The Spirit in Human Evolution - Waldorf Research Institute

What we know of human life histories (which of course only expresses part
of what we understand by human biography) poses a number of questions regarding
human evolution. If we assume that the typical life history itself has evolved, can we
project those same developmental stages, and in particular their timing, onto early
hominids? If the prolonging of childhood has been a key factor in human evolution,
what can the analogy of modern child development tell us about the evolution of
consciousness, memory and the nature of learning itself? I will address the latter aspects
first, which focus on the nature of childhood itself.
Teaching Our Organs
It was Goethe who pointed out that animals are taught by their organs. 58 He
extended his premise to include that humans have the further advantage of being able
to teach their organs. The observation is a simple but profound one. An albatross can
only fly in a certain way because that is how its wings are formed; a lion can only hunt
like a lion; a beaver can only build dams, it cannot apply its engineering skills to other
activities. These animals are superbly efficient at what they do, but they are clearly
limited by the construction of their bodily organs to specific behavioral patterns.
Human organs are firstly, from a morphological point of view, far more primitive
in their development. Compared with the fangs of carnivores or the grinding molars
of ungulates, our teeth are quite undifferentiated, almost infantile. The same can be
said for the human hand or foot. Many of the internal organs, such as liver, lungs,
stomach and kidneys, have very simple forms at birth and only mature in the course
of early childhood. Stephen Jay Gould noted the significance of this aspect for the later
development of higher faculties. He wrote, “Only the morphologically unspecified
among animals have not made inflexible commitments to particular modes of life that
preclude this prerequisite for intelligence.” 59
The point is that, in comparison with the higher animals, humans have to go
through a much longer period of training before they can become self-reliant. Most
animals achieve self-reliance with a minimum of training. The young albatross has only
one chance to succeed in mastering its wings. If it fails on its first flight attempt, it falls
into the hungry jaws of the sharks who have gathered for the occasion. It is true that the
higher animals, the big cats and apes, have to fine tune their hunting or climbing skills
through play and practice, but the basic behavior pattern is predetermined.
Were human behavior to be exclusively determined by bodily functions and
the restrictions of the specialization of our organs, life would be very different. Some
behavior is, of course, strongly influenced by bodily needs, urges or desires. We respond
to hunger, sexual attraction; we can be aggressive or defensive; hormonal changes can
cause mood swings and even, in extreme cases, mental instability and personality change.
Whenever our bodily functions determine our behavior, however, we become less free
and, in a sense, less human. Where human behavior is dominated by un-reflective habit,
instinct or bodily urges, it often takes on an anti-social, perhaps even inhuman form. In
an animal such tendencies are natural and appropriate; in a human being they are only
degrading. Indeed, recent research into primate behavior has given insight not so much
into normal, healthy human behavior as into its more pathological and extreme forms.
_________________________
58
In a letter to W. von Humboldt, March 17, 1832.
59
Gould, S.J., 1985, p15.
165