Continuing the discussion "Civilizations in the XXI century", opened by the articles of A. V. Akimov and A. I. Yakovlev, the author supports the definition of civilization as a phenomenon primarily mental, as a stage of historical development of the human psyche. The development of the modern world, society, and economy requires the development of a general theory of social development and, within its framework, theories of reform and modernization. Key words: civilization, definition, development, theory, reforms, modernization. The articles that opened the discussion " Civilizations in the XXI century "[Akimov, 2013; Yakovlev, 2013] raised a number of philosophical, methodological and theoretical questions, each of which involves a multi-volume study, and some of them have a long history of scientific and political discussions and hundreds of volumes of publications. These are: (1) definition of civilization, (2) limits to the growth of civilization (as opposed to economic growth?), (3) scenarios of interaction between civilizations during the XXI century, (4) methodology for analyzing long-term prospects for world development, (5) understanding world development as a phenomenon, (6) reforms as a management tool development. My comments relate exclusively to certain theoretical aspects that are affected by the discussion of problems that are close to my scientific interests, and are not an attempt to" review " its original articles. Definition of civilization: referring to the authority of A. Toynbee, who could not or did not want to give such a definition, the authors follow an intuitive understanding of the phenomenon. European, Orthodox, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Islamic, African, and Latin American civilizations are called. There are no clear, especially objectified, criteria; their place is taken by perception, starting from" self-evident", in fact, external signs. But if the Chinese, Japanese, and Indian cultures are marked by a number of common criteria fo ... Read more