If you have lived all of your life in one place or one country, you will probably view that way of life as the best and most sensible. But if you have never experienced any other culture by living in it for a substantial period, you don't really have anything to compare it to. Only by learning that there are other ways of living can you see that things that you have accepted as facts of life are really choices that you make and can change.

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Looking at other civilizations enables you to look at not only the good and bad things in daily life, but also the bigger picture of the qualities that made the culture great and the ones that led to its demise. There is a tendency to assume that our time is superior because it is more advanced, but think about how ancient peoples accomplished tasks we still find difficult today, even with our technology, and how their civilizations lasted for such long periods.

How will future times look on our civilizations? Will they find some of our beliefs and attitudes foolish or will they marvel at our accomplishments despite our primitive technology?