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Greatest & Most Influential Civilization


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My Dad and I were discussing this very topic recently, and I thought I would get some thoughts. It came up after discussing Egypt, and how they essentially went from leading the world in almost every category, to now being a pretty rough place. 

England/Great Britain was my father's answer. So long have they been a power and leader, plus they have spread their language and culture into other major countries like USA, Canada, India, and Australia.  

We ended up discuss Spain and France as also contenders. 

What are your thoughts are on this topic? 

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On a serious note, wouldn't China and Japan have good shouts? While not as serious in the 'exploring and take over' forgien lands likes England, France, and Spain did, surely they have one of the most impact civilizations in history?  

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The Romans.

1. Architecture, most obvious example - the aqueduct 

2. Roads

3. Concrete

4. Stole a lot of Ancient Greek culture, including political and philosophical thinking and were responsible for spreading that around Europe; then further economic and political development on that

5. Books

There’s a lot more too.

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I think it really depends on how you look at it. All civilizations, especially those that have risen at later stages of our history, have borrowed and built on things achieved by previous civilizations and passed it onto others, it's like a snowball effect. The world was also very different throughout various periods of human history in different continents, so it is very hard (if not impossible) to compare them objectively. There are many various criteria to consider as well, such as how great it was at the height of its power compared to the rest of the world; its influence on culture, arts, philosophy, society, science and technological advancements; the spread of its ideas, culture, language and religion; and its legacy, among many others. Personally, the way I see it, the most influential civilizations should be the ones that were influential from early on, spread their culture and ideas and remained dominant for a long time. Based on all that, I'd put it like this: 

For the West: Greeks/Romans (bundling them together, as the latter pretty much took over and copied the former) - that's what the modern western civilization is pretty much based on up until today, including arts, philosophy and modern thinking, political and legal system, currency, social welfare, infrastructure, military and warfare, languages, science, sports, theater, music, architecture, etc. 
For the East: Chinese - a cultural and economical giant in East Asia in particular, but also a huge influence globally, particularly in technology, medicine and sciences, trade, philosophical and spiritual thought, and a culture that has survived and spread almost continuously for around 4000 years.

 


 

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I generally don't like these kind of discussions. Reason if you are discussing with someone who is related to some particular civilization than its more likely to become a nationalistic discussion and degrading one for the other.

Iranians are mad about how Persians were portrayed in the movie 300.

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1 hour ago, Devon Von Devon said:

Here, i was having a similar discussion with a Persian.

 

pak.jpg

I don’t know if one Persian idiot is reflective of all Persians tbh. He’s a moron though. Saying that the Persian empire is still around is fucking retarded, Persians still exist but nowhere near substantially in the same way as it was when Persians had a massive empire, and that’s been true since the Arab conquest of Iran.

Meanwhile Incas also still exist lol. and Rome remains the most influential culture, at least in the West.

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1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I don’t know if one Persian idiot is reflective of all Persians tbh. He’s a moron though.

I'm not really targeting at Persians. I was rather clarifying my point discussions like that mostly likely to go that because a lot of people think that way.

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Just now, Devon Von Devon said:

I'm not really targeting at Persians. I was rather clarifying my point discussions like that mostly likely to go that because a lot of people think that way.

People that take great pride in shite that happened 1000+ years ago that they had nothing to do with are idiots.

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In terms of global influence it’s probably us Brits via empire. 

Many things influenced us however, Norman, Viking, Roman, Celts, Germanic tribes have all shaped Britain. Britain also took influenced from the stares it was in power of, India, Africa, Australia & North America have all helped shape Britain. 

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In terms of influence, as a Westerner, it's impossible to look past the Greek/Romans, so much of what they shapes our societies today comes from them, the way we think, entertain, distribute power and believe, stems from them. Other great cultures, have added, adapted and shaped us too but the fundamentals still stem from greek/roman days.

Harder to speak of other parts of the globe but certainly the Arab conquests have contributed a great amount to world history and in the far East you have the ancient Chinese Empire. The South American civilisations like the Incas and Mayas are fascinating but sadly I think they have largely been marginalised in the modern world.

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11 hours ago, Fairy In Boots said:

In terms of global influence it’s probably us Brits via empire. 

Many things influenced us however, Norman, Viking, Roman, Celts, Germanic tribes have all shaped Britain. Britain also took influenced from the stares it was in power of, India, Africa, Australia & North America have all helped shape Britain. 

As inhabitants I'm not sure the Romans left much in Britain apart from the old A1  :ph34r: 

Their cultural influence seems more reimported from Irish monks in Iona and Lindesfarne and by intellectuals love affair with Roman literature.

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