Which historical civilisation do you think would have been the best influence in human societal development?

Question

We undoubtedly have advanced technologically but that was always a given to happen. In my view, it's open to question whether we have developed in any area as quickly and efficiently as would have been possible if Western nations hadn't been so influenced by feudal/Roman Christian dominance. Even today, most Western Govts pay mere lip service to true democracy.

There were several ancient civilisations that I would say were more progressive than our current model, many developed early versions of complex technology too. Who knows what they'd have achieved by now?

Sadly, i must debug and reformat my PC, won't be around much over the next couple of days. Looking forward to reading any replies tho. =)

Answer 1

The Americans.

Started out with a small agricultural economy and while growing by accepting all the immigrants from around the world, mixed cultures and took modern man through the industrial revolution, the jet age, the atomic age, and brought humanity to the brink of space travel....and in the process promoted freedom and democracy around the globe.

Incredible!

.

Answer 2

The ancient Indus civilisation of around 2500BC, an advanced urban culture with town planning, local government, public baths, hygiene and sanitation systems .. sewage, wells, courtyards, laid out towns .. but unlike its contemporary cultures of Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt there is no evidence of large monumental structures, no evidence of kings, armies or priests.  These Indus civilisation cities were notable for their apparent egalitarianism.  The people seem to have lived together in harmony with one another to a far greater extent than their neighbours.  So how do you measure progressive ..??

Answer 3

We mostly inherited our cultural traits from the Romans, which in turns get most of those from the Greek. And since the Greeks have formed the first sophist and most of our science foundations, I guess we owe them a lot! Because of them we got the advance technological breaktrough that the orient never acheived (as they never really develop cartesian thinking, so everything they discover was by pure luck!).

Anyways, they are many more that have influences our world today, and their agregations has mainly been transmited by the Romans...

Answer 4

The ancients were pretty much uniformly a bunch of superstitious warmongering elitist xenophobic misogynist b******s by our standards, so it's kind of hard to see.

I'm going to say the Romans. They would have been pretty good at running the world, certainly better than the European colonial powers were. They were very efficient administrators, they were good at assimilating foreign peoples, and they were relatively tolerant, with none of the religious fundamentalism that came to characterise European and Middle Eastern thought in later eras. They would not have turned the world into the steaming mess that we did.

On the other hand they were racist autocratic imperialists, and they'll stay that way unless maybe there's an event that parallels the Enlightenment at some point, which is by no means certain. But at least it could happen, because they did have the Greek tradition of individual liberty, which is better than you'll get out of any non-European civilization (no offense to non-Europeans, but all the idea of democracy did come from Greece).

Like most ancient civilizations they also didn't really have the right mindset to kick off a technological revolution. They were conservative and they were really better at co-opting the achievements of others (mostly the Greeks). They might not have had an industrial revolution. But that's a risk you run letting most ancient civilizations become dominant instead of the West.

Answer 5

It's hard to single out one civilization in particular, and perhaps we shouldn't even try, but appreciate each civilization for the gift it has given us. The prehistoric era enabled humanity to stand on its own two feet (literally) and to make tools. The Greeks gave us the first basic notions of democracy, history, philosophy, medicine, geometry ... The Romans established a network of roads and a code of law. The Jews inspired humanity with their ethical code (the Ten Commandments) and their thrilling story of a people of faith on the move. The Middle Ages gave us the great cathedrals and many beautiful works of art. The Renaissance saw the flowering of art and literature. The list goes on and on, with each era contributing something to the great edifice of human history and civilization.

I hope our own era has more of a legacy than its technology. Perhaps the breakup of empires, the fall of dictatorships, and the rise of supranational forms of government, ultimately paving the way for greater peace and freedom worldwide?

Answer 6

the ancient egyptians

they were extremely innovative but also artistic at the same time

a good balance of that leads to a great society

Answer 7

Most civilisations or let me say cultures (because there is alot of politics involved in the definition of the term civilisation)have made a contribution to the world as we know it today. We find that people have been borrowing what they find useful from other cultures/civilisations. The wheel, science, the making of fire, the smelting of iron, herbal remedies, music etc. It is the power struggle that we are involved in that makes us want to view some or our own contributions as being more important than those contributions made by others. Otherwise from my own point of view is we have borrowed from each other for a long time and have all the time tried to improve on what we have borrowed.

Answer 8

we must look at the mayas,romans,egyptians,greeks.today society is yesterdays technology.

Answer 9

The suggestions you have receivd ahead of mine are interesting choices.

<><><><><>  "the old dog"s suggestion of Hebrews is clearly motivated by his religious leanings, and ties into what we have now.

<><><><><>  "Drayonna K"s idea of the Egyptians makes a good point about their artistic inclinations.  Their everyday household items were even works of art - whereas ours are plain, dull and functional, but ugly!  The Egyptians political system - total monarchy - does not appeal to me much, though.

<><><><><>  "The Bill"s mention of the Indus civilization (is this the one that was also known as "Mohenjo Daro"?) is MOST interesting, indeed!  So very little is known about it, though!  Their "technology" survives, but no evidence of their philosophy, their political structure or their general social and spiritual identity.

The Golden Age of Greece comes immediately to MY mind.  They had a working democracy, for a time, and they prized and valued thought, education, ideas and just about every aspect of philosophy, in general.

However, their lack of military strength made them easy prey to warlike cultures developing around them.

The ancient Celts had a much more vast and powerful civilization than most of us know, but they were too bloodthirsty and warlike.

If only we could have combined the military strength of the Celts with the philosophical intellect of the Greeks and the technological proclivities of the Mohenjo Daro civilization and thrown in some of the Egyptians' artistic inclinations!

Oh, lets add the Amerinds' love and respect for nature, too.

Answer 10

The Hebrews. The Nation of Israel.

They brought us the law we stand by today. They brought us the word of God. They showed us who God is. They prophesied the Messiah and His salvation.

They were the first recorded to have instituted health care, social regard for the poor, and a whole host of other influences on western society.

Too much to be written out in a post.

Answer 11

Many civilisations come to mind. I would have to go with the Sumerians since so much came out of that area like irrigation, writing, urban development, judicial system, organized military, organized religion, and construction of big cities.

While many would rightfully choose the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, etc., everything they did goes back to Mesopotamia.

Now because there was no evidence of priests, armies, or kings in the Indus valley does not mean they did not exist since the citadels there were larger than buildings in Sumer.  The purpose for citadels would indicate a defensive structure.

The planning of such cities the Indus does require leadership and followers.  We must remember that the Indus civilisation also gave rise to such religions as practiced in the area today.  The cult of Kali comes to mind.

Answer 12

Greeks

Answer 13

1. Bizantine and or India,

2. Alexander The Great, Iskandar Dzulkarnain, For His Achievement of Most of His Journey.

3. West Roman Church and The Muslim Arab, for competing on Religious tasks and better understanding of the Mighty One will on the Humane and Humanity.

4. The British, for revolutinizing the Industrial productions, especialy on the Transportation.

5. The Philistines and the Jews for commercializes the religious and personal achievement as being a 'Normal' states of mind. (Killing and commiting suicide, for fund and profit.)