Brave New World: All Things are Relative The dictionary defines civilized as "advanced in social customs, art, and science". The keyword here is social customs. A persons idea of what is civilized is relative to his culture. Through out the history of man, one can see many changes in customs, and customs is what defines our idea of what is civilized. The word civilized is one of the most relative concepts. Time and distance are what have shaped our customs for thousands of years. If we look back throughout history we can see many customs that may seem odd, or even barbaric, to us but were everyday events to