's current problems, particularly poverty, inequity and violence. |
