The evolution of consciousness - part of the overall process of historical development of humanity
Human mental processes have characteristic historical features that arise from the peculiar conditions of life and social practice of each historical era. These features are determined by the system of social relations, under the influence of which a person exists from the very first steps of their life, and the system of language through which they express their thoughts and feelings. A whole range of mental processes could not have developed outside the corresponding forms of social life. These fundamental ideas of psychological science open new perspectives for history in studying the behavior of people in the past, in explaining the historical process and its details.
The evolution of consciousness is part of the overall process of historical development of humanity and occurs in accordance with the laws of this process. Therefore, during the evolution, consciousness goes through several stages that roughly correspond to the main stages of societal development: mythological, mystical, or archaic consciousness, characteristic of pre-class society; traditional or religious consciousness, developing in pre-capitalist agrarian society; urban or rational consciousness, emerging in industrial society.
Since all functions of consciousness are based on cognitive processes—sensation, perception, imagination, memory, thinking—it is natural that cognitive processes form the basis for the typology of historical consciousness.
Let us first characterize the urban type of consciousness, which is generally possessed by a modern adult who has received a systematic education. This type is needed primarily as a standard for comparison. This type of consciousness has the following features:
1. A person's thought goes far beyond immediate experience, relying on a wide range of logical reasoning and creative imagination, which immeasurably expands the inner world of the person;
2. A person completely distinguishes themselves from the surrounding environment—nature, social group, or society—and opposes themselves to nature and society as a subject to an object;
3. Feeling themselves as the subject of their actions and perceiving the surrounding environment as an object of influence, a person strives to transform and change the surrounding world according to their needs, goals, and ideals;
4. A person fully engages in goal-setting activities. In society, there are people endowed with will who consciously pursue specific goals, aware of their belonging to a particular class or group, and highly capable of organizing their activities and anticipating its results;
5. An individual is capable of self-awareness and self-analysis, evaluating their knowledge, moral character, interests, ideals, and motives for behavior, as well as a holistic assessment of themselves as an agent, a feeling and thinking being. This is characteristic not only of individuals and personalities but also of society, classes, and social groups, as they rise to an understanding of their position in the system of social and productive relations, their common interests and ideals.
The 20th century - the time of the forced transition of the Kyrgyz from a tribal way of life to the Soviet system