Could you prove that you're civilized?

jay gw

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Civilized

This term is often used as a value judgement to indicate that the person or society in question has attained a higher level of culture, a more complex system of government, and a superior set of beliefs, morals, and behaviors.
Having a high state of culture and development both social and technological
Observant of the forms required by good breeding

Uncivilized

lacking culture or refinement


Many contacts between cultures have resulted in the judgement that the other culture is less "civilized" and more "barbaric" or primitive or savage.


However.....can you prove you're civilized? Is it possible to?
 
E-Human said:
Civilized

This term is often used as a value judgement to indicate that the person or society in question has attained a higher level of culture, a more complex system of government, and a superior set of beliefs, morals, and behaviors.
Having a high state of culture and development both social and technological
Observant of the forms required by good breeding

Uncivilized

lacking culture or refinement


Many contacts between cultures have resulted in the judgement that the other culture is less "civilized" and more "barbaric" or primitive or savage.


However.....can you prove you're civilized? Is it possible to?
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I would have to assume that it's all just a relativity issue, based on how you see your own society....

But, I don't know...... :confused:
 
Compared to what standard?
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What standard did colonists use in the New World, or Mohammed when he told polytheists to convert or else?

Maybe that one.
 
I can prove that I'm civilized by showing my driver's license. It gives my address in a city. "Civilized" means having the skills that allow one to survive functionally in a city.
 
Some people assert that it was skin colour, some that it was the wearing of trousers. Others probably thought that it was belief in god.
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How many standards are there?
 
I could prove I am uncivilized or lacking culture or refinement
or maybe not since I actually reject culture and refinement which shows I have a superior set of beliefs. :D
 
It's a subjective term. It's kind of like describing what "culture" is made of.
Everybody thinks they are more cultured and civilized than others around them. Even those of the same nation or race. It's why New Yorkers and people in LA look down on people elsewhere and call it "fly over" or cow towns.
 
Bikewer said:
I own an espresso maker....
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Ahh, but do you know how to use it? I could, if I wanted to, give an espresso marker to a bunch of bonobos, but that wouldn't make them civilized, would it?

Marquis,
Considering that there are nigh 9 billion people on this planet, I'd wager that, at a minimum, there are 9 billion defintions of "civilized".


To the OP, **mindlessly scratches butt** I have complete, irrefutable **UUUUUUUUUUUUURP!!!!!** evidence that I, KMortis, am the veritable **picks nose, looks at the mined gold on the end of his end effector, then eats it** paragon of "civilized".
 
You are civilized. An unrefined person would have wiped that booger on a piece of furniture, or the wall.
 
Bikewer said:
Bonobos handle ordinary coffee-brewing fairly well, but the nuances of proper foam are lost on them.
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No kidding. The last bunch got so frustrated at the foam nozzle that they just flung poo in my cup

It was probably the best cappicino I've ever had. A bit nutty, but otherwise tastey.
 
There is a famous Einstein quote that equated being civilized with knowing mathematics. Which is equally as stupid as equating it to coffee making.
 
Vagabond said:
There is a famous Einstein quote that equated being civilized with knowing mathematics. Which is equally as stupid as equating it to coffee making.
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I don't own an espresso machine, but does using unbleached paper coffee filters count, or do I have to spring for the reusable gold filters?
 
Vagabond said:
There is a famous Einstein quote that equated being civilized with knowing mathematics. Which is equally as stupid as equating it to coffee making.
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No. Coffee is arbitrary - mathematics is universal.

The fact that you confuse the universal with the arbitrary is proof you're not civilized.
 
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