World Geography-Culture to Civilization
1. Culture: the attitudes, feelings, values, and behaviour that characterize and inform
society as a whole or any social group within it: yob culture
Culture is a definition highly misunderstood and misused, thus the need for an
explanation:
Culture refers to the following Ways of Life, including but not limited to:
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Language : the oldest human institution and the most sophisticated medium of
expression.
Arts & Sciences : the most advanced and refined forms of human expression.
Thought : the ways in which people perceive, interpret, and understand the world
around them.
Spirituality : the value system transmitted through generations for the inner wellbeing of human beings, expressed through language and actions.
Social activity : the shared pursuits within a cultural community, demonstrated in a
variety of festivities and life-celebrating events.
Interaction : the social aspects of human contact, including the give-and-take of
socialization, negotiation, protocol, and conventions.
All of the above collectively define the meaning of Culture.
2. Community: a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality,
share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
3. Society: an organized group of persons associated together for religious,
benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes. A body of individuals
living as members of a community.
4. Civilization: A civilization is a complex society that usually has these five
characteristics or features:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A stable food supply
Specialization of labor
A system of government
Social levels
A highly developed culture: Art, architecture, religion, music, law, etc.
World Geography-Culture to Civilization
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Frequently, civilizations also have a system of writing.
Capitalism, Socialism and Communism are on a spectrum of economy types
Capitalism
Socialism
Communism
A country’s economy can fall anywhere on the spectrum, which means that economies are not
necessarily one type or another. They can be hybrids (mixed)
Culture
o Basic things that people
do (How they live)
 Beliefs
 Customs
 Religion
 Clothing
 Food
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Civilization (Culture on Steroids)
o All civilizations have certain
characteristics
 Economy
 Art
 Infrastructure
 Roads
 Bridges
 Schools
 Banks
 Government
o A civilization can encompass (contain)
multiple cultures
Level of Culture/Civilization
Technology
Explorati
on
Europe
Creativity
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One thing
leads to
another
Economics
World Geography-Culture to Civilization
Renaissance
Latin America
Mayans, Aztecs and Inca
we’re advanced for their level
of development