[YeGoblynQueenne]

>> However, that's exactly how the non-western major world civilisations are called. Barbarians, mysticals and unscientific etc are the words used to describe them.

"Barbarian" though is a Greek word, used by Greeks to describe anyone speaking a language that wasn't the Greek language. I'm guessing the article either ignores this or uses "barbarian" as a translation of a similar term used in the Far Eastern world, and which I don't know. I'm pretty sure there must have been one.

[digi_owl]

May have been the origin of the term, but these days it is basically "any culture that have practices and norm we do not understand and deem inferior to our own".

[Veen]

> we do not understand and deem inferior to our own

Of course, those two things don't have to go together. It's perfectly reasonable to understand something and deem it inferior. And deeming it inferior isn't necessarily an indication that something isn't understood.