Which of the following are true about Environmental Determinism?
A. naturalisation of humans
B. humanisation of nature
C. primitive society with low development of technology
D. modern society with technological advancement
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → A and C only
A. naturalisation of humans Correct. In the stage of environmental determinism humans adapted to the dictates of nature. We can imagine a naturalised human, who listened to nature, was afraid of its fury and worshipped it.
B. humanisation of nature Incorrect. Leaving imprints of human endeavour on nature belongs to possibilism, the later stage.
C. primitive society with low development of technology Correct. The interaction between a primitive human society, with a very low level of technology, and the strong forces of nature was termed environmental determinism. With so little technology people could not change their surroundings, so nature decided how they lived.
D. modern society with technological advancement Incorrect. Advanced technology takes people from necessity to freedom, which is possibilism, not determinism.
NCERT (2025-26): “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. At that stage of very low technological development we can imagine the presence of a naturalised human, who listened to Nature, was afraid of its fury and worshipped it.” “Naturalisation of Humans and Humanisation of Nature … 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. They move from a state of necessity to a state of freedom. They create possibilities with the resources obtained from the environment. The human activities create cultural landscape. The imprints of human activities are created everywhere; health resorts on highlands, huge urban sprawls, fields, orchards and pastures in plains and rolling hills, ports on the coasts, oceanic routes on the oceanic surface and satellites in the space. 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.” |