PERSIAN EVOLUTIONARY THEORY 600 YEARS BEFORE DARWIN TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE SPIRIT AND LEARNING

Nasir al-Din Tusi was born in 1201, in what is now Iran; Was one of the great minds of his time: he stood out as a philosopher as an architect, but also studied architecture, astronomy, chemistry, biology, mathematics, medicine and theology, and is considered one of the last great Persian thinkers.

In addition to being one of the most prolific Persian writers and considered the father of trigonometry, Tusi published definitive Arabic versions of the works of Euclid, Archimedes, Ptolemy, and other pre-Socratic philosophers. This diversity and depth of interest make it one of the forerunners of modern science, as we can attest to read a few fragments of his work Akhlaq-i-Nasri ( Ethics nasírea ), where we found a theory of evolution of species Precedes 600 years to that of Darwin.

In the tradition of natural philosophy, Tusi begins by saying that the universe began as similar elements that became more complex until matter developed from contact with other contradictory elements. Thus plants, minerals, and animals arose, among them humans. It is at this point that the similarities with Darwin become interesting, for it is an early theory of kinship. Tusi writes:

The organisms that can get the new features with greater speed are more varied. As a result, they gain an advantage over other creatures ... Bodies are changing as a result of internal and external interactions.

In discussing the adaptation of organisms to their environment, Tusi points out that some of them have "real weapons", whether they are "horns like spears, teeth, and claws like knives," or "the spines and prongs of some animals similar to Arrows ". But, on the contrary, the survival of others less armed depends on the order of their community, "for example, bees, ants and some species of birds have joined in communities to protect themselves and help one another."

The fundamental difference between animals and plants, for Tusi, is that

The reason is the most beneficial feature for animals. Thanks to reason, they can learn new things and adopt new skills that are not inherent to them. For example, the trained horse or falcon falconry are at a much higher level of development in the animal world. The first steps of human perfection begin here.

It is interesting to note that Tusi does not place the human being as a kind of "master and master" of animals, but he understands the human as a degree of development perfected from the animal. He even probably refers to anthropoid apes as the "humans of western Sudan," who are closest to animals "for their habits, customs and behavior," although it may also be human groups. 

These differences and human-animal similarities are complemented by the

Humans have characteristics that distinguish them from other creatures, but it has other characteristics that unite it with the animal world, the vegetal kingdom and even with the inanimate bodies. [...] Before [the creation of humans], all the differences between organisms were of natural origin. The next step will be associated with spiritual perfection, will, observation and knowledge [...]. All these facts prove that the human being is halfway up the evolutionary ladder. According to its inherent nature, the human is related to inferior beings, and only with the help of his will can he reach higher levels of 

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