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Standard HS Textbook: The Five Basic Characteristics Of Civilization

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A civilization is the stage of advanced human cultural and technological development. The Standard High School textbook (standard HS textbook) labels a civilization as five basic characteristics: Advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology. These five criteria accurately represent a civilization, and leaving out one of these criteria can lead to a society unable to be labeled as a civilization. A connection to a world system can tremendously benefit a society in aspects of trade and cultural diffusion, making this additional criterion completely necessary for a society to advance for many years. In this way, I strongly believe that the term “civilization” is a valid concept, and that these five criteria are what ultimately decide whether or not a society is in fact a civilization. …show more content…

However, I consider advanced technology to be in the same field as specialized workers, because technology is only made possible by the specialization of labor. Civilizations are able to develop when there is a food surplus. Through the ability to control the food source and focus on specialized jobs, communities are able to develop and grow a lot more quickly, leading to the establishment of cities. Complex institutions are the basis of any civilization. They are what make government, religion, writing systems, creative thinking, and law possible. The bigger a variety of complex institutions there are in a society, the better off a civilization becomes because of the more available jobs and skills. In Guns, Germs, and Steel, author Jared Diamond explains how record keeping in ancient times enabled rulers to keep track of important information about their encounters in distant lands, leading to easy

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