When you say you are living a civilization, it means you live in a culture with advanced forms of religion, government and industry. These advanced ways of living came about because people began to live in cities, and this is what gave rise to the concept of civilization.
The first human societies developed complex arts, crafts, and manufacturing systems. They also developed highly structured religions and complex social hierarchies, including class distinctions based on wealth, which in turn led to political leadership. They also made advances in science, mathematics, engineering and architecture. Until recently, anthropologists viewed all of this as evidence of progress, but that view has become outmoded. Modern anthropology is aimed at developing value-free ways of classifying cultures, with the understanding that all cultures are equally valid.
It seems as though Homo sapiens evolved in a biologically identical form about 300,000 years ago (fossil evidence frequently revises that number). For tens of thousands of years, all humans were hunters and gatherers. During that time, people formed bands of related people with close familial and marriage ties who moved from place to place. Each band consisted of about 25-60 members.
Around 9,500 BCE, some regions of the world discovered agriculture – the intentional cultivation of plants to feed themselves and others. This was a revolutionary development in human history, as even the most primitive of crops yields fifty times more caloric energy than hunting and gathering. People also learned to domesticate animals, keeping a small herd of sheep, goats, or cattle to eat and use their skins for clothing and shelter.
As a result of the new food sources, villages grew larger and became towns. Then cities emerged as groups of these towns that grew to be more densely populated than the surrounding countryside. City-dwellers developed more sophisticated ways of doing things, such as constructing houses of stone or brick and developing organized trade. They also specialized in certain occupations, such as farming or weaving. People who performed these specialized jobs ranked higher in their society than those who did not work for a living, such as warriors or priests.
These developments led to the emergence of governments, which enforced order and provided protection from outside threats. They also created a class system, in which wealthy people and those with special skills (such as pottery, leatherwork and textiles) controlled the economy and the social structure. A lower class existed below them, consisting of farmers and slaves.
With the establishment of these systems, people developed a writing process that they used to keep records. The first examples of this type of writing, called cuneiform, were found in Mesopotamia, but similar writing systems appear to have developed in ancient Egypt, Shang China, and Olmec/Mayan-era Mesoamerica. The ability to record words allowed them to communicate over long distances and better organize their large, complex institutions. In some cases, writing facilitated the transmission of technology between different regions of the world, such as metal tools and agriculture.