Theories of the Origin of Human Beings - History Notes Form One
Theories of the origin of human beings
A theory is a well-established and generally accepted explanation used to guide the analysis of a phenomenon.
A good example of a theory is "Stoicism", which believes in "accepting what you cannot control and focusing on what you can to live a happy life"
The two main theories of the origin of human beings are creation and evolution.
I. Theory of creation
The theory of creation is upheld in many religious groups, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam and African indigenous religions.
According to the Bible, God created the world and all things within it, including human beings. God created human beings after creating the world, including land, plants, water, and birds.
The original human being was created on the sixth day when God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness ….” (Genesis 1:26 NIV). The Quran is written: "Who made all things good which He created, and He began the creation of man from clay" (Surah As-Sajdah-32:7).
Likewise, many African societies had similar concepts ofcreation: the Supreme Being created everything, including human beings.
Those who support the theory of creation argue that God created the Earth and all the living and non-living things on it.
They say that after the creation of the first man and woman, the human population increased through biological reproduction. They further argue that people migrated to various places on earth.
II. Theory of evolution
Evolution is defined as the process of change in the heritable features of a species over numerous generations through natural selection.
The theory is based on the scientific explanation of the origin of humans, It states that humans and non-human primates, notably monkeys and apes, shared a common ancestor more than 13 million years ago. With time, humans split from non-human primates and underwent evolution until they became modem human beings.
A British scientist, Charles Darwin, advanced this theory in his book "On the Origin of Species," published in 1859. In this book, Darwin described how evolution took place. He argued that only the strongest or the fittest would survive among the many bom individuals.
This implies that only species which are capable of adapting to the environment can live and reproduce. In contrast, the weak ones tend to die or perish.
The survivors continue to produce more offspring of their type. In this way, new and stronger species keep appearing in every coming generation.
Evidence for human evolution
Two pieces of evidence support the theory of evolution. These are comparative studies of modem animals and fossil evidence.
Comparative studies of human evolution: Evidence from comparative anatomy indicates that two groups of animals with similar features have the same ancestor.
Therefore, the anatomical similarity between humans and monkeys suggests that members of the two groups share a common ancestor.
Fossil evidence for human evolution: This evidence is based on animal bones that have survived for many years under the ground. They are used to give evidence of the gradual change in the shape of humans and technological development.
Early fossil evidence has been found at different sites in Tanzania, such as Laetoli, Olduvai Gorge, Lake Natron, Lake Ndutu and Lake Eyasi in Arusha Region. Olduvai Gorge is the most famous site in Africa concerning human evolution.
It produces evidence of physical and technological evolution of humankind. Therefore, Olduvai Gorge and other sites have made Tanzania famous as the cradle or original home of human beings.
Archaeologists like Louis Leakey and his wife Mary Leakey discovered fossils in East Africa. They then studied them to find out their human ancestors. Other human remains were discovered in various sites in eastern and southern Africa.
These include Koobi Fora in Kenya, Omo and Hadar in Ethiopia, and Sterkfontein and Swartkrans in South Africa. Therefore, eastern and southern Africa are considered the possible homes of human ancestors.
Exercise
Explain Charles Darwin's contribution to the understanding human evolution.