The image of dead person returning to life was the most ancient source of irrational fear appeared in culture. This conclusion is argued with empirical data from archeology and ethnography. Fear has been expressed in funeral rites, the tying of extremities, burning and dismemberment of dead bodies, and ritual cannibalism etc. At the same time, it was attended by effective care for helpless cripples, which seems to descend to the Lower Paleolithic as well. Dread of posthumous revenge played a decisive (...) regulative role at the earliest stage of anthropogenesis, as the disparity between artificial weapons and natural aggression-retention mechanisms became self-destructive. In the new conditions, individuals with normal animal mind were doomed to catastrophe. Those hominid groups proved viable, in which mystical fear, a product of unnaturally developed imagination, bounded lethal conflicts among kinsmen. The phobias corresponded to the psycho-nervous system's “strategic pathology”; that was a condition for early hominids’ self-preservation. As a result, a causal connection between instrumental potential, cultural regulation quality and social sustainability was formed, which has been a mechanism of social selection for all of human history and prehistory. (shrink)

The authors studied the problem of techno-humanitarian balance. A difference was found in approaches to the study of technological progress and its impact on the development of society. The ideas of transhumanism, existential risk, etc. suggested by Nick Bostrom, David Pearce, etc. provided a utilitarian attitude towards new technologies. The representatives of transhumanism proceeded from the idea that any technology is part of human nature and expanded its presence in life. Nazaretyan’s ideas were based on the opposite premise. Namely, man (...) and technology have a different nature of origin. Hence, the need arises to adapt to a non-native environment and create certain restraining mechanisms. The societies that failed to adapt to the exponential spread of information and communication technologies in time undermined the natural and/or geopolitical foundations of their existence. In turn, the societies that have adapted to new technologies have achieved sustainable development and prosperity. The authors used the comparative method of research, as well as methods of modelling, analysis, and synthesis. The study resulted in the testing of two models of the relationship between society and technology, built on the Nazaretyan hypothesis and the Bostrom concept. The test results proved the effectiveness of the model, built on the concept of Bostrom. The model presents the general dynamic nature of man and technology. (shrink)