Civilization

It is a concept almost impossible to define. The word is derived from "city". But how are the two related?

When humans learned to cultivate the land and became sedentary, they began to concentrate, and cities were born. Grouped in far larger numbers than the original nomadic clans, humans had to develop new social rules in order to sustain successful coexistence in this new environment.

Out of necessity, these rules were quite different from the ones of those who did not live in cities. Thus, for those humans part of the city-culture, civilization -in this case defined as “living in cities” became synonymous with a higher, more evolved culture.

It so happens that written history also had its birth in cities; so we can easily see the very causal connection between the concept of civilization and that of city. (As a side note, it is interesting to consider that nomadic cultures may also have the same concept, but based in a completely different word). Back to the birth of civilization, we can picture the fabric of it being woven out of many threads: the necessity for elaborate codes of law to regulate interaction between individuals, and new economic activities. The birth of institutions such as religious orders, trade guilds, military structures, etc. The ability of many to engage in activities other than procuring food, thus enriching the culture. But those are just the rougher threads that enabled finer, more elegant textures to be added later. It is not hard to see how these codes and regulations, embedded in the daily life of a citizen, ruling their lives, enforcing peaceful coexistence and respect of individuals and institutions, would evolve into the idea that it is not the enforcing of the laws, but respect itself, the rule of law in our minds, the belief that serving one's nation or king rather that ourselves, is what constitutes civilization.

This is mostly what we mean today when we say that we are a "civilized people". Perhaps a very dramatic example of this took place when we saw the 9-11 attacks: most of the world felt united in the fact that what we saw was not something any of us would do, it was the ultimate example of an uncivilized act. Thus we can say there are two kinds of civilization: the physical one we inhabit with our bodies and the one where our laws and values live.

Glory

The world's biggest sports event, hosted by Germany, is commanding the attention of soccer fans accross the globe. I am no exception. Here are my predictions for the results:

Semi-finals:
Germany - Italy
Brazil - England

Final:
Brazil - Germany

World Cup Winner: Brazil