Page 168 - Russian History Viewed through Distorted Mirrors, Vol. 1

Nicolai Levashov. Russian History Viewed through Distorted Mirrors. Vol. 1

the Temperate Zone play the role of the catalyst of evolutional development.

Let us analyze now how does an active type of adaptation to the natural living
conditions assist man in his evolutional development? For this we will remember that
man is born a potentially reasoning creature with an almost virgin brain. Man is a
child of nature and is born as such. As I mentioned before, three evolutional phases
can be single out for man: the phase of animal, the phase of reasoning animal and
the phase of actual man.

That Man is born an animal, is a fact. From the first day of his life, a child be-
gins to absorb information from the outside world like a sponge through his sense-
organs: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. During the first five to nine years the
child absorbs information, mainly passively, in the family. The volume of this infor-
mation is almost always enough for the qualitative changes to happen in the brain of
the child and his development to pass to the phase of reasoning animal, which lasts
14 to 18 years and involves, both passive and active accumulation of information by
the brain, the latter occurs through the direct cognition of the surrounding world and
experience. If the brain of the growing child gets the necessary volume of qualitative
information with the help of the passive and active methods, the qualitative changes
of the brain structures occur and the child goes to the next evolutional phase of de-
velopment – the phase of actual man, where the active method of information gain-
ing prevails.

The development between the phases of animal and reasoning animal occurs,
mainly by means of the passive method of information gaining, during the next stage
it happens with the help of both passive and active methods. At the next phase of
evolutional development — the phase of actual man — the active method plays a
determinative role. The share of the active method of gaining information gradually
increases when moving from one phase to another. I will emphasize — gradual in-
crease, which becomes possible only in the case of an increase in the volume and
quality of passive information.

Let us now determine some concepts: what are passive and active methods of
information gaining?

2.10. The passive information growth as the necessary condition
for man’s development as a reasoning creature

The passive method of information gaining means that the information received
by man is an experience accumulated and kept by a clan, tribe, people or nation for
many generations in the form of personal experience, legends, epics, knowledge and
skills passed on from generation to generation orally or in writing. The active method
of information gaining means a method whereby man receives information through
his personal experience when applying knowledge and skills which he acquired from
the previous generations and direct ancestors.
New information which a person accumulates, using the active method, when
being transmitted to others, enlarges the amount of passive information accumulated
by a clan, tribe, people, nation or human civilization as a whole. Thus, a gradual in-

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