Friday, 30 September 2011

Geographical Determinism and Geographical Possibilism

In the early 1900s, Ellen Semple came up with a definition for Geography:

"How environment apparently controls human behavior." - Ellen Semple, c. 1911

This view was very common at that time; the fact the environment had control over settlement was a view known as Geographical Determinism. It was a view that E. Huntington et al. stated after analysis on behavioural studies. Recently, it's been established that actually humans adapt the location to suit their own needs. Such a notion is now referred to as 'Geographical Possibilism'.

Strange how ideas change over time, don't you think?

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