Why do some groups develop into great civilizations and why do others remain at the Stone Age level?

Question

in the world?

Answer 1

Read Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" which deals with this very question.

Basically, civilisation can only arise where there is agriculture, because you have to be able to grow more food than each individual can eat so that you can afford to have a non-working population of thinkers, priests and soldiers.

Agriculture will only flourish where the local plant life has the right kind of plants to be domesticated - one of the only places where this happened in the ancient past is the so-called Fertile Crescent, round about where Iran is now, where the local grains could be grown and harvested. With the exception of small parts of south America, China and Papua New Guinea everywhere else learned how to do it from the Fertile Crescent people.

The first Ancient peoples, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, The Egytpians, Greeks, Romans and Western Europe and the Arab Kingdoms are all based on that first agricultural breakthrough.

This is a gross over-simplification and I urge you to read the book

Answer 2

I think a previous answer had it right when he stated that those civilizations that were forced by a harsh enviroment to invent knew ways of doing things grew into great civilizations. I would add that beyond a harsh climate you also need a will to more than just survive. You need to have ambition. And to answer a previous reply no agriculture isn't the main requirement for a civilization to develop. If you read The Emergence of Man: The First Cities you will find that some of the oldest cities actually developed without any local agriculture. One of these cities developed based on animal husbandry one based on pottery making and another actually developed on religious cites.

Answer 3

Because there are 6 key aspects of a civilization & lacking any of them could have easy lead to failure or remainin at the stone age level.
basic characteritics of civilization: an urban focus, a distinct religious structure, political & military structres, social structure based on economic power, the development of writings, forms of artistic and intellectual activity

Answer 4

That is controlled by great power of uniting.
let see this situation if you have 10 tribes that live in the same area.
all of them with same cultural, economical and military power. what would happen if just 2 of them became Allies.they will be like twice stronger that others so if some other tribe go against them it would have low chance to survive. so everyone else must be abased in front of them. so just with one move of 2 tribes they will be rulers so other tribes must pay them taxes...and so.....they grove in civilizations not because of stronger economy on the beginning but wiser politics. see the example of Macedonia.
it was little country in the Balkan but Philip & Alexander the Great (they were not greeks) rised Macedonia in world power one and conquered the known world just in 25 year.

Answer 5

Part of that is their environment. People in Europe had to develop because they were fighting nature. In winter, they had to develop ways to keep warm. They had to develop ways to grow their food. They had to develop new and better ways to kill game animals. People in Africa, though, had it much easier. The climate was good, so no need to come up with hard build houses or heat. Fruit grew wild so no need to come up with agriculture. Wild animals were plentiful so they just had to hunt, and didn't have to come up with any technology. The harder the life, and the worse nature was to them, the more technonogy had to be developed

Answer 6

Technology, some civilization travel to far lands in search of knowledge.

Answer 7

great civilizations come from great people.

because Civilizations made by humans, the important thing is where or how got these great people?

"Congratulation to those reach great civilizations, and for those not reach it, GAnbare!"

Answer 8

Some GOT it..and some do not. Its that simple.

Not everyone can be everything..that is where sociology has got it all wrong. Some are exactly what they are..and there isnt a thing anyone can do to promote or uplift them

THEY..have to do it for themselves...or perish.

Answer 9

It has a couple of reasons... luck, historical context, geographical situation, traditions... etc.