Friday 26 December 2003

Pic of the day: Establishing those early settlements and establishing culture amid barbarian attacks. (Screnshot from Civilization III.)

Civilization

I read an interesting article about Ramayana, the well-loved Hindu epic about the hero prince Rama. He is often worshiped as an avatar of Vishnu, the Protector. I'm not a Hindu so I won't comment further on that, and anyway the article is not religious in nature. It is about the dawn of civilization, and how these early people needed examples to show them what truly civilized behavior was.

It inspired me to start a new game of Civ3, with lots of budding civilizations, and the Barbarian option set to "raging hordes". ^_^ Just to capture that feeling.

But it really wasn't simple, was it? Today we take so much for granted. Not just technology. Anyone can see that we have a much more advanced technology. But there are social inventions too, and they have become so common, we take them for granted. Like reasonably equal rights for men and women, or nobles and commoners even. Nothing of this was obvious only a few generations ago, although it had already improved from the chaotic stage at the dawn of civilization.

***

There will always be some who think civilization is going downhill fast. Young people have no manners and no respect. And, well, I agree that it can be a bit like that in the slum areas. (Here in Norway we don't really have slum areas, but then again our civilization isn't really going downhill either. It is just being diluted with an influx of wild men, some of them behaving not too unlike those in the article. Except they almost never eat their victims. And even among immigrants from war- torn countries, there are some decent people as well. I think. We don't hear much about them, but statistically it must be a lot.)

Overall, if you take a look back on history, you have to admit it has gone largely uphill. There have certainly been dark ages. Some parts of the world are experiencing dark ages right now, after a better past. Parts of the Arab world, for instance, is in such a state. This is doubly sad, given their role in preserving civilization during the middle ages. But for the world as a whole, there is a lot of progress to be seen.

It is easy to get all romantic about the good qualities of the noble savage. But the truth is that their life was nasty, brutish and short. And still is, for the few tribes that still live outside civilization. Which is why, when given the chance, they tend to throw away their bow and arrow and embrace Jesus and Coca Cola (to the point where you're not really sure they can tell the difference). I don't think most of us can imagine what a magic kingdom we live in, when seen through the eyes of stone age people.

But playing Civ3 helps a bit. ^_^