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Evolution, Agriculture and the Jain Philosophy
Dr. H. K. Jain
When Darwin put forward his theory of evolution in the middle of the 19th century, people all over the world reacted with a feeling of disbelief. They found it difficult to accept the proposition that man had evolved from other animals. Darwin's theory, however, is so well established now that few will question its general validity. What is perhaps more important, our common ancestry with the animals is no longer considered so derogatory. A false sense of pride has been replaced by a better understanding of our origin and of our relationship with other species of animals including the nature of our differences and similarities.
Man and the other species of animals do have a great deal in common in their physiological processes such as the key process of respiration. In spite of these basic physiological and anatomical similarities, we now understand more clearly than ever before that in some ways the human species is unique. The faculty of thinking, which makes it possible for us to conceive ideas and concepts including abstract thoughts, and to communicate them in time and in space, is characteristically a human trait not found in other species. It is this characteristic of the human species which makes us unique and it is this faculty which had led to the development of a trend of thought and action which is very different from anything observed in the course of evolution of millions of other species preceding man. And it is in this context that the Jain philosophy finds a particularly important place and conveys a particularly significant message for the survival and future evolution of man.
Evolution of Man and Human Thought
Man as a distinct species first appeared on earth nearly half a million years ago in the form of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. The modern man, however, has relatively recent history going back only to 40,000 years when Homo sapiens first began to appear. It is the cultural development of this latter species which is of the greatest interest to us today, specially when we consider the entire evolutionary period of more than 3 billion years. The greatest point of interest is that modern man has developed concepts which are in sharp contrast to the behavior of millions of other species of animals that preceded him. The basic Darwinian theory is based on struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. Although, the theory is often misunderstood, and it is not true that the world of animals is always full of strife, it is true that violent behavior is a common feature among animals and even in our immediate ancestors. The Neanderthal man was basically a hunter and gatherer of food. Also, modern man himself gave up hunting for food only about 10,000 years ago when he first started the process of domestication of plants and animals, which gave rise to agriculture.
It is important to recognise that most of the progress in human thought is a consequence of agriculture.
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