Charles Darwin theory only promoted the concept of ‘Survival of the fittest’. Everything in life whether be it in a singing competition or TV shows like American Idol, Ripley’s believe it or not(where a man eats cockroaches to survive his day), everything is related to man which adds meaning to his survival. Every day is a survival day, each day he/she has to go through some task to prove himself to be survival of the fittest animal. But, here is the list of basic things without which a man cannot survive.
1. Food
Human survival is least possible if there is no consumption of food. Food is meant for survival and also for producing energy. Survival food is meant to keep the human body struggling for longer period of time to work and do muscle powered work. Not only does food provides with essential nutrients like vitamin, carbohydrate, protein to sustain our body in the long run. Each of these nutrients are broken down within our body so that energy is produced and just like a running engine requires coal till the coal is burnt to produce steam which keeps the engine running.
2. Water
Water is the most important criteria to keep the human evolution running. Life without water, is like life without oxygen. Humans need water to live, plain and simple. We lose water through sweat, urine,waste materials and even breathing. Water is the only source which is used to make the organs of our body keep running. Especially kidney is one of the most vital organs and the water flushes away the waste from the whole body and removes heat and waste material as such. Even the food we have needs water to get it digested. Even if you don’t want to have water, your body will demand for water when you are thirsty , that is the signal which signals that our body needs water. A man can survive without food for weeks but without water, it becomes miserable.
3. Shelter
As per Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: shelter (what we in today’s modern sense call it home/house) is one the important basic need for the survival of human beings from natural elements and from other hazardous elements whether being it a living or non-living being. When man was not a a man, but a ape, it was the basic instinct of every human or for any being to protect himself and one of his own members. If all the needs including food, water and shelter, these are the basic need which motivates us to do any kind of work and also help us for self actualization. A man can survive in any place whether be it a cave, on the top of mountain building a tent . that’s all we (humans) need to keep us going no matter what.
4. Land
One cannot keep a man out of the land. Land provides for enough space to live oneself in some way or the other. These are the list of resources which are essentially needed to be produced : food, water , shelter . It is not a delusion but without land even four legged animals cannot survive. Tribes who live their lives of primary times but they also need land to sustain themselves. Land is the basic need for the civilization of man. That is how land has helped us to grow out from the primitive cocoon and become a MAN. That is why we are not yet scavengers. Land which earlier helped us to grow agriculture but it today has helped us to become a CAPITALIST animal.
5. Interaction with other beings
To quote Aristotle “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ” these words are enough to make us believe that man cannot live alone. Human nature is such that one cannot live without interacting with other beings and man always wants a company and without which he cannot think, play, work and develop. That is what makes man a modern animal.
6. Power
Human beings cannot survive in darkness. However, man needs power to keep his day and his work going, for example solar energy, wind , water ,wood over which men are very much dependent. You need water to make hydro electricity, you need wind to run wind mills, wood to cook food and of course now we have the sustainable form of energy which is solar panels and solar cookers. Earlier men were dependent on these but these are essentials of any human life without which you cannot think of a life.
7. Medicines
Medicines are the ones which cures us and it may be in the form of herbs or chemically synchronised for better and faster effect. Even primitive men are also dependent on some kind of herbs or plant medicines which cures the injury or any other ailment. Because without health there is no wealth.
8. Partner
Every one needs a partner , a partner who will be there till the time you are alive. Because as said man is a social animal, and he needs some kind of support to keep him going in his life. Things get hard, when one cannot show his/her expression to his near and dear ones, he feels frustrated and lonely in his life. We live in a society where we happen to stay in groups , interact, share ideas, thoughts, emotions without which this world would have become beastly or just ‘Zombies’.
9. Security
In the words of Helen Keller: “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” So which will it be for you? Have you chosen the daring adventure, or have you chosen the nothing?
As an individual we have our own rights and there is always fear of infringement of our rights and there is always the possibility of our rights to get infringed and that is why we need personal security which has altogether become a social security. That is why there always a need for such institutions like police, bureaucracy for need of protecting ourselves from such consequences. Man is a social animal, but every man has his own rights which must be protected by someone or by some institutions established by man himself. Because today’s scenario, if go to some place and when you return back from any place and you find a intruder in your house can be a frightening experience and might harm you in return if you try not to let him escape. That is how we go for self-actualization and self motivation , so I think the theory of Hellen Keller does really work here.
10. Survival psychology: Mental attitude
We live in a ‘fast food’ life , it is a natural human tendency to ‘either fight or flight’ the situation and without which no man can be called the “ survival of the fittest” , no matter what how hard the conditions may be , it is the basic instinct within the man’s mind to face any obstacle. Research has shown that toll of stress can be reversed by positive mental attitude and not only that but also positive thinking , emotions are the factors which increases the chances of survival. There are many ways by which people attain the positive mental attitude , some by virtue of religious performance, others by watching funny movies or eating too much in a day. No matter what, man always finds a way for himself to fight any situation that comes in its way.
Leave a Reply