1. Activity as a way of being human

Human society differs from all natural formations in that it possesses such specific form interaction with the outside world as a human activity. In social science, activity is a complex and multifaceted category that includes many aspects of human interaction with the world.

Activity is a form of human activity aimed at transforming the world around him and himself.

Human activity - this is the activity of specific individuals, which takes place either in open collectivity - among the people around them, together with them and in interaction with them, or face to face with the surrounding objective world - in front of a potter's wheel or at a writing table. However, in whatever conditions and forms a person's activity proceeds, whatever structure it acquires, it cannot be regarded as removed from social relations, from the life of society. For all its uniqueness, the activity of the human individual is a system included in the system of social relations. Outside of these relations, human activity does not exist at all. How it is carried out is determined by the forms and means of material and spiritual communication that are generated by the development of production and which cannot be realized otherwise than in the activities of specific people.

At the same time, the activity of each individual person depends on his place in society, on the conditions that fall to his lot, on how it develops in unique individual circumstances.

For a person, society is not only the external environment, to which he is forced to adapt in order not to be unadapted and to survive, in exactly the same way as an animal is forced to adapt to the external natural environment. The main thing is that in society a person finds not just external conditions to which he must adapt his activities, but that these social conditions themselves carry the motives and goals of his activities, means and methods, in a word, society produces the activity of the individuals forming it.

2. Features of human activity

Unlike animals, human activity is transformative. For humans, as well as for animals, adaptive behavior is inherent. So, at the early stages of its development, humanity adapted to the climatic, geographical conditions of its existence.In those distant times, a change in the river bed, or, conversely, flooding of fields by rivers, could significantly change the life of a particular people, the nature and types of its economic activity.

It took humanity a lot of time and effort in order to conquer nature and subordinate it to its goals and needs. People have learned to build complex irrigation systems, canals, dams, sluices. The natural element has become subject to man. Therefore, a man, unlike animals, not only adapts to nature, but also transforms it through his activity.

The next difference between humans and animals is that people do not have an innate program of activity, cannot transmit it to their descendants by genetic means. Smell does not lead a person to food, mechanical skill does not induce nest building. German enlightener Herder called man the most helpless and unadapted to life of all living beings. Many of the first human populations perished; only those survived that managed to develop a new non-biological way of organizing their existence. The need for constant change in methods, behavior, forms of activity, mental attitudes became a condition for survival.

A person independently and in his lifetime had to develop programs for his activities, select the best options and pass them on to his descendants. How could he do this? Through objectified (i.e., separated from their creators) products of their activities. Thoughts of people, their ideas, knowledge and experience acquire an objective existence in things and objects of material culture and in such formations as language, mythology, religion. So; man creates the objective world as a result of objectifying his abilities.

At the same time, every person entering this world and every generation of people entering history uses the accumulated knowledge and abilities of its creators. They master them, thereby joining the experience of their ancestors and becoming cultural beings.

Consequently, a whole series of mediating links grows between man and nature, a whole world of new relationships that does not exist in the natural world. Thus, thanks to human activity, biological existence became at the same time social. Unlike animals that live in a natural (natural) environment, people live in a social environment, which is the result of their conscious labor activity. A number of connections and relations are established between people: social, economic, political, legal, etc. There are no such connections in the biological world. Thus, a person, being a producing being, carrying out his activity, creates a new reality. This new reality is the world of human culture and social relations.

3. Structure of activity

Human activity differs from that of animals in that; that it presupposes the presence of a subject of action opposing the object and influencing it.

Subject - one who performs actions, has an activity aimed at the object. The subject of activity can be a separate individual, a group of people, an organization or a government body. The subject's actions can be directed at another person or at himself.

The object is what is opposed to the subject, what the practical and cognitive activity of a person is directed towards. The object of activity can be nature as a whole or its individual aspects, as well as various spheres of human life.

In the broadest sense of the word, the content of human activity is understood as the process of interaction between a subject and an object.

In other words, a person purposefully transforms certain forms of being. The condition of human activity is goal-setting, that is, the presence of a goal set by a person and activity carried out in accordance with this goal.

The goal is a subjective image of the desired result, “for the sake of which” (Aristotle) \u200b\u200bcertain actions are taken.

The purposefulness of activity becomes possible due to the fact that a person has consciousness. Consciousness, organically woven into the active process, not only constitutes its necessary condition, but is an internal component of the process itself. Therefore, "at the end of the labor process, a result is obtained that was previously in the mind of man" (Marx), that is, ideal. Thus, human activity includes two opposite forms: ideal and material transformation of an object.

All living things interact with the environment. Outwardly, this manifests itself in physical activity. By adapting to their environment, animals can use natural objects as tools and even craft them. But only a person is inherent in activity, which in the social sciences is understood as a form of activity aimed at transforming the surrounding world.

In the structure of any activity, it is customary to single out the object, subject, goal, means of achieving it and the result. An object is what this activity is aimed at; the subject is the one who implements it. Before starting to act, a person determines the goal of the activity, that is, he forms in his consciousness an ideal image of the result that he seeks to achieve. Then, when the goal is determined, the individual decides what means he needs to use to achieve it. If the means are chosen correctly, then the result of the activity will be obtaining exactly the result that the subject was striving for.

The main motive that prompts a person to activity is his desire to satisfy his needs. These needs can be physiological, social and ideal. Perceived by people in one way or another, they become the main source of their activity. A huge role is played by people's beliefs about the goals that need to be achieved, and the main ways and means leading to them. Sometimes, in choosing the latter, people are guided by the stereotypes that have developed in society, that is, by some general, simplified ideas about any social process (specifically, about the process of activity). Unchanging motivation tends to reproduce similar human actions and, as a consequence, a similar social reality.

The main unit of activity is action: any activity appears before us as a chain of actions. Action includes both goal setting (an act of consciousness) and an externally expressed act of behavior. The specific way (s) to perform actions is called an operation. The nature of the operations depends on the objective conditions in which the action is performed and the person's existing experience - operations are usually little or not recognized by a person (performed at the level of automatic skills).

Distinguish between activities practical and spiritual.The first is aimed at transforming objects of nature and society that exist in reality. The types of practical activities are material and production (transformation of nature) and social and production (transformation of society). The content of spiritual activity is associated with a change in people's consciousness. It includes: cognitive, value-oriented and predictive activities.

Another classification distinguishes labor, educational, and leisure activities. Depending on the results obtained, the activity can be characterized as destructive or constructive.

Often, in order to achieve the set goal and obtain the desired result, a person has to resort to interaction with other subjects in the process of activity, to communicate with them. Communication is the process of exchange of information between equal actors. The subjects of communication can be both individuals and social groups, strata, communities and even all of humanity as a whole. There are several types of communication:

1) communication between real subjects (for example, between two people);

2) communication of a real subject with an illusory partner(for example, a person with an animal, whom he endows with some qualities unusual for him);

3) communication of a real subject with an imaginary partner(for example, a person's communication with his “inner voice”);

4) communication of imaginary partners(for example, literary characters).

The question of the relationship between activity and communication is debatable. Some scientists believe that these two concepts are identical to each other, because

any communication has signs of activity. Others believe that activity and communication are opposite concepts, since communication is only a condition of activity, but in no way it itself. Still others consider communication in connection with activity, but consider it an independent phenomenon.

The most important type of practical activity is the material production activity of people (or labor activity) - one of the forms of human activity aimed at transforming the natural world and creating material wealth. IN structurelabor activity (in the narrow sense of the word) is distinguished:

1) deliberately set goals - the production of certain products, the processing of natural materials, the creation of machines and mechanisms, etc.;

2) objects of labor - those materials (metal, clay, stone, plastic, etc.), the transformation of which is aimed at the activities of people;

3) means and tools of labor - all devices, devices, mechanisms, gadgets, energy systems, with the help of which objects of labor are transformed;

4) technologies used - techniques and methods used in the production process.

To characterize labor activity, the following parameters are usually used:

1) labor productivity - the amount of products produced per unit of time;

2) labor efficiency - the ratio of material and labor costs, on the one hand, and the results obtained, on the other;

3) the level of division of labor - the distribution of specific production functions between the participants in the labor process (on the scale of society and in specific labor processes).

The nature of the requirements for a participant in labor activity depends on many factors, primarily on the specific content of labor and place in the system of division of labor. The general requirements are as follows:

1) the employee must own all the techniques and methods of production that make up the technological process (the requirement of professionalism);

2) the qualifications of the employee cannot be lower than the level that is determined by the nature of the work. The more difficult the work, the higher the requirements for special training of the participant in the labor process (qualification requirement);

3) the employee is required to unconditionally comply with labor laws and internal labor regulations, compliance with the specified parameters of the production process, fulfillment of obligations arising from the content of the employment contract (labor, technological, executive, contractual discipline requirements).

Spiritual activity is understood as the creative process of production and reproduction of spiritual values \u200b\u200b(ideas, knowledge, ideas, etc.), as well as their preservation, distribution, dissemination and consumption. In this regard, spiritual activity can be conditionally divided into spiritual-theoretical (production of spiritual values) and spiritual-practical (preservation, distribution, dissemination and development of created spiritual values). Specialized types of spiritual activity are science, art, religion, education.

Activity has a huge impact on the personality, being the basis on which the development of the latter takes place. In the process of activity, the individual self-actualizes and asserts himself as a person, it is the process of activity that underlies the socialization of the individual. By exerting a transformative effect on the surrounding world, a person not only adapts to the natural and social environment, but rebuilds and improves it. The entire history of human society is the history of human activity.

Human activity, its diversity.

In the social sciences, activity is understood as a form of human activity aimed at transforming the world around him,
In the structure of any activity, it is customary to single out the object, subject, goal, means of achieving it and the result. An object is what this activity is aimed at; the subject is the one who implements it. Before starting to act, a person determines the goal of the activity, that is, he forms in his consciousness an ideal image of the result that he seeks to achieve. Then, when the goal is determined, the individual decides what means he needs to use to achieve the goal. If the means are chosen correctly, then the result of the activity will be obtaining exactly the result that the subject was striving for.
The main motive that prompts a person to activity is his desire to satisfy his needs. These needs can be physiological, social, and ideal. Perceived in one way or another by people, they become the main source of their activity. People's beliefs about the goals that need to be achieved and the main ways and means leading to them play a huge role. Sometimes, in choosing the latter, people are guided by stereotypes that have developed in society, that is, by some general, simplified ideas about any social process (specifically, about the process of activity). Unchanging motivation tends to reproduce similar actions of people and, as a result, a similar social reality.
Distinguish between practical and spiritual activities. The first is aimed at transforming objects of nature and society that exist in reality. The content of the second is to change the consciousness of people.
Practical activities are divided into:
a) material and production;
b) socially transformative.
Spiritual activities include:
a) cognitive activity;
b) value-predictive activity;
c) predictive activity.
Depending on the results obtained, the activity can be characterized as destructive or constructive.
Activity has a huge impact on the personality, being the basis on which the development of the latter takes place. In the process of activity, the individual self-actualizes and asserts himself as a person, it is the process of activity that underlies the socialization of the individual. By exerting a transformative effect on the world around him, a person not only adapts to the natural and social environment, but also rebuilds and improves it. The whole history of human society is the history of human activity.

Any activity consists of separate actions. In action, you can also see an end, a means, a result.

The structure of human activity:

A need is a state of a person, created by the need he feels for objects and actions necessary for his existence and development and acting as a source of his activity, organizing cognitive processes, imagination and behavior.

Motive - motivation for activity associated with satisfying a need; a perceived reason that determines the choice of actions and deeds. The main motive that prompts a person to activity is the individual's desire to satisfy his needs. These needs can be physiological, social, and ideal. Perceived in one way or another by people, they become the main source of their activity.

The goal is a conscious image of the anticipated result, towards which human activity is directed.

Means - a set of elements necessary to achieve the goal. The means must match the purpose.

The result is the realized goal of the activity. When the goal is determined, the individual decides what means he needs to use to achieve the goal. The result of the activity will be the receipt of the result to which the subject seeks.

An object is what the activity is directed at; subject - the one who carries out this activity; the goal of the activity is determined by the person himself before he starts to act.

Practical activity is aimed at transforming real objects of nature and society. It includes material and production activities (transformation of nature) and social transformation activities (transformation of society).

Spiritual activity is associated with a change in people's consciousness (cognitive activity, predictive activity). All activities are linked.

In sociology, it is customary to distinguish labor, socio-political, artistic and creative, scientific activities, etc. In pedagogy, labor, educational, play activities are distinguished, in psychology - sensory, mnemonic, mental, etc.

Distinguish between practical (material-production; social-transformative) and spiritual (cognitive activity, value-predictive activity, predictive activity). The first is aimed at transforming objects of nature and society existing in reality. The content of the second is to change the consciousness of people.

Depending on the results obtained, the activity is both destructive and constructive.

Activity has a huge impact on the personality, being the basis on which the development of the latter takes place. The entire history of human society is the history of human activity.