Do you believe in geographical determinism?

Question

ie - Does the place where someone lives (not meaning the culture but the physical surroundings) significantly affect one's personality, way of thinking or even physical attributes?

Answer 1

Mais bien sur. I know i would viscerally respond differently to the architectural severity, punishing snow, barren flora & bleak vastness of Siberia than i would to the green rolling hills, clean salt air, architecture that is like an old friend, and sun that demands you lift your face to it, of Scotland. Emotions & physicallity are interlinked. One would necessarily take on the physical mantle of what the senses percieve to be good or bad. I would walk tall with a spring in my step and a glow to my skin in Iona whereas i would have curvature of the spine, dull skin and lack of muscle tone due to the slow gait caused by plodding through a place that weighs me down emotionally, in Siberia.

Answer 2

Yes. Behavior and personality are affected by a person's surroundings. I live in Phoenix, and the heat here makes people stressed and easily aggravated, but when it gets cooler people tend to be a little easier to be around.

If you'd like an example on physical attributes changing, go to the beach, like in California. Many of the locals are lean and have small but apparent muscles. This is because many locals swim, and the figure helps them. Now go to a town in a forrest (can't think of one off the bat). Many people there are not as lean because they have a higher muscle volume. This is because physical labor is done more and there's a good chance that many like to camp/hunt/fish, which can help build muscle.
Today, this isn't as true as it used to be, but at one point it was very close. Modern technology and bed eating habits have reshaped society (literally).

It's hard to think of good examples, so I hope this helps.

Answer 3

You can guess with a reasonable certainty that certain political views would be more important to some than others. They are probably going to want to dress differently in Alaska vs Hilo Hawaii.
Big city people living in a crime zone. have more stress than some one living in a small New England town.
Yes, to some extent geographical determination is real and confirmed.

Answer 4

physcial traits go with physical geography --

thats kind of a given -- most cultures that live near the equator have more melanin than someone living near the poles.

i forgot which way it goes but people at high altitudes are either taller or shorter than people at low altitudes. you can tell by someones nose structure what kind of air they were supposed to breathe.

cultural traits like personality and way of thinking could be based on cultural geography --

liverpool is a model of cultural geography. turn a corner and someone has a different accent.

miami is probably the most culturally diverse city in the united states. what block you live on would drastically effect your outlook -- if you were in a poor neighborhood with nightly shootouts it would be drastically different than if you were in a well to do neighborhood on the intercoastal waterway.