Biological Evolution and Cultural Development: Understanding Humanization

Hominization and Humanization: Biological and Cultural Evolution

Defining Hominization and Humanization

The conjunction of anatomical and physiological changes that allowed the gradual evolution of early hominids to Homo Sapiens is known as the process of Hominization.

Parallel to these biological changes, major psychological, behavioral, and social changes occurred. This is what we call the process of Humanization.

These are two interdependent processes that influence one another. Hominization makes Humanization possible. We are human because our biological constitution evolved to enable a flexible brain capable of thought, speech, and planning. Biologically, we evolved primates. Culturally, we are very far from our origins. Thus, the leap is the one that leads from biology to culture.

Perspectives on Cultural Differences

Cultural Diversity: This refers to the variety of human cultures resulting from geographical and historical factors.

Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the attitude that leads us to place our own cultural pattern as the center of reference and to assess other cultures according to how close or far they are from ours.

Cultural Relativism

Cultural Relativism posits that cultures cannot be compared because there is no objective criterion for establishing a universal valuation. According to this view, one cannot speak of superior or inferior cultures. Cultural relativism starts from the idea that each culture has its own patterns of valuation.

Cultural Universalism and Multiculturalism

Cultural Universalism is a viewpoint that advocates for the common elements shared by all cultures, which can be called cultural universals. The problem lies in the lack of agreement when trying to establish a single possible way to advance multiculturalism.

Key Characteristics of Culture

The main features of culture include:

• Culture is Acquired: It is not inherited genetically, but transmitted through a medium (family, school, street, media, etc.).
• Culture is Symbolic: It transforms the natural world into an artificial world full of meanings (science, myth, art, religion, law, etc.).
• Culture is Adaptive: It provides the tools necessary to adapt to the environment.
• Culture is Open: It is characterized by its flexibility and its infinite capacity for mutation.
• Culture is Polymorphic: Rather than speaking of a single culture, we speak of cultures, reflecting an incredible variety of human ways of living in the world.