How do ancient beliefs and practices affect a civilization?
457482
Beliefs and practices affect every aspect of civilization.  They help to develop government, individualize religion, form habits, culture, architecture.  Beliefs and practices are probably the most fundamental aspects of any civilization.
960475
Culture: culture has to do with pretty much anything & everything it seems. It is everything from the music you listen to, the food you eat, the holidays you celebrate, how you celebrate those holidays, why you celebrate them, how you dance, or even sing, your mannerisms, the way you approach a situation, how you dress, etc. A lot of this can also sometimes just be individual personality traits; however, our cultures do have a large impact on how we think and act.\n\nAs far as can they change, I would definitely say yes. Look at how so many modern day European countries ( as well as the U.S.) were influenced culturally by how the ancient Greeks lived. I also think that, for example, when someone from another country emmigrates to the U.S. they take their culture with them, but a lot of times end up blending it with American culture as well and it becomes its own.  To me anyways, Asian-American culture is a lot different, but also very similar, to that of just an Asian or American culture; and so on. I hope you know what I mean ;-)
254427
Time to crack open the history books there...\n\nWhen the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as the state religion, they made it illegal to participate in any other religion (to control the population...that message of "render unto Ceaser..."). When new areas were conquered, the leaders, both secular and religious, were eliminated by conversion...accepting Christianity and the dominion of the Roman Empire, or dying. In order to control the conquered people, the old faiths were made illegal. \n\nNow, add in mysogeny. Males sought to control and enslave women. A woman who knew herbology and had a healing hand was a threat to male doctors' practice, or who was 'wise' was a threat to the role of the priests as givers of moral rules and advice, etc. Many of the old faiths were matriarchal, as well, and the knowledge of wise decisions, of herbology/medicine, etc. were passed woman-to-woman.\n\nWicca stems from European nature worship prior to the controls placed there by patriarchal Christianity introduced during martial conquests by the Romans (and their splinter kingdoms after the fall of the empire).\n\nAdd in the mistranslation of "do not suffer a poisoner to live" (in the Hebrew) with "do not suffer a witch to live" (that tie-in to herbology, again)...\n\nSo, modern Wiccans tap deep-rooted generational fears by Christians raised in the ancient prejudice against the "old ways." Part of it is the unfortunate choice of self-naming modern celebrants of ancient pre-Christian pantheons/nature awareness to call themselves witches.\n\nGood luck on your report!
618758
the normal answer would be that, the ancient egyptians are the oldest civilisation on earth older than chritianity. So these eras were the begining of philosphy and researching religion. Religion is almost a science these days , just watch the Di Vinci Code by Dan Brown, and compare this with what our ancestors had to work with. Very primitive, but very impressive if you think about it. \n\nThey had gods for most events, like hunting, death, farming, birth, etc, etc.
353710
Well, the Greek and Roman mythology that we still have around today is about archetypes.  Carl Jung was the most famous philosopher/scientist on this subject.  He made the point that the gods and goddesses of the pagan pantheon represent eternal truths about the human condition, but that it is necessary to do some interpreting.  \n\nBut you can't count on them too much for morals and values; they were pretty bloodthirsty, some of them, and definitely had flaws.  Jealousy and dishonesty are well represented, for example.  We use them now mostly for a vocabulary; a way of expressing what we mean that we would not have if it weren't for Venus and Mars, for example.
28919
Few answers to this really, for some people its ahrd to belive that a civilization of 4000 years ago could build something we would have a hell of a hard time building so precisely and also so durable today. I also belive that some people will never belive that anyone in an "uncivilized" area like Africa could build a monument that makes anything that we know about, before it or after pale in comparison, excepting maybe the Great Wall
956432
So, as far as I understand, the question is asking what kind of factors influence the way we use natural resources. Also how changes in our usage of natural resources happen. Advancement in technology over time is a good example as given here because for example we can now recycle many things such as paper or even water and so waste less natural resources in that way. Change in culture or religion could be another one, people from some faiths use as little comfort material as physically possible, they live in harmony with the planet and waste least natural resources. Everything that leads to a change in our lifestyle will indirectly influence/change the way we use natural resources as well. I am listing here technology, culture, religion, social movements (such as the hippie movement in 1960s), political turmoil, war (leads to minimum survival pattern, sparing usage of all resources including natural resources, but at the same time, destruction of natural resources such as forests, clean water by fire and bombs and the like- each of the factors listed here can go both ways like this one I think), economic depression... all these come and go with time and through these and other factors our consumption pattern changes.
5397
If it were simple it wouldn't be an exam question.  \n\n(I'd write about specifics, and say the impact of colonial rule depends on the nature of the colonial power and rule, and the people who implemented it, and on the society and peoples on whom the rule was imposed.  Fopr instance, there were great differences in the forms of colonialism practiced in Africa by Britain, France and Belgium. In almost every case colonialism introduced "modern" practices for good and ill, and creaated gerrymandered countries which intensified conflict between incompatible local societies.)
426271
well being a hindu and indian, my relegion matters to me because its my cultural heritage . some of the beliefs,  the philosophies date back upto more than 5000 years. it tells me about my ancesters and their ideals and moral values. and most of it still relevant. why  the most tolerant and rich cultural heritage should not matter.
902330
I don't have much for you, but you may want to try something like this.\n\nIf the first literate societies that emerged from the "Cradle of Civilization" (as Mesopotamia is often referred to) were able to observe the future in their region, would they do anything differently?\n\nMesopotamia is what is part of present day Syria and Iraq, a region torn apart by war. It seem so far removed from the land of scholars it once was, when knowledge was power and the great library of Alexandria was the destination of the philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician.
627251
While they are different words for the same thing, chances are the gods/goddesses for each civilization were different...
517437
In prehistoric times, children so loved their parents that when the parents passed away, the children plastered their corpses with lime and began to pray to their ancestors. They stood these human totem poles in the center of the cave and danced around them hoping that their parent's love would reach out and touch them just as the spirit of the animal totem they hunted and ate would grant them the strength of the animal. They painted the animal totems on the walls of their caves. See the Lascaux cave paintings in France. Similar art appeared in other lands. Then came the ice age 20,000 years ago which ended 12,500 years ago.\n\nAfter the ice age ended, and the floods came and agriculture took hold, people began farming around 11,000 years ago and built "god houses" to house the clay and lime plastered corpses of their relatives. Some societies ate soft morsels of their beloved ones to gain their strength, (such as in New Guinea highlands) while other cultures made statues out of their parent's or grandparent's bodies to keep them around so they could talk to them. \n\nBy the end of the neolithic era about 5,500 years ago, the idea of a spirit in the body was said to dwell in the trees, and people prayed to trees. Finally, people began to fashion idols and animals or 'venus' fertility figures out of clay and fire the clay. Women were worshipped because only they could be factories for producing men who could hunt in teams and bring down the mammoths. Women were highly valued during the ice age from producing children. Men who were alpha types instead of team workers were banned from the settlements. People began to tattoo the energy meridian lines as in acupuncture, about 5,000 years ago. Spirit, then became something within the energy of the body as well as dwelling without in the fertility goddesses who brought the cycles of the harvest and new children.\n\nAbout 14,000 years ago, instead of their parent's corpses inside the clay, just the art work/sculpture remained of these idols--people, venuses, fertility goddesses with huge mammaries to feed the world, and other sculpture appeared as cults, such as the clan of the cave bear and the cat cult.\n\nBy 9,000 years ago, the idol then went inside the god house to protect it--in the center of the village. That's how people began to pray to idols. Finally the spirit dwelling in the idol was released by smashing the idol or opening it's mouth to speak.\n\nBy the time of Abraham in the Hebrew year 5756 years ago, Sumerian shops for making ceramic idols evolved into the art of smashing the idol to let the spirit free. Then monotheism occurred to those contemplating the invisible God. By 4,000 years ago people eventually realized the spirit isn't in the man-made idol after all, it's in heaven and is too omnipotent to be knowable, but has created all, just as your parents created you from stardust. In Egypt, one pharoah prayed to the sun disk. In the deserts, the monotheists wandered, led by Cohanic priests who prayed to Yahweh, the one invisible, unknowable God....and suddenly, worship of female venuses and female reproduction cycles was not fashionable any more, and a patriarch male God took the woman's place in the God house in the middle of the village. From then on, societies were divided into pagan worshippers of female goddesses such a the cat cult in Egypt and the cult of mammary gland-clad female deities, such as Astarte in Greece/Anatolia. \n\nThe competition was on, and by the close of the classical period, God was male and sacrificed his only son, Jesus just as Abrahim almost sacrificed his Isaac, but let Ishmael wander in the desert with his slave mom...So the moral of the story is male patriarchs kick to the curb the female...After all, God didn't give his only daughter...The female venus statue was hammered to gravel, and the male God reigned in the patriarchy. \n\nThe female cat cult ended...by men's dogged
817260
I think it all stems to the origins of religion and the mentality of primitive people. Before the advancement of science it was easier to believe in a Sun God and now people face Centuries of refinement of old superstitions they are taught from birth. Plus, people are by their very nature gullible.\nAlso, it takes more effort to against tradition - i takes a person willing to question things that make no logical sense. It's much easier to just toe-the-line and believe.
537633
They say superstition affects people psychologically so that if you think its bad you'll feel everything is going wrong\n\nI heard of an experiment done on superstitious people that performed the same test with and without their superstitions present ( i think it was a rabbit's foot ) and they performed better with it than without\n\nand they ranked their feelings of the test a lot better when they had their placebo, it affect you subconsciously i think
28157
No. The whole thing is a myth. Not even an original one. they just copied off of earlier civilizations myths.
765114
FIFTY twenty-five? Not twenty twenty-five?\n\nWell, assuming human civilization even still exists, I think there would be very, very, very radical changes by then. Christianity and Islam will be long forgotten; they will probably even be considered mythology. A lot of the East Asian belief systems will endure, though. Buddhism will stick around, and Hinduism as well. Religions will steer away from holy texts and churches and places of worship, and there will be more of a focus on one's personal spirituality. There may even come a time when the majority of people don't believe in any deities at all, because there will be more of an emphasis on spirituality instead of a "sky daddy" parent figure who rewards you or punishes you.
393420
Gods are creatures of myths, but most ancient cultures had some form of higher being looking over them. So gods are common conceptions.\n\nHowever, mythology is usually based on older civilizations, so if it's a modern day Deity it is considered religion or urban legend, as opposed to a myth.