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Civilization Our civilizations are merely a wrinkle in time. Billions of years ago, during the Paleolithic Culture people had only knowledge for basic survival. The Stone Age was a time for hunting and gathering, building tools, and making fire. As the human race evolved, so did the culture. This is when the Neolithic Culture was born. People started taking control. Farms sprang up and sedentary villages began to take form. Amazingly, not too far from these progressing cultures grew civilizations. When one wants to look at the true heart of a civilization, they must first understand the civilization’s beliefs, moral standards, social interaction, attitudes, values and social consciousness. Without a sincere background about these topics, one cannot truly develop a full understanding of the period. History calls upon humankind to breakdown civilizations, and find the roots of past civilizations. Many factual ideas have been abstracted from numerous sources through out time. In studying Ancient Greek civilization, the reader sees immense concentration of social consciousness for its peoples’ needs. Greek civilization absorbed many different attitudes from the Athenians, Spartans, and Macedonians. Another highly moral civilization was the Medieval times. The English had intolerant views on Religion; an aspect of a society which had much importance to the world at this time. Because of these beliefs, all religions had to experience frustrations that occasionally lead toward conflict. The Chinese were greatly influenced by the earth’s ways, rather than global issues and demonstrated this through their religion, Buddhism. The Han dynasty incorporated a Confucius government system into their legal system, and points toward a clearer understanding of their beliefs, attitudes, and philosophies. The Greek civilization contained many socially conscious issues in the city-states of Athens, Sparta, and Macedonia. The Athenians were superbly educated in the arts and sciences, and trained to be extremely productive in times of war and peace. When looking at their educational and philosophical output it is simple to see that the Athenian people valued their futures. Without educational programs for the Athenian youths, Athena would have lost their civilization long before it initially peaked. Undoubtedly, Athenian people had a productive social consciousness, and realized that education and knowledge was quite important. They knew that the future of their city-state depended on the “smarts” of the people in it. Social awareness was not usually number one to people back then. Normally, city-states were concerned with war and gaining land. While the gross majority of Greece were fighting and stealing, Athenians were busily figuring out the philosophy of life. Clearly, the Athenians were socially aware of what was going on in their lives, through education and philosophy. The Spartans on the other hand were more concerned with being brute and strong against their enemies. A typical Spartan soldier would have to endure unbelievable pain and hardship to become a respected Spartan and citizen. Their moral standards must have influenced them to exploit their respect toward physical pain and suffering. Many historians believe Spartans were cunning, lying cheaters. There were even secret police called Krypteia; police that spy on people who are supposedly involved in crime related problems. In order to have any foundation for any relationship or civilization, one must have trust. There was little room for trust during this time in the Spartan’s lives. This explains why modern society cannot grasp the reasoning behind their unlawful ways. Granted, the morals and beliefs of the Spartans may seem like nothing to modern society, but for them, they were everything. Literally, the Spartans thought that there was nothing more important then themselves. They worshiped themselves almost like gods and goddesses, and believed themselves to be indestructible against anything. On another extreme, and somewhere in between were the Macedonians. Typically speaking, these people were great pawns for strong leaders. They had already been educated enough to know right from wrong and knew much about the military. With the strong leadership of Alexander the Great, the Macedonians overtook much territory. Alexander the Great gained the respect and trust from his people by respecting and trusting them in return. In battles, after the death and disgust was cleared away he would console the newly conquered army by listening to their stories, and sharing his own with them. Typically, a high military figure like Alexander would not be seen talking socially with his troops. Alexander insisted that in order to understand war, one must understand his enemy. He displayed great amounts of respect, moral standards, and social consciousness. He also showed immense social consciousness when he would take in the wives of the dead soldiers, and treat them with dignity and respect. It would be assumed that the women would be raped and murdered. Alexander gave them tax money to re-build their families and moral support supplied by his mistress in house. This kindles Alexander’s Era very nicely. Looking at it now proves that he gave that society better understandings of what it is to be a woman and soldier, and be respected at the same time. Times may change but beliefs, moral standards, attitudes, and social awareness continue to flow throughout the lands. During the Medieval times of Europe, people continued to display these qualities through leadership, religion and war. Queen Elizabeth the First earned a well-respected reputation during her rein. Emphasis of education was important to the people, much like the Athenians. Elizabeth’s people saw that she had the same moral standards that they did. As for Elizabeth, she too believed that a strong education built an excellent foundation for a civilization. Queen Elizabeth was educated by expert language teachers to enhance her speaking skills. In turn, she would be able to negotiate with numerous other countries through out Europe. This strategy opened the lines of understanding and communication, which helped avoid misunderstanding, leading to war. Unfortunately, communication was not enough to keep everyone under sovereignty. People have always developed their own personal opinions whether it be politics, social structure or religion. For Europeans in the Medieval civilization, one’s religion was often more important than the individual’s them self. There were countless occurrences by which Christians and Protestants would have battles about beliefs. Because of these clashing beliefs and moral structures, there was not a defined structure to follow. After much consideration, it is safe to state that both were highly intolerant of each other because of their similarities! Both wanted their religion to be the most popular and recognized in the Roman Empire. Both wanted all attention focused on their religion, in order to gain more members. It came down to a game of tug-o-war, and the Christians won. Constantine was the authority figure that gave Christianity the thumbs up, and built on the civilization. Throughout these times, the people became feeble and weak against the strong currents of opinions. The people became strong willed, and spirited after the religion wars. Soon, they too would develop this opinion of, my way or the highway. The relationships of people began to suffer, because the morals were all changing so rapidly. Women were being restricted to marrying a man that was of the same religion as her, and visa versa. Comparatively speaking, today’s civilizations have some of the same ideas, yet they have progressed into ideas, and not laws. It becomes clear now, that the moral standards and beliefs that society has today, have originated from the Medieval period. More examples are that a woman must take her husband’s name or marry of the same nationality. These traditions still exist in some many of the world, because we are accustomed to them. Our beliefs, attitudes and moral standards toward marriage have remained somewhat the same, since Medieval Europe. Another highly defined civilization would be the Chinese. Highly defined because it could be presented to someone with little historical background, and they could likely figure out which it is. The Chinese have a very spiritual and intelligent way of seeing the world. The world’s spirit is much like a human’s spirit. One must respect, nurture, and care for the world, much as they would care for themselves. Buddhism, a religion that spread to China from India in 220 CE, has grounds based on these beliefs. Everything has a soul, spirit, and home that we all must share in the great circle of life. The Chinese also believed that there is a purifying path that cleanses the mind called the eight-fold path. Today all Buddhists follow the eight-fold path in hopes of someday reaching nirvana, ultimate enlightenment and happiness. Chinese morals are based upon the path, and can only be achieved if all desire and selfishness is eliminated. The Chinese Buddhists see the world as being full of desire, which leads to suffering and unhappiness. These ideas hold much truth in the sense that inner hate comes from a feeling that something is lacking in one’s life. By eliminating the feelings of jealousy, rage, and envy, one can reach total sincere happiness. Mortality can be based on facts of opinion, and the Chinese have brought forth many outstanding points to enhance the value of their moral standards. The Han Dynasty intertwines with the ideas of Buddhism, although Buddhism had not yet reached China. It is also paralleled with the Roman Empire in power, prominence, and historical importance. During this time, a Confucius government was developed and built on to the social structures. No longer was a government position inherited but rather earned, through hard work and perseverance. The people would take large examinations testing the knowledge of China’s history, literature and philosophy, particularly the ideas of Confucianism. A person’s handwriting or calligraphy was looked at also, but surprisingly the tests were rarely based upon government knowledge. People would spend half of their life times preparing for these highly prestigious tests, and families would save-up money to send one child to school to study. It was thought that the child would someday be able to help the family because of their government authority. It was mentioned that the tests looked at the individual’s ideas about Confucianism. Confucianism outlined beautifully the beliefs and moral standards of the Chinese. Confucius people believed that there were five basic relationships in life: ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, older brother and younger brother, and finally older friend and younger friend. The ruler must be kind and the subject loyal. The father must show love, and the son respect and obedience. The husband must be kindly, and the wife obedient. The older brother must be gentle and the younger brother respectful. This all points towards a harmonized and well-run society during the Han Dynasty. The beliefs are illustrated here, and one can see just how they believed things should be run. After looking straight into the hearts of three civilizations and gathering evidence to illustrate their individuality, it is appropriate to say that each one has distinctly different characteristics, and yet they are similar in other ways. The Athenians would use their educational back ground to solve problems. The Spartans would use their aggressive force to solve problems. The similarity is that both used what they knew to their best advantage. Both city-states were highly motivated when it came to doing something that they knew how to do. Change was not a favorite thing for them. The Macedonians used their force, just like the Spartans, but treated their enemy with more respect. The Macedonians were socially conscious, and respected the feelings of others. The reader sees this when looking at Alexander’s kind sense of ruling his army. The Romans were similar to the point where they too did not like change or difference. The difference between religions created a huge catastrophe for the Catholics and Protestants, but both survived, and pulled through. This is because of their strong moral backgrounds of knowing right from wrong. Although the differences of the two religions made them seem weak at the time, they were both strengthened because of it. The individuality of something is what makes it special. The attitudes and values are what set them apart near the beginning, and yet these are what make them unique at the end. The Chinese Empire proved to be one of the most defined civilizations. Because of religious beliefs, the Chinese brought to life the idea that everyone is equal. There should be no recondition for money or social status, but rather of how devoted to Buddhism one is. The eight-fold paths shed light on to a new way of thinking or seeing ones’ self. Reflection was important in order to realize what one has done, and points towards valuing what one has, rather than what they do not have. Confucianism helps the reader better understand the moral standards, beliefs and attitudes toward human civilization. It is known that respect for elders, and the wise was necessary. It was also important to know what one’s role was in society, whether it be childbirth, or growing rice. Civilization is a fascinating topic, because they are able to show where humanity progressed, or regressed. In viewing many civilizations through out the course of five months, it is clearer to see where exactly ideas originated. The belief system that humans have developed is like one giant melting pot. There are ideas, attitudes, social awareness, and values all boiled down into one big mass. Much like a science experiment, sometimes things do not belong together, and some do. These are all learning opportunities, and most likely humankind will eventually learn the perfect mix. Until then, it is assumed that we will continue to make mistakes, while advancing at the same time. This essay is only for research purposes. If used, be sure to cite it properly! |
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