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Vol.13
What is Civilization? |
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Though humans evolved from
apes and gradually became more
humane by nature, one can
imagine that the first men
lived in a wholly consumption
based society in which they
hunted animals and picked fruit
and vegetables. In such an era,
people must have spent most of
the day looking for food in
order to sustain their lives.
When humans constructed a
food production system by
domesticating animals and
growing grain, however, they
found time to spare. As a
result, humans became mentally
freer, and they were able to
direct their attention in their
spare time to making their
lives more comfortable.
I personally believe that
this was the starting point of
civilization, and the first
revolution in the history of
mankind.
Since then, we
have experienced an Industrial
Revolution, witnessed various
other inventions and
discoveries, and we are now on
the verge of realizing space
travel. Fine arts such as
music, painting and literature,
as well as various kinds of
sports have also evolved.
Although it may be crude,
I have created two categories
in order to discuss
civilization today.
The
first category consists of art,
sports, dietary habits and
medical care. Art has raised
the spiritual aspect of
mankind, and the evolution of
sports, dietary life and
medical care has increased life
expectancy; both beneficial for
the human race. The second
category includes fashion with
its penchant for physical
aestheticism, home appliances
and business equipment that aim
to be more and more
sophisticated, and
transportation systems which
race to reduce travel time.
The problem is the second
category. Washing machines,
vacuum cleaners and
refrigerators are undoubtedly
saviors for women, and
televisions and game consoles
are prime examples of
entertainment.
I am
aware that I myself am blessed
with the produce of
civilization, but I still
question how much more hi-tech
must we become and how much
more time do we need to reduce
before we are satisfied?
I think that there is no
end to it. I do not know whose
words they were, but there is a
saying that men are the lords
of creation. However, if we
continue at this high speed,
many people would agree that
mankind will be facing
catastrophe.
Creatures
on earth consume energy that is
proportionate to their body
weight. Nevertheless, a person
in a modern society apparently
consumes 50 times as much
energy as an elephant. For
example, let’s say the average
weight of a person is 65kg and
the average weight of an
elephant is 4,000kg. This would
mean that an elephant is 62
times heavier than a human, and
gives us the calculation
62×50＝3,100. In other words,
humans are consuming 3,100
times as much energy as animals
in the wild.
Despite
the outcry on global warming,
countries with the highest CO2
emission are hesitant to take
measures, while nuclear nations
try to diminish other
countries’ nuclear development
without disarming themselves.
My theory is that
humans are not very smart. When
forming a state, in particular,
they become egotistic as is
represented by wars, and often
results in irredeemable
situations.
What is
civilization?
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