A historical investigation of the relationship between man and nature
The relationship between man and nature in ancient times
(1) About three or four million years ago, humans appeared on Earth.
Man evolved from the ancient apes of the animal kingdom, and in terms of natural attributes alone, man is not fundamentally different from other higher animals, and man also depends on nature for existence.
However, in terms of social attributes, man is quite different from other beings in nature.
(2) In the Paleolithic Age, human progress in technology was very small, and human beings survived almost completely in response to changes in the natural environment.
(3) It was only in the late Paleolithic period, about 40,000 years ago, with the accelerating technological revolution, that humans entered the hunter-gatherer society.
(1) In this society, human beings exist as small-scale hunter-gatherer groups, human knowledge is mixed with hunter-gatherer practice, and science is not separated from production, but exists in embryonic form.
(2) In the process of "quasi-labor", people rely on tools such as stone tools and wooden tools made by themselves to collect edible wild plants and hunted animals (including aquatic animals) near their residences. At this time, humans had already invented the method of artificial fire.
(3) Human beings mainly rely on their own muscle strength to fight against the environment, apply simple stone tools for hunting and gathering activities, and obtain ready-made products in nature; production is basically only human production and environmental production, and there is almost no material production.
(4) From the early Neolithic period, which began about 10,000 years ago, human beings began to enter the primitive agricultural stage.
(1) At this stage, manufacturing tools have gradually occupied a dominant position, and the quality, function and number of manufacturing tools have made qualitative progress compared with the Paleolithic Era.
(2) Labor in the true sense also appeared, and man was divided and independent from the animal kingdom, engaged in grain production and animal rearing.
(3) The significance of this revolution is enormous. It is the product of a certain improvement in human understanding of nature, and is the embodiment of human reason. After that, handicrafts and commerce began to flourish, and the process of urbanization began.
(4) The invention of bronze can be seen as the first material technology revolution in human history, and the production of writing can be seen as another information revolution in human history after the emergence of language, which has permanent significance for the development of human history.
(5) In the stage of agricultural civilization, the production of agriculture and animal husbandry is to use the characteristics of animals and plants to create appropriate conditions, strengthen the growth mechanism of animals and plants, and produce products needed by human beings.
(1) The material resources used are mainly water, sunlight and land, and the energy used is renewable energy, such as wind, water, animal power, etc., and the tools used are metal ploughs. This determines that this mode of production is mainly "biological" production, which has little impact on the environment, and the environmental tolerance at that time was strong, so in that period, the contradiction between man and nature did not intensify, and the relationship between man and nature was generally harmonious.
(2) There is also a sound of disharmony in harmony. Agricultural and animal husbandry production breaks through the restrictions of natural food on human development. One of the direct consequences of population growth is an increase in human demand for natural resources. Not only that, the invention of metallurgy has made human beings put forward more requirements for nature, through exploration, mining, smelting and forging, human beings have begun to develop and utilize non-renewable resources, but also caused environmental pollution. From the point of view of historical development, "the invention of metallurgy lurks the potential for human beings to use mechanization on a large scale after the Industrial Revolution, creating a destructive threat to the biosphere."