6 of 80

Write now Article Tools

Environment influences all people, but people are not simply products of their environment. You can not enter a set of environmental pressures into a human being and expect a predictable outcome, the same way you might with a computer program. The self influences how the environment will influence the self.

For example, a strong or subversive personality will harden against being force fed another's viewpoint. This may lead them to rebel and adopt an opposing outlook, or it may lead to study and exploration of an opposing stance. A person who doesn't accept what they are told to believe will be introduced to new environments which can in turn influence their thoughts and actions in the future.

A person's environment will inevitably shape and mold the inner being; as a person comes across values that leave an impression they may adopt those values into their world view. That information becomes part of the filter through which they strain other data coming in.

My feeling is that people are more like catalysts than products. They react and interact with their environment; different personalities influence how environmental factors will be approached. Being a 'product' of one's environment implies that human beings are the predictable outcome in a manufacturing line: Throw in some religious dogma, conservative parents, well-to-do upbringing and you end up with a Christian Republican. That's just not how people work. Human beings can change their environment, just as their environment can change them.

Some people do adopt the values they were brought up with and live out those teachings in their lives. Other people rebel against everything they were brought up to believe in and set out on their own path. Their environment still influences them, it just doesn't create who they will become. Rich, poor, Western or Eastern, religious or not, there will always be people who question and explore outside of their initial sphere of influence. Independent thought happens across the spectrum.

Learn more about this author, Alissa King.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about We are products of our environment?
We want to hear your view. Write now!