THREE DIMENSIONS OF CIVILIZATION. Complexity. Continuity. Vitality.
"A civilization, in order to be real, must have, as we might say, three dimensions. It must have complexity, or an elaborate system of responses to various situations, such as the need for nourishment, the need for human intimacies, the need for protection against enemies. It must have continuity, of identity with itself in its own past: each element in its structure must have grown out of something that was previously there. And it must have vitality: those to whom it belongs must possess it in the true sense of the word, grasp it and treasure it and believe in it, and refuse to part with it except in exchange for some new civilization which they can recognize as its legitimate continuation and heir."
R. G. Collingwood. Man Goes Mad. Oxford. 1936.
complexity = a function of intelligence. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
continuity = a function of memory. HISTORY AND LITERATURE.
vitality = a function of emotion. RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY.
"A civilization, in order to be real, must have, as we might say, three dimensions. It must have complexity, or an elaborate system of responses to various situations, such as the need for nourishment, the need for human intimacies, the need for protection against enemies. It must have continuity, of identity with itself in its own past: each element in its structure must have grown out of something that was previously there. And it must have vitality: those to whom it belongs must possess it in the true sense of the word, grasp it and treasure it and believe in it, and refuse to part with it except in exchange for some new civilization which they can recognize as its legitimate continuation and heir."
R. G. Collingwood. Man Goes Mad. Oxford. 1936.
complexity = a function of intelligence. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
continuity = a function of memory. HISTORY AND LITERATURE.
vitality = a function of emotion. RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY.
