Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Western Civilization

Western Civilization is a rather broad and fuzzy term; it generally refers to European peoples and those peoples whose culture is largely derived from European antecedents. I've studied its history to some extent, although I don't claim expertise on all the details. I have divided this roughly into categories of Anglic (English-speaking), Latin, Germanic, Northeast European, Balkan, and Scandinavian peoples. There are connections with the Asiatic peoples, such as the Middle East, India or South Asia, Orient, and Southeast Asia, but it's difficult to generalize until I have examined the relations with each of the individual peoples. There are also connections to African and to Native American peoples. Study of particular cities will help give color and detail to study of Western civilization. Social changes, types, and structure can be applied to analysis of these peoples. The major institutions, culture, anthropology, and biography can be usefully applied when I have more detail on these subjects.

Anglic, or English-speaking peoples is probably not a traditional category, but I find it a useful one. The connections with other areas are similar to those for Western civilization in general, but it's useful to consider also relations to the other Western peoples. These are perhaps better connected to Native American peoples than to African and Asiatic peoples.

Latin peoples are a rather broad category, not yet properly analyzed or considered in the same depth what I have applied to anglic peoples.

Germanic peoples are also a broad category with only a preliminary analysis.

Northeast European peoples are likewise a broad category.

I've reintroduced Balkan peoples and Scandinavian peoples into the latest version of my program so that I now have a fomplete list of the broad categories for Western civilization.

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