Civilization and Culture

Civilization and Culture  

Overview

The advent of ancient civilizations depended on agricultural settlements to consistently produce surplus food, which allowed people to specialize in non-agricultural work, which in turn allowed for increased production, trade, population, and social stratification. Cities were at the center of all early civilizations. Cities concentrated political, religious, and social institutions, which contributed to the development of states. The first civilizations appeared in locations where the geography was favorable to intensive agriculture. Innovations such as writing, religious systems, architecture, and centralized political power are noted identifying markers of civilization.

Purpose

In this assignment, students will survey the emergence of the Neolithic Age, sometimes called the New Stone Age. Students will also examine the phase when humans began to write down memories of the past and observations of the present, preserving for us a record of human existence, marking the beginning of the historical era.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this lecture, students will be able to:

  • Identify several characteristics of a civilization.
  • Identify the development of the Fertile Crescent regions and the emergence of the first “Civilizations.”
  • Understand the cultural dynamics and significance of the first ancient civilizations.

Instructions

     * What is the difference between culture and civilization?

     * What is cultural heritage?

     * What are the two similarities between culture and civilization?

Concept of Culture

The English word ‘Culture’ is derived from the Latin term ‘cult or cultus’ meaning tilling, or cultivating or refining and worship. ‘Culture’ refers to the inner being, a refinement of head and heart. This includes arts and sciences, music and dance, and various higher pursuits of human life which are also classified as cultural activities. One who may be poor and wearing cheap clothes may be considered ‘uncivilized’, but still he or she may be the most cultured person. One possessing ostentatious wealth may be considered as ‘civilized’ but he may not be cultured’. Therefore, when we think of culture, we have to understand that it is different from civilization. Culture is the ‘higher levels of inner refinement’ of a human being. Humans are not merely physical beings. They live and act at three primary levels: physical, mental, and spiritual. While better ways of living socially and politically and better utilization of nature around us may be termed as civilization. This is not enough to be cultured. Only when the deeper levels of a person’s intellect and consciousness are brought into expression can we call him/her ‘cultured’. In sum, it means cultivating and refining a thing to such an extent that its end product evokes our admiration and respect. 

 

Culture is a way of life. The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the language you speak in and the religion one practices all are aspects of culture. In very simple terms, we can say that culture is the embodiment of the way in which we think and do things. It is also the things that we have inherited as members of society. All the achievements of human beings as members of social groups can be called culture. Art, music, literature, architecture, sculpture, philosophy, religion, and science can be seen as aspects of culture. However, culture also includes the customs, traditions, festivals, ways of living, and one’s outlook on various issues of life.

Culture also refers to a human-made environment which includes all the material and non- material products of group life that are transmitted from one generation to the next. There is a general agreement among social scientists that culture consists of explicit and implicit patterns of behaviors acquired by human beings. These may be transmitted through symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiment as artifacts. The essential core of culture thus lies in those finer ideas which are transmitted within a group-both historically derived as well as selected with their attached value. Culture denotes historically transmitted patterns of meanings embodied in symbols, by means of which people communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and express their attitudes toward life.

Culture is the expression of our nature in our modes of living and thinking. Culture has two distinctive components, namely, material and non-material. Material culture consists of objects that are related to the material aspect of our life such as our dress, food, and household goods. Non-material culture refers to ideas, ideals, thoughts, and beliefs. Culture varies from place to place and country to country. Its development is based on the historical process operating in a local, regional, national, or international context. In other words, the people of any country are characterized by their distinctive cultural traditions.

Culture and Heritage

Cultural development is a historical process. Our ancestors learned many things from their predecessors. With the passage of time, they also added to it from their own experience and gave up or lost those which they did not consider useful. We in turn have learned many things from our ancestors. As time goes, generations continue to add new thoughts, new ideas to those already existent and sometimes we give up some which we don’t consider useful anymore. This is how culture is transmitted and carried forward from generation to next generation. The culture we inherit from our predecessors is called our cultural heritage. This heritage exists at various levels. Humanity as a whole has inherited a culture that may be called human heritage. A nation inherits a culture that may be termed as national cultural heritage.

Characteristics of Culture

The following characteristics are common to different cultures throughout the world.

  • Culture is learned and acquired: Individuals inherit certain qualities from their parents but socio-cultural patterns are not inherited. These are learned from family members, from the group, and the society in which they live. The culture of human beings is influenced by the physical and social environment through which they live.
  • Culture is shared by a group of people: A thought or action may be called culture if it is shared and believed or practiced by a group of people.
  • Culture is cumulative: Different knowledge embodied in culture can be passed from one generation to another generation. This cycle remains as a particular culture goes with time.
  • Culture changes: There is knowledge, thoughts, or traditions that are lost as new cultural traits are added as time passes.
  • Culture is dynamic: Culture is changing constantly as new ideas and new techniques are added as time passes modifying or changing the old ways.
  • Culture is diverse: It is a system that has several mutually interdependent parts. Although these parts are separate, they are interdependent with one another forming culture as a whole.

Watch the video: Neolithic Period - Birth of Civilizations

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines civilization as "the action or process of civilizing or of being civilized; a developed or advanced state of human society." The OED refers to "civilize" as "out of a state of barbarism; to instruct in the arts of life; to enlighten; to refine and polish." Such a definition is problematic because it contains an overt value judgment that civilization is better, more advanced, and superior to other forms of social organization. European people, whose manners and morality are "refined, polished, and cultured" and superior to others -- indigenous peoples. Eurocentrism and the concept of survival of the fittest became the driving force of Western civilization ideology to validate cultural and economic exploitation the uncivilized "savage" - indigenous peoples.

Primary Characteristics of a Civilization  

When we talk of “civilization,” the exact meaning of the word can be ambiguous. Thus, it is worth exploring what exactly we mean by civilization. Civilization is easier to describe than it is to define. Scholars have often described civilization as a set of attributes certain societies have agriculture, sailing, metalworking, mathematics, monumental construction, writing, cities, government, currency, taxation, and complex religion are cited by scholars attempting to define what signifies civilization. 

Watch the video: What is Civilization? 

For the most part, “civilization” is used to describe societies that are urbanized and hierarchical. The word civilization comes from the Latin word civilis, meaning “citizen,” and implies membership in a state with a government or some other sort of ruling authority. ‘Civilization’ also means having better ways of living and sometimes making nature bend to fulfill human needs. It also includes organizing societies into politically well-defined groups working collectively for improved conditions of life in matters of food, dress, communication, and so on. Thus, some groups consider themselves as civilized and look down upon others. This disposition of certain groups has even led to wars, genocide, slavery, and holocausts, resulting in the mass destruction of human beings.

Watch the video: Characteristics of a Civilization

 

Civilization is a useful historical concept, but we must be cognizant that has often been used to exclude people. Urbanized people have tended to see those living outside of cities as barbarians. Although the word barbarian originated in Greek to refer to non-Greek speakers (and was initially used to refer mostly to the Persians, who for a long time were arguably more advanced than the Greeks), over time, it came to mean anyone who was deemed less civilized. By the nineteenth century, Europeans began to classify civilization according to race. They believed that white Europeans were inherently more refined than other races, and that other races needed to be taught how to become civilized. With all this in mind, we must deal with the concept of civilization carefully to avoid falling into the intellectual mistakes of the past.

Watch the video: The Meaning of Civilization

 

Human civilization has come a long way from an age when there were no defined means of communication and hunting was the primary source of food. Gradually, agriculture took over from foraging, animals were domesticated, societies were created and developed. Modern-day culture and civilization owe a lot to the earliest civilizations that emerged after millions of years of human evolution.