The human factor

 

One of the main categories of ergonomics is the human factor. The concept of the "human factor" within the framework of the extremely general level of analysis of social reality is a specifically designated function of a person in the system of social, economic, industrial, organizational, managerial and other relations, i.e. everything that relates to him as a subject of activity in various spheres of public life. The term "human factor" refers to the totality of human characteristics (social, psychological, biological) that manifest themselves in one way or another in their social activities and thus have a certain impact on social processes and their relationships. Linking the social progress of society with the human factor, it is possible to note the essence of this factor – conscious, proactive, creative, creative, transforming themselves and society human potencies. In ergonomics, the human factor appears in a conscious, externally expressed, externalized form of scientific knowledge. A characteristic feature of the human factor is its versatility, as well as its objectivity and consistency. The objective nature of the human factor lies in the fact that it exists independently of the perceivers, as well as non-perceiving subjects. It is immanently inherent in any human society, possessing objective laws, and, therefore, accessible to knowledge. The systemic nature of the human factor consists not only in the fact that it is a multicomponent and complexly organized entity, but also in the fact that it has a dialectically contradictory character, i.e. it manifests itself both positively and negatively.

Linear relationships between the production and social spheres of society are the exception rather than the rule. This is due to the fact that the results of production activities are extremely diverse, they cannot be limited only by quantitative characteristics. Along with the product, in the process of social production, creative abilities of the individual are created and reproduced, as well as socio-economic conditions that ensure their implementation in all spheres of life: economics, politics, science, ideology. The technocratic interpretation of the concept of the "human factor" diminishes the active role of man in modern production, reducing him to complete dependence on technology. Nevertheless, the very concept of a factor acts as a cause and a driving force, as a means of achieving some results. This factor, not being able to universally express the essential human connections with nature and society, fixes certain aspects of these connections, being inseparable from activity in its content.

At the level of the human-machine-environment system, human factors are integral characteristics of the relationship between a person, a machine, an object of activity, and an environment that manifest themselves when they interact in the system. In the concept of human factors, it is not the individual features of the system components that are fixed, but its cumulative qualities. In relation to the properties of its components, human factors are a kind of second-order qualities that arise as a result of integration, the embodiment into a single whole of the natural qualities that characterize the environment, the objective qualities inherent in the machine and the object of activity, as well as the social qualities inherent in humans. The presence of a human in the "man-machine-environment" system does not mean that human factors are initially set. In each specific system, human factors are determined based on a preliminary analysis of the tasks of the system, the functions of the person in it, the type and nature of his activities. Since, with the increasing complexity of technology, the controlling role of man is limited, within the framework of the principle of the functional approach, human factors represent the properties of the "man-machine-environment" system, determined by the position and role of man in it, i.e. a set of anthropometric, psychophysiological and psychological properties and characteristics that determine the mutual adaptation of man with the machine and the environment.

These properties and features can be identified if there is fundamental knowledge about the characteristics and capabilities of a person. The following human characteristics are considered as the main ones: – mental functions; – psychophysiological characteristics (capabilities of analyzers, sensorimotor processes, vegetative reactions); – anthropometric (strength, mass, body size); – hygienic (perception of environmental factors). The psyche is a property of highly organized matter, which consists in the active reflection of the objective world by the subject, in the construction by the subject of an inalienable picture of this world and self-regulation on this basis of his behavior and activity (Psychology. Dictionary / under the general editorship of A.V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. Moscow, 1990). The complexity of information processing processes in modern human-machine-environment systems necessitates the study of mental functions describing human intellectual activity. Mental functions are the functions of the human brain. A huge amount of scientific research has been devoted to the study of the brain, the central part of the nervous system of humans and animals, using, in particular, methods of comparative analysis. The results of these studies are of particular interest.

Mental functions are the functions of the human brain. A huge amount of scientific research has been devoted to the study of the brain, the central part of the nervous system of humans and animals, using, in particular, methods of comparative analysis. The results of these studies are of particular interest. It is known that our DNA differs from chimpanzee DNA by only a few percent in terms of composition and number of structural elements. This confirms the conclusion that we are one genus (not even a species) of animals. At the same time, the brain of a modern chimpanzee has a mass of 350-400 g, and the accepted minimum norm for humans is 1300-1400 g. Neanderthals had the same brain as Cro-Magnons (and in some cases even more), and used the same tools. The life expectancy of Neanderthals was about 20-23 years, Cro–Magnons - up to 26 years. The question arises: why did the Cro-Magnons become our ancestors? Today, two theories of their transformation into humans are being considered. According to Machiavelli, intelligence appeared to enhance a person's status in a group. According to another theory, sexual selection, intelligence evolved as a means of attracting sexual partners. Both theories complement each other: the process of humanization is associated with a special structure of family relations. About 4.5 million years ago, our ancestors began to develop social monogamy. Permanent married couples arose in which males supplied females with food according to the sex-in-exchange-for-food system. Today, this mechanism is well manifested in "status" consumption. When we see a naked girl in a Ferrari advertisement, this is a reference to a behavioral code that arose long before the emergence of man.

To raise his status in the group, he had to be smarter, more cunning than the others. After several generations, the average level of social intelligence in the population increased. Moreover, social abilities developed first, and then all the others. The advantage of one person over another was the desire to understand the motives of his fellow tribesmen, to anticipate their reactions and the ability to accomplish what they wanted. As a result, the size of the brain increases, and behavior becomes more complex. Eventually, culture appears, and it already turns into an additional factor of evolution. If a society has its own laws, rituals, and traditions, then only they, the people whose brains gave rise to their culture, have a chance of procreation. The first qualitative leap related to the mass of the human brain occurred about 2.5 million years ago due to the transition to walking upright and a change in the center of gravity in the body. When walking straight, the load on the fracture of the spine decreased, which made it possible to make the head heavier. Brain mass increased when teeth decreased with the transition to omnivorousness and less coarse food (often subjected to heat treatment).

At the end of the early Upper Paleolithic, the brain stopped growing, and about 10,000 years ago (at the beginning of the last warming period) it began to show a tendency to decrease due to the complication of its structure at the cellular level. The frontal lobe, responsible for memory, consciousness, and social relationships, increased most actively. In addition to human memory, it is responsible for other higher functions, such as the ability to abstraction and compassion.