Summary: J. S. Wicken [J. Theor. Biol. 77, 349-365 (1979); ibid. 87, 9-23 (1980)] and some other authors believe that the use of thermodynamics of non-equilibrium processes is a new paradigm, which will allow to consider some fundamental problems of biological evolution. In fact, many other scientists used this paradigm in physiology, ecology, and developmental biology. We make an attempt to demonstrate that many problems of individual development of organisms, progressive biological evolution, and origin of civilization can be analyzed in terms of thermodynamics using the principle of minimum energy dissipation and the principle of fastest descent.