Re: Maya and Civilization

"hotmoon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> The reality of the Ancient Mayan culture should be such as to
> stimulate and spur the intellect/intuition of everyone, especially
> archaeologists, into realizing that large buildings and excellent
> mathematics and calanders do not necessarily make for what we call
> civilization.  Just because archaeologists can find a culture by means
> of buildings and pottery does not mean that said culture is worthy of
> the label of civilzation.  Likewise, just because a people do not have
> large buildings and pottery does not necessarily mean that they are
> not "civilized".
>
> What we call "civilized" depends entirely upon quality of the lives of
> the people within a culture and how they treated one another and how
> they treated out-group members.  Compassion is the indicator of
> "civilization"; not buildings.

hotmoon,

    You are using the term "civilized" and "civilization" as value
judgements.  You can, of course, use them this way if you choose.

    But when discussing archaeology, "civilization" and "civilized" have a
very specific technical usage, referring to organization of a culture that
includes cities (civitas) that are relatively large, organized in a
heirarchical structure more ramified than a chiefdom (another technical
term), and providing governmental, economic and religious services to a wide
area.  IMHO, civilization has led to less, rather than more, moral and
ethical behavior.  My opinion only; YMMV.

    C. S. Lewis once bemoaned this type of loose usage of words.  He noted
that people use the term "gentleman" as a general positive term for any man.
In fact, as he noted, "gentleman" referred to a man at or above a certain
social status.  It is possible for a true gentleman (sensu strictu) to be
dishonorable, a cad, a liar, etc.; and for a non-gentleman to be honorable,
courageous, truthful, and all things befitting a good man.  When most people
use "gentleman" to mean "nice guy", the language has lost the utility of a
precise term.

    If you want to make a point, perhaps you would be willing to put in the
effort to express it without bastardizing the terminology of the subject
area of the ng you're posting to.

-- 
Tom McDonald
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