Civilization

Lately, I have been engaged in a pursuit to understand the world around me. It's not an easy task - there is
just so much stuff that I didn't know where to begin. And google, for once, was of no help. I couldn't frame
a search query that would result in articles that were concerned with understanding the world around me. I
spent a considerable amount of time with search terms like "understanding world economics politics
technology" etc. but hitting a blank wall every time.

I remembered the excellent book "The Ascent of Money" by Niall Fergusson. I was looking for something
on those lines. An explanation of what the world is like and how it got to be that way. So, I searched on
google for "Niall Fergusson" and was rewarded with a reference to a recent work on civilizations. I got
hold of the introduction of the book on the net and it gave me the lead to what I was looking for.

We are living in a civilization. The world around us can be best described as a civilization. And it dawned
upon me that it is civilization that I am trying to understand. Civilization is an advanced form of society
that is distinguished from primitive society. All forms of society have two things: culture and exchange. (In
fact, going a step backwards, even animals have groups that work together, like hunting in packs - but there
is no form of exchange).

Exchange is the basis of economic activity. It's origin is the availability of surplus food which allows some
people to pursue activities other than food generation. In the earliest societies these activities create
artisans. In modern society it creates doctors, corporations and the like.

Culture is the common knowledge in the society that is learned through informal means. Like dress, diet,
ethics, aesthetics, even religion and mythology.

What civilization offers is two more facets: government and perpetuation.

Government is a formalization of institutions for creating laws, maintaining law and order, settlement of
disputes and the like.

Perpetuation is a formalization of institutions for transmission of knowledge, increasing knowledge through
research and application of new knowledge through technology. It also includes all the effort that goes into
projects that improve public good - like transportation networks, water supply, even public welfare.

When the world around us is seen through this lens of civilization, everything starts falling into place and
each piece of news makes sense in a new way. For example, in Texas, USA, desalination plants are being
put up by the government. This is clearly a perpetuation function of a civilization - improving the public
good. As another example, a winner of a tennis tournament is making an addition to the culture of a
civilization. A new national examination in India as a test of eligibility for university education affects the
perpetuation function of education in the civilization.