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Geographical Determinism

 


I don't believe what follows, but I will quote it without further comment now just for the heck of it.  This is from Grant Allen, in GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE, 1878. 

The differences between one nation and another, whether in intellect, commerce, art, morals, or general temperament, ultimately depend, not upon any mysterious properties of race, nationality, or any other unknown or unintelligible abstractions, but simply and solely upon the physical circumstances to which they are exposed. If it be a fact, as we know it to be, that the French nation differs recognizably from the Chinese, and the people of Hamburg differ recognizably from the people of Timbuctoo, then the notorious and conspicuous differences between the are wholly due to the geographical position of the various races...the great permanent geographical features of land and sea.... We cannot regard any nation as an active agent in differentiating itself. Only the surrounding circumstances can have any effect in such a direction. To suppose otherwise is to suppose that the mind of man is exempt from the universal law of causation.  

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  1. Paul D. Van PeltMay 10, 2023 at 8:22 AM

    No, it is not geography, it is more like sociography Sure, I just made that word up...far as I know. People differ as they do, due to the plethora of customs and traditions that precede them and are driven by interests, preferences and motives. The world is a different place from what it was when that opinion was offered. History, and the rest, does not care so much about that, but globalization plays a far more important role now and cosmopolitanism exerts ever-present influence.

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