<!-- bryant-content-generator:start --> # Civilizations are populations before they are... > Civilizations are populations before they are abstractions. They consist of families, descendants, languages, institutions, religions, inherited memories, territorial attachments, identities and lineages moving through time. Ethnicity is neither the only determinant of civilization nor an irrelevant embarrassment that serious analysis must pretend not to see. **Source:** [[articles/The Gigawatt Is the New Measure of War|The Gigawatt Is the New Measure of War: AI, Demography, and the Civilizational Contest Between America and China]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Civilizations are populations before they are abstractions. They consist of families, descendants, languages, institutions, religions, inherited memories, territorial attachments, identities and lineages moving through time. Ethnicity is neither the only determinant of civilization nor an irrelevant embarrassment that serious analysis must pretend not to see.” — Bryant McGill https://bryantmcgill.com/quotes/quotes-civilizations-populations-before-must-pretend-see ``` <!-- bryant-content-generator:end -->