In contemporary times, one can hardly think of any aspect of human life in which civilization is not referred to. Whether in politics, science, economics, social life, or even religion, the importance of civilization is always emphasized. In fact, civilization has dominated human life and reasoning. In fact, all human life revolves around the level of civilization reached. Such is his invaluable contribution to humanity that it forms the basis of evaluation of any society or individual in the modern era.
There is no doubt about the importance of civilization. However, the question facing humanity today is; Has civilization really given man the true answers to his fundamental problems? Or have you contributed more to his work? To answer this question, we have to look at human civilization through the history of its existence and how it has been affected.
It can be said that civilization is an advanced stage of human development. It can also be said that it is the comfort of a modern society or the totality of a society, its people and its culture in a particular period. All of the above definitions point to the fact that civilization is a continuous process that depends on time and man. Civilization comes with changes from one level to another caused by the improvement of the previous situation. Today, human beings are more civilized than ever. Therefore, the next generation will be more civilized than ours. The longing for civilization is what sparked all fields of human endeavor. Science, technology, history and religion are all efforts of man in civilization and movements to consolidate his achievements.
In this age, it is generally assumed that a civilized man will be educated, financially comfortable, and with a sense of good taste and good manners, although this outlook varies from place to place. A civilized society, as it is assumed today, is an environment where the effects of modernization and the things that go along with it are evident. This includes the education level of the people, the average living standard, the technological and intellectual level, and the social facilities such as electricity, running water, complex, and a sophisticated network of roads. Railways, stadiums, automobiles, airplanes, airports, and other products of science and technology will be clearly evident. In this case, the United States is more civilized than Nigeria. However, civilization is more than social and individual development. It implies having a well-defined identity, a culture, a set of values and rules to obey in order to have a sense of belonging to an entity.
Since man became aware of himself and his environment and was not satisfied with what he saw, he had been on a path of continuous development. The man looked around him and saw some things that puzzled him; he became curious and began to ask himself some questions about his identity and the basis of his existence. In answering these, he came across different things that opened his eyes to things that were previously hidden. Nevertheless; the man’s curiosity could not be satisfied. The more he saw, the more curious he became, and so he set off on the journey of civilization. Over the years, civilizations arose, lost power, decayed, and were replaced by others. It became a process of continuous succession. Human beings developed from one stage to another with the latter more advanced than the first and the last generation more intelligent and more advanced than the first.
The world has witnessed different stages of development. There was a time when animals were the only means of land transportation. Later, the railway began, followed by automobiles. At the beginning of the 19th century, the airplane appeared as the most advanced means of transportation. Men could fly like birds in the sky. In the past, one could only communicate by traveling from one place to another. Later, communication became possible without transportation. The radio, the telegram and the telephone are some of the devices that make it possible. By the end of World War II, the computer had become an important machine in man’s life. By the end of the 20th century, information technology had taken over the Internet, email, web browsers, and electronics.
Two people can now communicate with each other from two extreme corners of the world at a speed never imagined. It has been predicted that before the end of this century, face-to-face meeting will be obsolete. Yet; man will never be satisfied with what he has achieved, there will always be new problems and the search for new solutions. Today, man is exploring the space around his little planet in the hope of finding answers to some questions. In the middle of the 20th century, man was already floating in space. Later, he tried to land on the moon and succeeded, now he plans to land on mars. However, even that will not satisfy him. The entire Universe is so vast that it will take humanity forever to fully explore it. Without knowing it, we are embarking on a journey of self-creation with ourselves as the creator and the creature.
Today, it is common to think of civilization socially as a revelation. Civilization depends on the degree of knowledge of the environment and its connection with the rest of humanity. That is why it is said that some societies are far from civilization. The more a man or a society connects with the rest of the world and conforms to the latest dominant ideas, the more civilized it is considered. As an experiment, let’s analyze the lives of two people. One is an accountant who works at a bank in New York. The other is a farmer in a small town in rural Nigeria. The accountant receives as a monthly salary, an amount that the farmer can never dream of in his life, but his wishes are different from those of the farmer. He wants many things in life because he knows a lot about life and is exposed to many things. If he lacks something important like a good car, he feels dissatisfied. While the farmer may be quite happy if his immediate needs are met, his wishes are limited to what he knows and what he sees in his environment. While the accountant thinks about buying the latest cars and wearing designer clothes, the farmer thinks about expanding his farm to be the largest in town and taking care of his family to make them the envy of the whole town.
This shows that man is ambitious on all levels, but his ambition is limited to what he is aware of. There are many things in the city such as roads, electricity, running water that the farmer may consider as luxuries the first time he sees them, because they are foreign to his normal way of life, but which the accountant counts as necessities of life. . . The accountant will consider living in the farmer’s condition as hell, while the farmer continues to enjoy the life he leads until he arrives in the city. By the time he arrives in the city, which is a larger society than his town, he will see many things that will make him realize that he is behind the world. When he sees the accountant, he will feel inferior to him and will like to be like him. The peasant realizes that he has taken many things as normal in the town; walking two miles to fetch water from a stream, living without electricity, using firewood for cooking, etc., are all difficulties. All of these are considered abnormal in the city. Very soon the farmer will feel inferior to the accountant because he will realize that he is behind the world. This is a typical example of how an uncivilized man becomes civilized. When the farmer returns to his village, all he will think about is the luxuries of the city.
From this story the following can be deduced:
1. Happiness is not dependent on wealth or success as defined by the people around you.
2. Happiness is relative and varies according to the needs of the person.
3. Man can never be satisfied.
4 Ignoring particular knowledge is not dangerous until one knows that he is ignorant.
There is something in man that will always want something more, but it is this that sets standards for man’s pursuit. Have you ever wondered why you have to go to school to be successful? Why do you need to have money in your pocket? Civilization is the ultimate consequence of man’s rebellion against nature. Adam and Eve did not realize their nakedness until they ate the forbidden fruit and realized they were naked. However, it is also civilization that guides man’s search and sets limits. Have you ever wondered why you have to live by the rules of your society, why you have to be a gentleman and be respected? Civilization itself was a flaw in the system, a contradiction of man’s natural state. However, he has become the driving force behind his existence. Man can never stop developing. And it is civilization that holds his pace and gives him reason to be ambitious. Civilization is indispensable. As long as humanity continues to exist, man will always move from civilization to civilization.
