Introduction. Important results are obtained at the intersection of individual
sciences. The doctrine of civilizations requires a search for relationships with history,
psychology, and with the theory of self organization, which has arisen and is devel
oping in the natural sciences.
Materials and methods. The method of comparison made it possible to obtain
new results in the doctrine of civilizations. Analysis and synthesis were also used.
Results of the study. Civilization consists of two parts: mentality and culture.
Mentality — is the basis of civilization, culture — is the “immune” system of civi
lization. Mentality is a collective instinct for self preservation, genetically inherited
from generation to generation. Culture consists of conditioned reflexes, which are
the result of an individual’s adaptation to the environment.
Discussion. A social system arose in Russia, organizationally similar to the army:
the head of state was the commander in chief, to whose will all people obeyed and
at whose disposal were all the resources of the state, i.e. everything is like in the army.
The North Sea civilization was formed in completely different conditions. Water bar
riers saved people from enemies, and A.Toynbee called this environmental factor
“the compensating effect of the environment”. The origin of the North Sea civiliza
tion took place on the marches of the North Sea.
Conclusion. The genesis of local civilizations turns out to be understandable
if we consider the ways of adapting ethnic groups to their environment, and taking
into account the fixation by the instinct of self preservation (mentality) of behavior
that allowed the ethnic group to be preserved (armed struggle against the enemy or
trade in the absence of enemies).
Key words: mentality, culture, Pavlovian and operant conditioning, self-preserva
tion instinct, brain, environment, self-organization theory
10.56429/2414-4894-2022-40-2-81-94
Aslanov Leonid A.
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