Which of the following statements about environmental determinism are correct?
A. Nature was humanised
B. Society was at primitive level
C. Nature dominated human beings
D. The level of technology was very low
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → B, C and D only
Environmental determinism describes the early stage of the human-nature relationship. Humans had very little technology, so nature controlled their lives. They adapted to whatever nature allowed, feared its fury and worshipped it. Such a person is called a naturalised human.
(A) Nature was humanised — Incorrect. Nature gets humanised only later, when better technology lets people leave their imprints on nature: fields, ports, towns and satellites. That later idea is possibilism, the opposite of determinism.
(B) Society was at primitive level — Correct. At this stage the stage of human social development was primitive. Such a society depended directly on nature for food, water and shelter.
(C) Nature dominated human beings — Correct. Humans had to adapt to the dictates of Nature. Nature was the powerful force, and humans could only follow it.
(D) The level of technology was very low — Correct. Technology loosens the hold of the environment on humans. With very low technology, people could not change their surroundings, so nature decided how they lived.
NCERT (2026-27): “Naturalisation of Humans and Humanisation of Nature … In the early stages of their interaction with their natural environment humans were greatly influenced by it. They adapted to the dictates of Nature. This is so because the level of technology was very low and the stage of human social development was also primitive. This type of interaction between primitive human society and strong forces of nature was termed as environmental determinism.” “The people begin to understand their environment and the forces of nature with the passage of time. With social and cultural development, humans develop better and more efficient technology. … The earlier scholars termed this as possibilism. Nature provides opportunities and human being make use of these and slowly nature gets humanised and starts bearing the imprints of human endeavour.” |