Civilization has come a long way in altering the culture of the people. It comes in many forms and each either has its own merits or demerits or both.
When I think of how things were done many years ago, what comes to my mind are many but the one that I would like to talk about is transportation.
I have read a lot about how transportation evolved with time. At one point, it was by trekking and it later advanced to the use of animals. Advancement in technology brought about the invention of the bicycle. Motorcycles and vehicles were invented to improve land transportation.
Movement on water was made possible with wooden canoe before technology brought about boats and ultimately ships.
The advancement reached its peak when airplanes were invented. It came and made long journeys possible to be covered in relatively shorter time.
Civilization is about sharing knowledge through socialization globally. These have been made possible through interaction of the people across borders. Imagine a situation where the means of transportation had remained the way it was a centuries ago, it would have been difficult to transfer technology from developed countries to developing or underdeveloped nations.
There has been a lot of advancement in information dissemination because there is the means to import the technology needed to make it possible. Medical equipment that brought about advancements in healthcare delivery are brought into the country through modern means of transportation.
Advancements in water transportation help to transport heavyweight materials between countries through the sea. This would have been very difficult to achieve through vehicular movement on land and it would be too heavy to be airlifted.
Air transportation, being the fastest means of transportation, makes journeys between far cities to be covered in a shorter time. If a company in Nigeria employs someone living in America and there is a need for his physical presence to perform his role, it takes such an employee hours to arrive Nigeria and take the job. This is made possible because of advancement in technology as a result of civilization.
I did research when I was studying at the University and I sent a sample to Germany for some analysis. I got my results within a few days. This would have been made difficult in the absence of modern transportation means.
Almost all aspects of human development stem from having contacts with one another and these contacts are made possible through transportation.
On the other hand, the aspect of civilization that I have reservations about is the invention of sophisticated guns and weapons of mass destruction. The primary purpose of having them to my understanding should be to provide security for lives and properties.
Some countries have these materials to get prepared for wars and if eventually war breaks out, the weapons are used to eliminate innocent people.
The most scary part is how these weapons find their ways into the hands of criminals such as thieves, kidnappers, terrorists and hired assassins. The criminals are aware that police and other law enforcers have such sophisticated weapons to combat crime and they also acquire such weapons too to perpetrate their criminal activities.
When I read of the destruction that guns and other weapons are doing to the people, I can't help but wish it wasn't invented to prevent such happenings. Civilization has helped humans develop what they can use to kill one another faster.