In contrast, Europeans, who lived in “stimulating” climates with a sharp change in seasons were more industrious and inventive.
For example, environmental determinists in the 1920s thought that people who lived in the tropics were slothful and backward because finding food in the tropics was thought to be rather easy.
Environmental determinism is the idea that the natural or physical environment shapes and creates cultures in other words, the environment essentially dictates culture. Two major perspectives on the humanenvironment relationship in the field of geography are environmental determinism, which has been largely rejected, and possibilism. The environment can significantly affect human activities, and vice versa, humans can shape and changethe Earth’s surface and its atmosphere. This example is but one instance of the relationship between humans and their environment. Because migration and transportation over mountain ranges can be limited, diffusion can be slowed or even stopped by these physical barriers. The process of spatial diffusion can be profoundly affected by the physical terrain, such as is the case with a mountain range.
