We are starting to witness the beginning of a new era. It is full of information and technology, and it will decide how the future is going to be. But despite all our new inventions and ideas that show us how we're better than the generations before us, have we grown in any other ways? Does being civilized only mean to become more advanced technologically, or does it also apply to our morals.

Obviously, society has developed a lot in learning and technology. Today we have inventions such as the computer and nuclear power plants. Things that were never imagined long ago can be easily found today. Machines alleviate us of a lot of hard work that had to be done by hand, so in this sense, we have become more civilized.

On the other hand though, not all the technology we have is used for good. Society has produced many weapons specialized to kill large quantities of people. Many people have to live in constant fear o these weapons, while others use them for protection. We still have as many wars as we did in the past, but now the new technology used in them helps bring about more casualties. Could this be crueler than our ancestors.

Besides the wars, society has not grown in understanding other people. There is still prejudice today. Many hate groups like the KKK are still around today, and many new ones have come into being. In the past when our country was just starting to be formed, there were prejudices just because people were different. Over 100 years later, people haven't changed much, and there is still prejudice, making one wonder if we have become civilized yet.

Technically we have become civilized. We can now travel across the country in a few hours or send someone an e-mail. Most people think that becoming civilized is just creating new inventions than there were in the past, making most think that they have become more civilized. But our nature has not become more civilized. There are still wars, hatred, and acts of violence. Maybe it is more important to grow in this area than the other. So in reality, we are not as civilized as we think.