Culture: Information acquired through social learning.
Human Culture: A set of socially acquired information, transmitted through language.
Hominization: The process that enabled the human species to evolve from its earliest ancestors to Homo sapiens sapiens.
Humanization: The process that leads full-bodied hominids with anthropomorphic or human form to become men.
Factors Influencing Human Evolution
Discovery of fire
Manufacture of tools
Agriculture and livestock
Social organization
Trade
War
History
Labor and Technology
Labor: A productive activity that is a conscious and intentional manipulation and modification of nature to obtain what is necessary to survive. (Everything we do in exchange for a salary.)
Features of Labor
Uniquely Human: No other living thing intentionally and consciously manipulates the environment to obtain what it needs.
Relational: Through work, humans relate to nature, technology, and other legitimate appropriations.
Technique: The ability to modify the environment to one's advantage, as embodied in designing, building, and using tools to assist in action.
Features of Technique
A Subject's Adaptation to the Environment: Technique did not evolve because it provided an advantage; actions came about through natural evolution.
An Environmental Adaptation to the Subject: The human being is the only living being with the technical capability to modify the environment and make it more favorable.
Activity in Constant Development: New procedures are invented based on existing techniques, replacing those that become outdated as new, more effective ones emerge.
Technology: A set of procedures and resources of great complexity and sophistication that have characterized techniques since the 18th century.
Advantages of Technology
Efficiency and Productivity: It seeks the maximum output.
The Humanization of Working Conditions: With machines, less effort is required at work.
Increased Free Time: Thanks to machines, people have more free time while producing the same quantity of product as without machines.
Disadvantages of Technology
Overproduction and Consumerism: More stock is produced than can be sold, promoting consumerism (people are encouraged to buy more of what is manufactured).
Dehumanization and Alienation: Work performed by an operator is often limited to pressing a button or pulling a lever.
The Illusion of Free Time: Some thinkers initially believed technology would lead to more free time, but later philosophers argued that people who do not work simply become consumers.
Unemployment: Thanks to machines, fewer employees are needed, with only one person potentially doing the work of repairing the machine.
