Man put clothes and hearth, house and arable land, culture and civilization between himself and nature. And with every hundred years, she had less and less opportunities to influence the human body. Many anthropologists agree that the species homo sapiens(homo sapiens) basically ended with the beginning social evolution humanity. But basically - it does not mean completely.

Having become the master of nature, man remained her son. He retained the ability to change, and nature shows the remnants of its former power, causing and maintaining some changes in the external appearance of people living in different places on the earth. And other changes (also relatively small) scientists are inclined to associate with the long-term effect of certain aspects of socio-economic conditions, for example, with the nature of food.

Scientists argue about the reasons for some changes. But where they do not argue, the situation is usually even worse: therefore, even dubious hypotheses do not throw their weak light on the problem.

WHERE PEOPLE ARE EASIER!

From Greenland to Tierra del Fuego, from New Zealand to Arabia, people live. And the place of life, the geographical environment leave their mark on a person. Who does not know that whites live in Europe, blacks live in Africa, and the indigenous inhabitants of America are Indians ...

However, not only skin color depends on where a person lives. An Indian from the Central American Mayan tribe weighs on average a quarter less than an Indian from a tribe living in northern Canada! And this is not an accident.

In Europe, northerners are also heavier than southerners. The average weight of an adult Finn is 64 kilograms and a little, and the Spaniard is about 60 kilograms. The Berber, who lives in North Africa, is another four kilograms lighter. Of course, the standard of living (which in Spain, for example, is lower than in Finland), and hereditary national characteristics should play a role here ...

In Brazil - in the Amazon Valley - the average weight of people is greater, the farther from the equator (south) they live. And regardless of whether they are Indians or descendants of newcomers from Europe. In Chile, the average weight of people of the same nationality is higher on the high, cold plateaus than on the warm coasts. In Asia, the North Chinese are on average about one-fifth heavier than the Vietnamese Annamites. How do scientists know all this?

It's very simple: they have at their disposal both the materials of doctors related to the conscription of young people into the army, and the results of anthropological sample surveys. Anthropologists are interested not only in the past of mankind, but also in its present.

So, the cold seems to weigh people down. However, to some extent, this is how it should be. Subcutaneous fat, which is an extra load for an inhabitant of low latitudes, becomes almost necessary in a cold region.

In favor of increasing the size of a person in the north, there is also ... geometry. With an increase in size, the surface of the body increases in proportion to the square of elongation, and the volume - to the cube. (Remember! Gulliver was 12 times taller than the midgets, the surface of his body was 144 times larger, and the volume was 1728 times). The surface of the body is used by a person to give off heat, and the volume is used to accumulate it. The higher the person of normal proportions, the greater the ratio of the volume of the body to its surface. In the north more big people better retain heat in the body.

In the north, as you know, people need more food, in most cases they have a more intense metabolism. This can also (but not necessarily) contribute to increased growth of the body.

Nowhere, perhaps, does nature subject a person to a more severe test than in the desert. Just like animals. Large desert animals are characterized by long legs and necks, thinness. Members of the cat family are rarely good runners. But long-legged cheetahs, inhabitants of the desert steppes, run faster than all animals.

And so, scientists drew attention to the fact that the blacks of the South Sahara, the Bushmen of the Kalahari, the inhabitants of southern India and Ceylon are distinguished by long legs and long thin necks. Little of. Living in the desert regions of Australia, the descendants of the British acquired the same signs. For many peoples living in hot and dry places, relatively long and thin arms are also characteristic.

The lengthening of the legs, apparently, is dictated by the need for large transitions. What about the arms and neck? Here is an attempt at an explanation. In the heat, heat transfer by a person largely occurs from the surface of the neck and hands. There are 400 sweat glands per square centimeter of the back of the hand, and only 50 per square centimeter of the cheeks. The hands account for about 5 percent of the body surface, and 20 percent of the heat given off by the body is lost from them by evaporation.

Recall that of two cylinders of the same volume, the larger surface has the one that has a smaller diameter and, accordingly, a longer length. And the larger the surface, the more heat can be given off from it. So, in a hot and dry climate, it is more profitable for a person to have long and thin arms. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the inhabitants of deserts and semi-deserts, which we spoke about, are distinguished by this feature.

Do you know who the longest-legged people on earth? Inhabitants of the marshland in southern Senegal, in the upper reaches of the Nile! It is clear that this is also not an accident, but an adaptation to the conditions of life.

An important role in adaptation of this kind should be played by the developmental features of organs caused directly by the influence of the environment and the increased work of the organs themselves. Or, as scientists say, the individual reaction of the body to environmental conditions,

THE SOIL UNDER THE FEET

Not only the climate sometimes makes its own amendments to the appearance of people. Sometimes the soil does the same. According to chemists, the presence of at least a third of the elements of the periodic table can be established in any clod of earth by precise analysis. But in clods of earth taken from the Central European Upland, the slope of Kilimanjaro or the banks of the Ganges, the ratio of these elements is different.

It is known that a lack of iodine in the diet causes thyroid disease. Lack of fluorine compounds in water leads to dental caries. Compounds of iron, magnesium, manganese have long been included in the number of drugs used by doctors, replenishing the lack of these elements in the body.

May lack in food and boron, and calcium, and potassium. Why? Because plants - the intermediary between us and the earth - could not recruit them from too poor soil. The long-term shortage of a number of elements affects the development of some organs, the external appearance.

Who does not know that in the depths of Central Africa lives a short tribe of pygmies? The average height of men here is less than 150 centimeters. How to explain the appearance of this people? One hypothesis blames everything chemical composition soils in the area inhabited by pygmies. In the tropics, monstrous downpours erode the soil, deprive it of a number of important trace elements. This impoverishes the chemical composition of both plants and animals living here. The same causes produce the same effects. And almost everywhere in the humid tropical regions we find, next to peoples of normal stature, dwarf or stunted tribes.

African pygmies

In Central Africa, South India, Indonesia, the Philippine Islands, in the Amazon basin - intermittently, but along the entire equator such tribes live, having completely different origins. And in the same Central Africa, in the same places with pygmy people, dwarf animals live - take at least a pygmy hippopotamus or pygmy.

Of course, in the same areas or nearby, as a rule, people of average height or even tall people live. But we have already mentioned how complex the problems facing anthropologists are. Some factors may be superimposed by others acting in the opposite direction.

However, such a strong effect of the geochemical composition of soils, as in the equator region, as far as we know, is unique. But in less noticeable forms, it should manifest itself much more widely. After all, we simply do not know how to notice much in nature. In mountainous northern Albania, according to anthropologists, people living on soils formed from granites are shorter than those who cultivate limestone soils. Again we have to blame trace elements, or rather, their absence ...

A few years ago, the French physician and anthropologist Vassall made an interesting comparison. He put side by side and compared two maps of Europe - anthropological and geochemical. It must be said, by the way, that according to the shape of the skull, anthropologists divide people into long-headed and round-headed - dolichocephalic and brachycephalic.

So, almost everywhere where there were many brachycephals among the population, geological map marked outcrops of some igneous rocks. Immediately the question arose: a coincidence or a pattern? On the one hand, granites, say, were granites five, ten, and hundreds of thousands of years ago. And the round-headed ones - brachycephals - have become more and more percentage-wise over the very last hundreds and thousands of years (this is evidenced by the results of excavations). But couldn't geochemical conditions speed up or slow down the process caused by some other cause? Read the answers to these questions in our next article.

PS What else do British scientists talk about: that with changes in a person it would be very interesting to trace his ability to, for example, study general subjects, otherwise, according to one theory, human intelligence develops and modern man many times more intelligent than its ancient ancestor, and on the other hand, this process may reverse and our descendants may not only be smarter, but rather more stupid than us, modern people. And to prevent this from happening, you should not spare your efforts for training.

I recently had an argument with an old friend about whether people change. We did not come to any consensus, and by the end of the discussion I no longer understood which statement I was on the side of. In order to understand this issue, today I will talk about whether people change, or rather, how exactly they are able to change, using the format of a discussion with myself for this purpose.

Reasons to change

If we take as a hypothesis the statement that people are able to change, then, proving it, the first thing to do is to divide the causes of changes into external and internal. But even here everything turns out to be not so simple: if a person changes under the influence of circumstances, these are internal reasons, but! I believe that we ourselves attract certain circumstances into our lives, and therefore this is an internal reason too. Without much prelude, let's see what drives a person to change.

Strong upheavals

One of the most compelling reasons, if you believe that people change, is serious upheavals, events of a large scale. There are both positive and negative ones among them: the birth of a child, the death of someone close, a serious illness or accident, a strong love, winning the lottery, etc. These are, if I may say so, situational changes, but sometimes penetrating into the very essence of a person, since shocks can really change. For example, after a person begins to perceive differently not only people of the opposite sex, but also their patterns of behavior in.

Speaking for the opposite side, it seems to me not unreasonable to assume that strong shocks do not change people, but simply become themselves to a greater extent. We are all bound by bonds of social contracts, the whole world rests on our ability to restrain ourselves. When something strongly shakes your world, there is no desire and need to pretend to be someone, and the human essence blooms either in all its beauty or in ugliness.

Development, expansion of consciousness

The changes I most want to believe in are consistent. Everyone knows stories about people who barely make ends meet and win the jackpot in the lottery. The vast majority lost this state in the shortest possible time and returned to their former existence. The problem is they weren't ready. Strong shocks are the same lottery. On the other hand, methodical, gradual development allows you to consolidate the results achieved at each of the steps, and when this chain leads to glory, the world, a person no longer goes off the rails, because he's ready to all these blessings.

A person can change gradually, engaging in his own development, making efforts for this. I don’t believe in a new life from Monday, I don’t believe that someone can become a new person in a few days. A person can change a lot, but it is a long work.

Influence of circumstances

If we take a change in circumstances that does not fit the description of strong shocks, for example, a new job, a change of residence, then such changes in a person - temporary. Our instincts are to adapt, and when we find ourselves in a new environment, we do just that. If it seems to you that a person has really changed due to changed circumstances, return him to the old environment - to the previous job, to the previous place of residence, to the old partner - and you will see how he will return to the way it was. This is the effect of a spring, it always returns to its place, since changes under the influence of circumstances are nothing but opportunism.

On the other hand, getting into a new environment that promotes development, a person can change without adjusting. For example, communication with developed personalities enriches, expands consciousness and promotes revealing one's own talents. This has happened to me many times.

Autotraining

Some people are able to convince themselves and others that they have changed. The more often you say and prove it to someone, the more it becomes own faith that changes have taken place, although this does not correspond to the truth. How to define such a "change"? Very simple: the most frequent topic of conversation for him is how he has changed, gradually his story acquires new details. If someone suggests or simply hints that these changes are not true, the person loses his temper - this is a sign of insecurity and a willingness to defend his lie with foam at the mouth.

Convincing yourself is easier than actually changing, but this is not the path that leads to happiness.

Kernel

I believe that in every person there is a certain core - a set of his personal qualities that cannot be changed. This is what makes each of us is unique why we are called individuals. The shell and other layers of personality may change, but the core remains the same from birth to death. Otherwise, we would all have a plasticine personality that can be changed as you like.

You can’t analyze the question “do people change” and not ask yourself the same question. Have I changed in the last, say, 8 years? Yes, it has changed enough for me and my loved ones to notice it, but not so much that I could not be recognized. The changes that took place inside me were caused by various reasons: both upheavals, and consistent development, and deflection under circumstances, followed by a return back. The experience of persuading oneself is also available. I have changed, but some things have remained the same: I am still sentimental, still kind to people, I still do not know how to save money, preferring to spend it right away, and I still believe in love, despite all the shocks.

Have you changed, and what were the reasons for this? Do you think people can change at all?

Can the psychology of people change depending on external or internal causes? For the majority, changes represent a serious conflict, because regardless of the circumstances, a person always wants to save his “face”, not to lose his individuality.

Does a person change over time - the opinion of psychologists

Indeed, it is believed that changes are unusual for a person, he prefers to adapt to the world, while maintaining his inherent qualities.

An example of this point of view is the dependence of people on bad habits, which are sometimes incredibly difficult to get rid of.

However, psychiatry completely refutes this statement, proving that it is possible to change a person, provided that this is his sincere desire.

Most often, people crave change because of the presence of a psychological problem.

These include conflict behavior, low self-esteem, insecurity, inadequacy, unreasonable manifestation of negativity. If a person begins to look for the cause of discomfort in the surrounding manifestations, even an experienced psychotherapist is unlikely to help him. But when an individual realizes that the cause of the negativity is hidden inside him, it can be stated that the person is ready for change.

There are several common reasons that literally make a person change:

• Mental shock, usually associated with changes in attitude. It can be the birth of a child or a tragedy that happened to a loved one. People can change for the sake of loved ones or after learning about their own deadly disease. The emotional shock can be so strong that it completely changes the essence of a person;
• The development of consciousness - spiritual growth occurs imperceptibly to others. Slowly and gradually, a person improves himself, every day learning new aspects of the universe and developing consciousness. Relatives may not notice changes in the psychology of such a person for a long time, but old acquaintances, whom they meet quite rarely, quickly notice the changes. By the way, this type of changing psychology can be attributed to the test of age, when the accumulated experience makes you take a fresh look at the world. Of course, a person does not always change with age, it all depends on his ability to evaluate the path traveled;
• Circumstances are a source of rather strong emotional experiences, the strength of which sometimes seems overwhelming. For example, people can change after prison, both for the better and for the worse. Changes are possible due to moving to another city or in connection with a change of place of work. True, in most cases, psychology remains unchanged and the person returns to the previous behavior, returning to already familiar conditions. But sometimes the influence of the environment really affects psychology. After leaving prison, a rare person is able to cleanse the soul, and once in the company of smart self-sufficient people, many begin to imitate them, improving imperceptibly even for themselves;
• Finance is a powerful stimulus for change, both positive and negative. negative side. Often, a real revolution takes place in a previously closed soul, forcing a person to spend money on charity and burn it without regrets, and some people who were previously open and good-natured find such traits as stinginess in their character and completely withdraw from the world.

Temperament is one of the innate qualities, changes in which require a lot of work on oneself. However, rarely does a person's temperament change radically, it can only be restrained.

How can you change yourself?

If something does not suit a person in his life, you can try to change yourself for the sake of a comfortable existence, while exposing the personality to minimal changes.

1. Dependence on someone else's opinion gives rise to low self-esteem. You can correct the situation if you make your own positive opinion about your qualities stable and learn to trust your own ideas about yourself as a person;
2. Fear of failure is another condition that intensifies over time and interferes with self-realization. In this case, it is recommended not to resort to independent attempts to correct the situation, since a negative result can be achieved, which will significantly complicate life. It is best to turn to the help of a professional psychologist who is able to choose an effective technique for getting rid of the fear of failure and insecurity;
3. Tendency to depression common cause that people do not change better side. The usual cause of depression is that a person does not want to live by certain rules, but is not able to step over an internal prohibition. The result is a slow loss of interest in life. To achieve change, you need to find the motivation to move forward. It should be remembered that after the rain the sun always appears and there are many ways to make life richer, among which you just need to find the best path for yourself.

Whether a person's character changes under the influence of circumstances or as a result of careful work on oneself, it is important that these are positive changes.

Incredible Facts

people become taller, fatter and live longer than ever before in history. And all these changes have occurred over the past century, scientists say.

However, it is not only about evolution, since one century is not enough for such changes.

Scientists believe that most of the transformations that have occurred over such a period of time are the body's response to changing conditions, such as improved nutrition, health and hygiene.

Here are the main changes that have occurred to people over the past century.

Increasing human height

People got taller

The latest study showed that in developed countries people have become taller, and the highest average height in the world - 1.85 cm is observed in the Netherlands. Although Americans were the tallest people in the world during World War II (1.77 cm), by the end of the 20th century growth rates had stalled.

While average growth has increased in many countries, it has not been uniform. In some countries, afflicted by disease, war, and other problems, average growth has declined from time to time.

The researchers believe that this suggests that negative factors such as famine or epidemics affect the next generations, and it takes about 5 generations to overcome these factors.

According to recent studies, it has been the relationship between growth and quality of life, a tall people perceived as smarter and more powerful.

Obesity problem

People are getting fatter

Since the 1970s, researchers have studied the growth dynamics of Mayan children and their families in Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States. When the Maya moved to the US, they became 11.4 cm taller than their counterparts in Guatemala and Mexico. However, their weight also increased, and they were more likely to suffer from obesity.

There is also an upward trend in weight gain around the world. So in 2013 29 percent of the world's population suffers from excess weight or obesity.

The question of why people get fat is the subject of scientific debate. Some researchers believe that everything is to blame overeating and absence physical activity . But there is also a theory that genetics plays a role here, as well as viruses that are associated with obesity. Contrary to popular belief, many studies have found a link between overweight and poverty.

Some researchers suggest that this trend is due to epigenetics or inherited changes that affect how the body stores excess energy from food.

For example, if your mother and grandmother went through hard times, this is passed on to the next generations, and when it comes Good times, the body tries to store extra energy in the form of fat.

early puberty

In many countries, children mature earlier, especially girls. Many studies have shown that over the past half century the age at which girls reach puberty has decreased.

For example, a US study showed that the age of menarche fell by 0.3 years per decade from the mid-1800s, when the first menstruation occurred at age 17, until the 1960s.

Research also indicates that there is association between overweight and early puberty, and girls with a high body mass index reach puberty at an earlier age.

It may have Negative consequences for health, as studies have shown that early puberty is associated with the development of hypertension and diabetes later in life.

There are also social consequences. In some cultures, a girl who has reached puberty is considered old enough for marriage, which means she has fewer opportunities to continue her education or career.

Human longevity and its negative consequences

People are now living longer than ever. According to the WHO, life expectancy worldwide has risen from 30 years in the 20th century up to 70 years in 2012. Experts predict that the global life expectancy of women born in 2030 will rise to 85 years.

Increased life expectancy is associated with advances in medicine, improvements sanitation and access to clean water.

However, while these factors have reduced the death rate from infectious diseases, the death rate from degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and cancer has risen.

In other words, people began to live longer, but die from other diseases, than in the past.

The rise in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes has been linked by some to improved hygiene. That is, when the body is exposed to too few microbes, the immune system overreacts to even the most harmless microbes.

Human development in the future

What awaits people in the future, given how quickly technology is changing our world?

There is some concern that the future of evolution will be determined genetic engineering. Bionic implants, nanotechnologies and new drugs can further extend human life.

Some scientists believe that we can achieve immortality with technology in the next 30 years. While this sounds like science fiction, it's clear that humans are evolving rapidly and technology is having an impact. big influence.