Vernadsky's doctrine of the noosphere is a creative thought. a photo

The doctrine of the noosphere combines many paradigms from seemingly having little in common disciplines: philosophy, economics, geology. What is the uniqueness of this concept?

The history of the term

About what the noosphere is, the French mathematician Edouard Leroy first told the world in his publications in 1927. A few years earlier, he had listened to several lectures by the eminent Russian scientist Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky concerning problems in the field of geochemistry (and also biogeochemistry). The noosphere is a special state of the biosphere, in which the key role belongs to the human mind. Man, using the intellect, creates a "second nature" along with the existing one.

However, at the same time, it is itself a part of nature. Therefore, the noosphere is still the result of evolution occurring along the following chain: the development of the planet - the biosphere - the emergence of man - and, finally, the emergence of the noosphere. At the same time, in the concepts of V. I. Vernadsky, according to researchers, there is no clear answer to the question: "Does the noosphere already exist, or is it just to appear?" The scientist, however, suggested that at the time when his granddaughter becomes an adult, the human mind, its creativity, most likely, will flourish and reveal itself to the fullest. And this can become an indirect sign of the emergence of the noosphere.

Vernadsky's concept

Vernadsky's doctrine of the noosphere, according to scientists, was connected precisely with that section of "evolution" when the biosphere turns into the noosphere. Vladimir Ivanovich in his book "Scientific Thought as a Planetary Phenomenon" writes that the transition from the biosphere to the noosphere is possible when this process is influenced by scientific thought.

In addition, the researchers note, Vernadsky singled out several conditions for the emergence of the noosphere. Among them, for example, the complete settlement of the planet by people (and in this case there will simply be no place for the biosphere). It is also the improvement of means of communication and information exchange between people from different parts of the planet (and this is already there thanks to the Internet). The noosphere may arise when the geology of the Earth will be more dependent on man than on nature.

Concepts of scientists-followers

Scientists from various fields, having learned the teachings of Vernadsky and his associates about what the noosphere is, created several concepts that develop the initial postulates of the Russian researcher. According to A. D. Ursula, for example, the noosphere is a system where the moral mind, values associated with the intellect, humanism will manifest themselves in the first place. In the noosphere, according to Ursul, humanity lives in harmony with nature, in the mode of joint participation in evolutionary processes.

If Vernadsky's doctrine of the noosphere implies the predominant disappearance of the biosphere, then, as modern researchers note, the concepts of the authors of today contain the theses that the noosphere and the biosphere are likely to exist simultaneously. One of the possible criteria for the presence of the noosphere - according to modern scientists - may be the achievement of the limit of human development, the maximum level of improvement of socio-economic institutions. There is an imperative of higher moral and cultural values.

The connection between the noosphere and man

Man and the noosphere are connected in the most direct way. It is thanks to the actions of a person and the direction of his mind that the noosphere appears (Vernadsky's teaching speaks precisely about this). There is a special era in the development of the geology of the planet. Man, having created a specific environment for himself, takes part of the functions of the biosphere. People replace the natural, what is already in nature, with the artificial. There is an environment where technology plays a significant role.

There are landscapes created also with the help of various types of machines controlled by people. Is it true to say that the noosphere is the sphere of the human mind? A number of researchers believe that human activity does not always depend on their understanding of how the world works. People tend to act, experimenting, making mistakes. Reason, if one adheres to this concept, will rather be a factor in the improvement of technology as such, but not a condition for a rational impact on the biosphere in order to turn it into a noosphere.

Anthroposphere and technosphere

The theory of the noosphere in the works of a number of scientists is closely intertwined with two other terms. First, it is the “anthroposphere”. The concept denotes the role and place of a person, as well as his activities in space. The anthroposphere is a set of material spheres of the planet's life, for the development of which only man is responsible. Secondly, it is the "technosphere". There are two interpretations of the essence of the term. According to the first, this phenomenon is a special case of the interpretation of the anthroposphere.

The technosphere is a set of areas of human life in which technology is involved. It can be both the planet itself and space. According to the second interpretation, the technosphere is that part of the biosphere that changes due to human technological intervention. By the way, there is a group of scientists who identify the technosphere and the noosphere, and there are researchers in whose understanding the technosphere is an intermediate link between the biosphere and the noosphere.

noospheric thinking

Along with the concept of "noosphere" there is a term associated with a special type of thinking. It appeared relatively recently. We are talking about noospheric thinking. It, according to a number of researchers, is characterized by several specific features. The most important of them is the high degree of criticality. Next is the internal attitude of a person to improve the biosphere, to create material benefits that contribute to this. An important part of noospheric thinking is the priority of the public over the personal (especially in solving scientific problems). This is the desire to solve unusual and unsolved problems by anyone. Another component of noospheric thinking is the desire to understand the essence of the processes that occur in nature and society.

Noospheric education

There is an opinion among scientists that not every person is naturally predisposed to noospheric thinking. Many people do not even know what the noosphere is. However, the researchers believe that a person can be taught the art of mastering this type of thinking. This should take place within the framework of the so-called noospheric formation. The main emphasis in training here is placed on the capabilities of the human brain.

According to the theorists of noospheric education, people must learn to stimulate the emergence of positive aspirations in themselves, a craving for harmony with the outside world, a desire to understand the objective essence of the processes taking place in society. If positive aspirations, as the creators of this concept believe, are brought into politics and the solution of economic problems, then humanity will take a huge step forward.

Teilhard de Chardin's concept

In the treatise "The Phenomenon of Man", the French scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin put forward several topics affecting such a phenomenon as the noosphere. Briefly describe them as follows: man has become not just an object of evolution, but also its engine. According to the concepts of the scientist, the main source of reason is reflection, the ability of a person to know himself. The theory of Teilhard de Chardin and the concept of Vernadsky are united by the hypothesis of the appearance of man. Both scientists believe that people have become special and different from other living beings due to the awareness of themselves as individuals. The fundamental difference between the understanding of the noosphere according to Teilhard de Chardin is that he operates with such categories as "superman" and "cosmos".

When can the biosphere turn into the noosphere?

The doctrine of the noosphere is closely connected with the biosphere. As mentioned above, the transition from one sphere to another can occur in the mode of special evolution. According to a common definition, the biosphere is a system that ensures the life of the planet. Living organisms live in it, their activity affects the turnover of various elements and chemicals. In the course of natural evolution, the biosphere prepared a springboard for the emergence of human civilization: people received agricultural crops and minerals for use.

In the course of the development, in turn, of human civilization, they acquired the tools with which they were able to influence the biosphere. Among scientists there is a version that for some time this influence was insignificant - the needs of people amounted to no more than 1% of the resources of the biosphere. But as this figure increased, an imbalance developed: the biosphere gradually lost the ability to provide a person with everything necessary in full. People were faced with the need to get what the biosphere could not give on their own. And when this amount of self-sufficiency will be such that a person will stop using the resources of the biosphere, then the noosphere will appear.

The value of the doctrine of the noosphere for science

Vernadsky's doctrine of the noosphere had a very serious impact on the understanding of civilizational processes among researchers of various profiles. Knowing what the noosphere is (or at least getting closer to understanding this phenomenon), modern scientists have at their disposal a valuable tool that allows them to construct models for the development of the planet in the future. Approximately the way Vernadsky succeeded, who actually predicted the emergence of the Internet and some socio-economic achievements. Concepts about the noosphere of the early 20th century give modern scientists the key to understanding evolution. The very first signs indicating the possible appearance of the noosphere were already on Earth during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic times. Since then, human activity associated with the impact on the biosphere has only increased. It became a powerful impetus for the transformation of the biosphere to the noosphere in the 19th century, today the Internet is an equally influential factor. It is quite possible that even more advanced means of communication and technology await mankind.

And the total inconvenient land for agriculture is considered to be about 11.85 * 10 6 square meters. km. Convenient land 9.53 10 6 sq. km. Thus, a large part of our country is outside the boundaries of modern agriculture, or is counted as unsuitable for agriculture * 3) . But this area can be significantly improved and reduced. The plan of state land reclamation works according to L. I. Prasolov* 4) will increase it by approximately 40%. Obviously, this is not the end of possibilities, and there can hardly be any doubt that, if humanity finds it necessary or desirable, it could develop an energy that would capture the entire land area for agriculture, and perhaps even more 29 1).

Section 112 . We still have in China intensive agriculture, which has developed over generations, * 2) which existed in a fairly stationary form in a state of vast area - about 11 million square meters. km - more than 4000 years. Undoubtedly, the area of the state at that time changed, but the developed system and the skill of agriculture were preserved and changed the surrounding life and nature. Only very recently, in our century, this mass of the population is in an unstable movement and the skills of many thousands of years are being destroyed. For China, we can talk about a plant civilization (Goodnow) * 3) . In countless generations, for more than 4 thousand years, remaining in general continuously in place, the population changed the country and in its way of life merged with the surrounding nature. It is likely that most of the agricultural products are obtained here, and yet the population is under the eternal threat of malnutrition * 4) . More than three quarters of the population are farmers. “Most of China is an old country of established agriculture, with soil cultivated so close to the economic limit that large crops are difficult to secure. The Chinese are deeply rooted in the earth... The most characteristic element of the Chinese landscape is not the soil, not the vegetation, not the climate, but the population. Everywhere there are human beings. In this old land, one can hardly find a place that has not been changed by man and his activities. Just as life has been deeply changed by the influence of its surroundings, so it is equally true that man has transformed and changed nature and given it a human imprint. The Chinese landscape is a biophysical totality, the parts of which are as closely related as a tree and the soil in which it grows. Man is so deeply rooted in the earth that a single, all-encompassing totality is created - not man and nature as separate phenomena, but a single organic whole” 30 . And in spite of such unceasing, indefatigable work of many thousands of years, slightly more than 20 per cent of China's area is occupied by agriculture, 31 the rest of the area can be improved for such a large and naturally rich country by government measures that have become possible only with the level of science of our time. Through many thousands of years of work of the population in the space of 3,789,330 km 2, an average of 126.3 people live per square kilometer. This is almost the limit figure for the maximum use of the area of agriculture. This, as Cressy rightly points out, would be something like a culminating formation from an ecological botanical point of view. “Here we have an ancient stabilized civilization that uses the resources of nature to their limits. Until new external forces bring about change, small and internal displacements take place here.

“The Chinese landscape is as long in time as it is vast in space, and the present is the product of long ages. Probably more human beings lived on the plains of China than anywhere else in a similar space on Earth. Literally trillions* of men and women have contributed to the contours of the hills and valleys and to the arrangement of the fields. The very dust is animated by their legacy.” This 4,000-year-old culture, before it took its stabilized form, had to go through the stages of a more formidable and tragic past, for the past of China's nature went in a completely different environment, among a completely different nature, among humid forests and swamps, to conquer and lead to a cultural the kind that - to destroy the forests and defeat their animal population - needed ten thousand years. Recent discoveries show us that at the same time that in Europe man was experiencing the movements of ice masses, in China a culture was being created under the conditions of the pluvial period**. Obviously, the roots of the irrigation system, thanks to which the agriculture of China exists, are rooted far in history, 20 thousand years and more. Until the end of the XX century. such a biocenosis could exist in a certain balance. But it could only exist because China was to a certain extent isolated, that from time to time the population was thinned out by murders, by dying of hunger and starvation, and by floods; irrigation works were weak to cope with the strength of rivers such as the Yellow River. Now all this is quickly fading into the past.

In China, we see the last example of a solitary civilization that has lived for millennia. We see that at the beginning of the 18th century, when Chinese science stood high, he stood at a historical turning point and missed the opportunity to join world science at the right moment. He joined it only in the second half of the 19th century.

Section 113. Agriculture could manifest itself as a geological force and change the surrounding nature only when cattle breeding appeared simultaneously with it, that is, when, simultaneously with the selection and cultivation of the plants he needed for life, a person chose and began to breed the animals he needed. Man unconsciously performed geological work by this, causing greater reproduction of certain types of plant and animal organisms, creating for himself always available concentrated food and providing food for certain types of animals he needed. In pastoralism, he received not only secure food, but increased his muscular strength, which previously allowed him to expand the area occupied by agriculture.

Introduction

Any doctrine, any cult, any confession brings a person closer to the heights of reason and spirit, but each type of intellectual and creative activity has its limits; each of them is necessary, but a form of universal self-understanding is also necessary, which in no way would mean the abolition or limitation of particular forms. Such a form of knowledge and methodology is the doctrine of the "Noosphere", which can and should become a universal scientific platform of the third millennium. The doctrine of the Noosphere is global; it does not fit into any national or confessional framework, nor does it fit into the framework of formations known so far.

Interest in the concept of Vernadsky, which has increased significantly in the last 15-20 years, in our opinion, is due to the fact that at the end of the 20th century, modern civilization faced serious environmental, demographic, raw materials, spiritual, moral problems. They showed a real threat to the planet's biosphere and human society. For the first time in the history of mankind, these problems were not the result of the elements, but the logical result of the inability or unwillingness of mankind to resolve the acute contradictions between modern society and the surrounding nature, which, by definition, is its habitat.

In our work, we will consider the general concept of the noosphere, the significance of science and technology as formations of the noosphere, as well as issues related to the conditions for the formation and existence of the noosphere in terms of the development of scientific and technical thought of mankind.

All references in this work are given according to the edition: V.I. Vernadsky. About science. T.1. scientific knowledge. Scientific creativity. Scientific thought. - Dubna: "Phoenix", 1997. - 576 p. – (Part 3. Scientific thought as a planetary phenomenon. – P. 303-538)

1. Brief description of the noosphere

The doctrine of the noosphere arose within the framework of cosmism - a philosophical doctrine of the inseparable unity of man and the cosmos, man and the universe, of the regulated evolution of the world. The concept of the noosphere as an ideal, “thinking” shell flowing around the globe, the formation of which is associated with the emergence and development of human consciousness, was put into circulation at the beginning of the 20th century by French scientists P. Teilhard de Chardin and E. Lehrtz. The merit of V.I. Vernadsky lies in the fact that he gave this term a new, materialistic content. And today, by the noosphere, we understand the highest stage of the biosphere, associated with the emergence and development of mankind, which, knowing the laws of nature and improving technology, begins to exert a decisive influence on the course of processes on Earth and in near-Earth space, changing them with its activity.

In the works of V.I. Vernadsky, you can find different definitions and ideas about the noosphere, which changed throughout the life of a scientist. IN AND. Vernadsky began to develop this concept from the beginning of the 30s after the development of the doctrine of the biosphere. Realizing the enormous role and importance of man in the life and transformation of the planet, the Russian scientist used the concept of "noosphere" in different senses:

1) as a state of the planet, when a person becomes the largest transformative geological force;

2) as an area of active manifestation of scientific thought as the main factor in the restructuring and change of the biosphere.

The noosphere can be characterized as the unity of "nature" and "culture". Vernadsky himself spoke of it either as a reality of the future, or as a reality of our days, which is not surprising, since he thought in terms of geological time. The biosphere has repeatedly passed into a new evolutionary state - notes V. I. Vernadsky. New geological manifestations arose in it, which had not been before. It was, for example, in the Cambrian, when large organisms with calcium skeletons appeared, or in the Tertiary time (maybe the end of the Cretaceous), 15-80 million years ago, when our forests and steppes were created and the life of large mammals developed. We are experiencing this even now, over the past 10-20 thousand years, when a person, having developed a scientific thought in the social environment, creates a new geological force in the biosphere, which was not in it. The biosphere has passed or, rather, is moving into a new evolutionary state - into the noosphere - being processed by the scientific thought of social humanity. [WITH. 315]

Thus, the concept of "noosphere" appears in two aspects:

1. the noosphere in its infancy, developing spontaneously from the moment of the appearance of man;

2. developed noosphere, consciously formed by the joint efforts of people in the interests of the all-round development of all mankind and each individual.

According to V.I. Vernadsky, the noosphere is just being created, arises as a result of a real, material transformation of the Earth's geology by man through the efforts of thought and labor.

2. Science as the formation of the noosphere

Vernadsky believed that scientific thought is the same naturally inevitable, natural phenomenon that arose in the course of the evolution of living matter, like the human mind, it develops in the same polar vector of time and can neither turn back nor completely stop, melting in itself the potential for development is virtually limitless. We note how science strongly and profoundly activates the change in the Earth's biosphere, it changes the situations of life, geological movements, and the energy of the globe. Hence, scientific thought is a natural phenomenon. “At the moment we are experiencing the creation of a new geological force, scientific thought, the influence of living society in the evolution of the biosphere sharply increases. The biosphere, processed by the scientific thought of Homo Sapiens, passes into its new state - into the noosphere. It is necessary to emphasize the inseparable connection between the creation of the noosphere and the growth of scientific thought, which is the first necessary prerequisite for this creation, the noosphere can be created only under this condition.

The appearance of the mind and the result of its activity - science - is the main fact in the formation of the planet. Scientific activity has now acquired such features as a rapid pace, scale, depth of research, and the power of ongoing reorganizations.

Thus, “the scientific thought of mankind, working only in the biosphere, in the course of its manifestation, eventually turns it into the noosphere, geologically embraces it with reason. Only now has it become possible to scientifically isolate the biosphere, which is the main field of knowledge, from the surrounding reality. [WITH. 433]

I would like to draw attention to one little-known side of the scientific heritage of V.I. Vernadsky - his ideas about the cyclical dynamics of science, periodic explosions of scientific creativity.

During the explosion of scientific creativity, there is a deepening differentiation of the humanities, reflecting the inexhaustible versatility of human existence and movement: “The closer the scientific coverage of reality to man, the volume, diversity, and depth of scientific knowledge inevitably increase. The number of humanities is constantly growing, the number of which is theoretically infinite, for science is the creation of man, his scientific creativity and his scientific work; There are no limits to the search for scientific thought...” [S.433-434].

A pessimistic attitude towards the possibilities of science and its future is now in vogue. This is not accidental, since scientific knowledge is undergoing a state of deep crisis and restructuring. Signs of this crisis were also observed in the first half of the 20th century, but V.I. Vernadsky remained an optimist both about the future of mankind and about the role and place of science in this future, linking his optimism with the formation of the noosphere, embracing all of humanity as a whole. He believed that "fears about the possibility of the collapse of civilization (in the growth and stability of the noosphere) are unfounded" [S. 340]; that “the real situation in our turbulent and bloody time cannot allow the forces of barbarization to develop and defeat. now, we are experiencing, the transition of the biosphere into the noosphere" [S. 342].

IN AND. Vernadsky foresaw the beneficial consequences of the rise of the role of science in society on the way to the establishment of the noosphere: “Although man, Homo sapiens, is a superficial phenomenon in one of the shells of the earth's crust - in the biosphere, but the new geological factor introduced by his appearance in the history of the planet - the mind - is so is great in its consequences and their possibilities, which, it seems to me, can not be objected to the introduction of this factor for geological units along with stratigraphic and tectonic ones. The scale of change is comparable.”

We are approaching a new era in the life of mankind and life on our planet in general, when exact science as a planetary force comes to the fore, penetrating and changing the entire spiritual environment of human societies, when it embraces and changes the technique of life, artistic creativity, philosophical thought, religious a life. This was an inevitable consequence - for the first time on our planet - of the capture by ever-growing human societies, as a single whole, of the entire surface of the Earth, the transformation of the biosphere into the noosphere with the help of the guided human mind.

These are the objective foundations and consequences of noospheric globalization according to Vernadsky and its fundamental difference from the current model of globalization, carried out in the interests of states and leading to further destruction of the natural environment and ecocatastrophe.

According to Vernadsky, the beginnings of scientific knowledge appeared long before the emergence of science as an independent form of human consciousness and activity. "Science," he wrote, "is the creation of life... Science is the manifestation of the action in human society of total human life" [p. 344] "Action is a characteristic feature of scientific thought. Scientific thought, creativity, knowledge go in the midst of life, with which they are continuously connected. And by their very existence they awaken active manifestations in the environment of life, which in themselves are not only disseminators of scientific knowledge, but they also create its innumerable forms of manifestation, evoke an innumerable large and small source of the growth of scientific knowledge.

Science, in his opinion, began to take shape as an independent field of human activity, approximately 5-6 thousand years ago [S. 354]. He considered these data only indicative, requiring clarification and possible adjustment.

According to Vernadsky's theory, a person, having embraced the entire planet with scientific thought, strives to move in the direction of comprehending the Divine laws. Vernadsky focuses on the biosphere and noosphere of the Earth. The biosphere, as the total shell of the Earth, is permeated with life (the sphere of life), naturally, under the influence of the activities of human society, it passes into the noosphere - a new state of the biosphere, which carries the results of human labor. Vernadsky proceeds from the fact that man "is an inevitable manifestation of a large natural process, naturally lasting for at least two billion years" [S. 313].

So, Vernadsky proceeds from the fact that the starting point in the knowledge of the Universe is man, since the emergence of man is connected with the main process of the evolution of cosmic matter. Describing the coming era of the mind at the energy level, Vernadsky points to the evolutionary transition from geochemical processes to biochemical ones, and, finally, to the energy of thought. Human activity is comparable to the action of geological forces. Therefore, a person "must think and act in a new aspect, not only in the aspect of an individual, family or clan, state or their unions, but also in the planetary aspect" [S. 322].

At a certain stage of its development, the biosphere, processed by human scientific thought, turns into the noosphere, an area of human culture closely connected with scientific knowledge. The product of cosmic forces, the noosphere lies outside the space, where it is lost as an infinitely small, and outside the microcosm, where it is absent, as an infinitely large.

Vernadsky perceives the noosphere as a non-entropic factor. The decrease in the rate of the entropy process occurs due to the creation of the biosphere system and its transition into an increasingly self-organizing system of the noosphere. It is the noosphere that gives the cosmos an idea, meaning and purpose. “The “explosion” of scientific thought in the 20th century was prepared by the entire past of the biosphere and has the deepest roots in its structure - it cannot stop and go back. He can only slow down at his pace. The noosphere - the biosphere, reworked by scientific thought, prepared by the process that went on for hundreds of millions, maybe billions of years, that created Homo sapiens faber - is not a short-term and transient geological phenomenon. Processes that have been preparing for many billions of years cannot be transient, cannot stop. It follows from this that the biosphere will inevitably pass one way or another - sooner or later - into the noosphere, i.e. that in the history of the peoples inhabiting it, events will occur that are necessary for this, and not contradictory to this process.

Thus, the breakthrough of scientific thought has been prepared by the entire past of the biosphere and has evolutionary roots.

3. Technosphere and noosphere

The technosphere, the interaction of society and nature, the ecosystem, the scientific and technological revolution are various names or, if you like, synonyms for the object with which Vernadsky's noosphere is identified.

It should be obvious that in his noosphere, as the future abode of knowledge, Vernadsky could not allow the technosphere, where knowledge opposes consciousness, and the most active Protestant here is Homo sapiens faber - the owner of the noosphere, according to Vernadsky. The degree of Vernadsky's rebuff can be determined if we compare the innovative proportions of Vernadsky's knowledge with the understanding of the biosphere, which is present in official geology and which is adapted to the requirements of the modern technosphere, which generates an ecological cataclysm.

The sphere of technology can include not only the use, but also the production of scientific and technical knowledge, i.e. modern technology is inextricably linked with the development of science. Technology is included in an independent sphere of life, namely the technosphere. “The technosphere is understood as a historically conditioned, consciously formed, supported and improved system of relations between man and nature, man and technology, man and man on the basis of a certain technical worldview” . VI Vernadsky believed that the human mind, turning into a planetary geological force, would lead to the ordering of natural and social reality, to more perfect forms of being. As a result of a planned, conscious transformation of the biosphere, its transition to a qualitatively new state, the noosphere will arise. The noosphere is connected with the technosphere, just as the mind is connected with technology, because the mind is a potential technology, and technology is an actual mind.

The main influence of human thought as a geological factor is revealed in its scientific manifestation: it mainly builds and directs the technical work of mankind, remaking the biosphere.

“... With the growth of the application of scientific knowledge to life, to technology, to medicine, to state work, new applied sciences are being created in an even greater number than in new areas of science, new methods are emerging, and new applications are being created extremely [rapidly]. new problems and tasks of technology in its broadest sense are put forward, state funds are being spent on unprecedented amounts, for applied, although essentially scientific, work.

4. Conditions for the formation and existence of the noosphere

Tracing the development of the biosphere, the impact of man on the biosphere, which is gaining geological power, V.I. Vernadsky forms the doctrine of the noosphere as a special period in the development of the planet and the surrounding outer space. The formation of the noosphere is determined by the social and natural activity of a person, his work and knowledge, i.e. those that relate to the cosmoplanetary dimension of man.

The noosphere is a new, evolutionary state of the biosphere, in which the rational activity of a person becomes the decisive factor in its development. IN AND. Vernadsky was convinced that our planet was entering a new stage of its development, in which Homo sapiens as a force on an unprecedented scale would play a decisive role. The gigantic geological activity of mankind is expressed in the fact that now there is no such fast-flowing geological process with which it would be possible to compare the power of mankind, armed with a huge arsenal of all kinds of influences on nature, including fantastic ones, in terms of the power of destructive forces. IN AND. Vernadsky indicated a number of conditions necessary for the formation and existence of the noosphere.

1. Population and habitation by people of the whole planet. "This process - the complete settlement of the biosphere by man - is due to the course of the history of scientific thought, is inextricably linked with the speed of communication, with the success of the technology of movement, with the possibility of instantaneous transmission of thought, its simultaneous discussion everywhere on the planet." [С.321] This condition is feasible, since there is no place left on Earth that has not been subjected to some degree of human influence.

2. Strengthening of communications between all states of the Earth. “Thanks to the success of communication, a person can be inseparably in communication with the whole world, nowhere can he be alone and helplessly get lost in the grandeur of earthly nature.” This condition is also fulfilled. The UN and other international organizations have not yet ensured the unity of mankind in all matters, but their activities have significantly contributed to the rapprochement of the views of the peoples of different countries.

3. Dramatic transformation of means of communication and appearance between countries. Radio, television, faxes, high-speed aviation, radiotelephones, cellular communications, e-mail, the Internet, etc. are used to transmit information. The means of communication are constantly evolving and improving.

4. The predominance of the geological role of man over other geological processes occurring in the biosphere.

“Simultaneously with the complete coverage of the surface of the biosphere by man - his complete settlement of it - closely connected with the successes of scientific thought, that is, with its course in time, a scientific generalization has been created in geology, which scientifically reveals in a new way the nature of the moment of its history experienced by mankind . In the understanding of geologists, the geological role of mankind has developed in a new way. True, the consciousness of the geological significance of his social life was expressed in a less clear form in the history of scientific thought long ago, much earlier. But at the beginning of our century, independently Ch. Schuchert and A.P. Pavlov took into account geologically, in a new way, the long-known change that the emergence of human civilization brings to the surrounding nature, to the Face of the Earth. They considered it possible to accept such a manifestation of Homo sapiens as the basis for distinguishing a new geological era, along with the tectonic and orogenic data that usually determine such divisions. On this basis, they correctly tried to divide the Pleistocene era, defining its end as the beginning of the identification of man (the last hundred or two thousand years - about a few decades ago) and distinguish it into a special geological era - psychozoic, according to Schuchert, anthropogenic - according to A.P. Pavlov.

This condition is fulfilled due to the fact that humanity has become a powerful geological factor influencing all processes occurring in the biosphere.

5. Expansion of the limits of the biosphere, the study of outer space and access to space.

“Man lives in the biosphere, he is inseparable from it. He can only directly explore her with all his senses - he can feel her - her and her objects. He can penetrate beyond the limits of the biosphere only by the constructions of the mind, proceeding from the few relatively countless facts that he can obtain in the biosphere by a visual study of the vault of heaven and by studying in the biosphere reflections of cosmic radiations or cosmic extraterrestrial matter entering the biosphere. Obviously, the scientific knowledge of the Cosmos, which can only be obtained in this way, in terms of diversity and depth of coverage, cannot even be compared with those scientific problems and the scientific disciplines covered by them that correspond to the objects of the biosphere and their scientific knowledge. [p.433-434]

This condition has been met.

6. Discovery of new energy sources.

“We must now say more simply that the source of energy that is captured by the mind in the energy era of human life that we are entering is practically unlimited.” [p.445]

This condition is also met. The energy of atomic decay has been discovered and used. Research is underway to obtain energy from controlled thermonuclear fusion.

7. Equality of people of all races and religions. [p.28, 29]

This condition has not yet been reached. But after the Second World War, the colonial system collapsed. In almost all countries, people of different faiths have equal rights.

8. Strengthening the importance of the people and their opinion in solving political problems. This condition has not yet been reached either.

9. Freedom of scientific thought from the pressure of religious and political sentiments. In most developed countries, science is free from such pressure.

10. Rise in the well-being of the working people. Creating a real opportunity to prevent malnutrition, hunger, poverty and reduce the impact of disease. This condition has not yet been reached.

11. Reasonable transformation and use of the primary nature of our planet. This condition cannot be considered fulfilled.

12. Prevention of wars and violence. “Nowhere do we see any weakening of the scientific movement in the midst of wars, extermination, death of people from murder and disease. All these losses are quickly compensated by a powerful upsurge in the actual achievements of science and the organization of state power and technology embraced by it. [p.339]

This condition has not yet been met. The noosphere is still a rather disharmonious, emerging reality. The ideological meaning of the concept of the noosphere is that a person, through his activity, must continue the logic of the development of the organic world, but at a qualitatively new level.

Conclusion

The noosphere is a shell built on the planet Earth according to the ideas of reason, which includes people, objects of nature processed by people, and objects created according to the ideas of reason and human labor. The noosphere began to be created after the appearance of man on Earth, and at present it has been built, but still needs to be improved. According to V.I.Vernadsky, the era of the noosphere will be the kingdom of the mind, which organizes the development of science, technology, a scientifically based system of nature management and the economy on the principles of democracy, ensuring a happy life for people.

In the noospheric teaching, Man appears rooted in Nature. Summarizing human history from the standpoint of a naturalist, Vernadsky concludes that humanity, in the course of its development, is turning into a new powerful geological force, transforming the face of the planet with its thought and labor. Accordingly, in order to preserve itself, it will have to take responsibility for the development of the biosphere, turning into the noosphere, and this will require from it a certain social organization and a new, ecological and at the same time humanistic ethics.

The value of the teachings of V.I. Vernadsky about the noosphere is that he first realized and tried to implement the synthesis of natural and social sciences in the study of the global activity of man, actively rebuilding the environment. The noosphere, according to the scientist, is already a qualitatively different, higher stage of the biosphere, associated with a radical transformation not only of nature, but also of man himself. Currently, the noosphere is understood as the sphere of interaction between man and nature, within which reasonable human activity becomes the main determining factor in development. In the structure of the noosphere, humanity, social systems, the totality of scientific knowledge, the sum of equipment and technologies in unity with the biosphere can be distinguished as components. The harmonious interconnection of all components of the structure is the basis for the sustainable existence and development of the noosphere.

Great achievements in the natural sciences were made by V.I. Vernadsky. He has many works, and he became the founder of biogeochemistry, a new scientific direction. It is based on the doctrine of the biosphere, which is based on the role of living matter in geological processes.

The essence of the biosphere

To date, there are several concepts of the biosphere, the main among which is the following: the biosphere is the environment for the existence of all living organisms. The region covers most of the atmosphere and ends at the beginning of the ozone layer. The biosphere also includes the entire hydrosphere and some part of the lithosphere. Translated from Greek, the word means “ball” and it is within this space that all living organisms live.

The scientist Vernadsky believed that the biosphere is an organized sphere of the planet, which is in contact with life. He was the first to create a holistic doctrine and revealed the concept of "biosphere". The work of the Russian scientist began in 1919, and already in 1926 the genius presented his book Biosphere to the world.

According to Vernadsky, the biosphere is a space, region, place, which consists of living organisms and their habitat. In addition, the scientist considered the biosphere to be derivative. He argued that it is a planetary phenomenon of a cosmic nature. A feature of this space is the "living matter" that inhabits the space, and also gives a unique look to our planet. Under living matter, the scientist understood all living organisms of the planet Earth. Vernadsky believed that various factors influence the boundaries and development of the biosphere:

living matter;
oxygen;
carbon dioxide;
water in liquid state.

This environment, in which life is concentrated, can be limited by high and low air temperatures, minerals and excessively salty water.

The composition of the biosphere according to Vernadsky

Initially, Vernadsky believed that the biosphere consists of seven different substances, interconnected geologically. These include:

living matter - this element consists of a huge biochemical energy, which is created as a result of the continuous birth and death of living organisms;
bioinert substance - created and processed thanks to living organisms. These elements include soil, fossil fuels, etc.;
inert matter - refers to inanimate nature;
biogenic substance - a set of living organisms, for example, forest, field, plankton. As a result of their death, biogenic rocks are formed;
radioactive substance;
cosmic matter - elements of cosmic dust and meteorites;
scattered atoms.

A little later, the scientist came to the conclusion that the biosphere is based on living matter, which is understood as the totality of living beings interacting with inanimate bone matter. Also in the biosphere there is a biogenic substance that is created with the help of living organisms, and these are mainly rocks and minerals. In addition, the biosphere includes a bio-inert substance, which occurred as a result of the relationship of living beings and inert processes.

Properties of the biosphere

Vernadsky carefully studied the properties of the biosphere and came to the conclusion that the basis of the functioning of the system is the endless circulation of matter and energy. These processes are possible only as a result of the activity of a living organism. Living beings (autotrophs and heterotrophs) create the necessary chemical elements in the course of their existence. So, with the help of autotrophs, the energy of sunlight is converted into chemical compounds. Heterotrophs, in turn, consume the created energy and lead to the destruction of organic substances to mineral compounds. The latter are the foundation for the creation of new organic substances by autotrophs. Thus, there is a cyclic circulation of substances.

It is thanks to the biological cycle that the biosphere is a self-sustaining system. The circulation of chemical elements is fundamental for living organisms and their existence in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and soil.

The main provisions of the doctrine of the biosphere

Vernadsky outlined the key provisions of the doctrine in the works "Biosphere", "Area of Life", "Biosphere and Space". The scientist marked the boundaries of the biosphere, including the entire hydrosphere along with the ocean depths, the earth's surface (the upper layer of the lithosphere) and part of the atmosphere up to the level of the troposphere. The biosphere is an integral system. If one of its elements dies, the biospheric shell will collapse.

Vernadsky was the first of the scientists who began to use the concept of "living matter". He defined life as a phase of the development of matter. It is living organisms that subjugate other processes that occur on the planet.

Characterizing the biosphere, Vernadsky asserted the following propositions:

the biosphere is an organized system;
living organisms are the dominant factor on the planet and they have shaped the present state of our planet;
cosmic energy influences life on earth

Thus, Vernadsky laid the foundations of biogeochemistry and the doctrine of the biosphere. Many of his statements are relevant today. Modern scientists continue to study the biosphere, but they also confidently rely on the teachings of Vernadsky. Life in the biosphere is widespread everywhere and living organisms live everywhere, which cannot exist outside the biosphere.

Conclusion

The works of the famous Russian scientist are spread all over the world and are used in our time. The wide application of Vernadsky's teachings can be seen not only in ecology, but also in geography. Thanks to the works of the scientist, the protection and care of humanity has become one of the most urgent tasks today. Unfortunately, every year there are more and more problems with the environment, which threatens the full existence of the biosphere in the future. In this regard, it is necessary to ensure the sustainable development of the system and minimize the development of negative impacts on the environment.