High School Book Classification Essay

Civilization is defined generally as the process by which human society achieves a progressed stage of

social development. Although the classifying of societies as civilizations is not without controversy, the use of

select criteria that eliminate bias allows for a valid concept. This concept of civilization can be best understood

using the standard high school textbook criteria consisting of five classifications, being: advanced cities,

specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology. In addition to the five

criteria, the inclusion of a regional

This classification should be added to the criteria for a multitude of reasons. First, the use of trade

enables a civilization to spread the word of their own society to other people, and essentially attract more residents

to live there, building its credibility and its specialized work. Second, according to the textbook, the country of Mali

benefitted from all trans- Saharan trade by taxing all trade that went through Mali, greatly improving their economy

as well as making their name known across all of Saharan Africa. This also attracted many merchants to

Civilization is a valid concept for the reason that the people defining the concept are highly respected historians, who make their decision based on technical definitions, and without bias. The concept of civilization is also needed for all knowledge of world history, for without that concept, all of ancient history would just be one huge clump of knowledge. One argument often pitted against the concept of civilization is people asking who gets to determine what is a society and what isn’t? What gives these historians the right to put down other civilizations? Those people who end up making the final decision put days of thought into it, and most importantly, they aren’t biased. In comparison, many different people have many different opinions on what a civilization is. Reading from the article “Civilization: Analysis”, the ancient Chinese believed they were the center of the universe, so in their eyes, anyone around their perimeter was a barbarian, with no possible signs of a civilization regardless. Another example refers back to the same article, where it talks about how the ancient Greeks believed anyone who didn’t speak their native language spoke “senseless bladder” and lumped essentially all outsiders together as barbarians and