How Do We Shape Our Environment

Our environment shapes our actions and our decisions. A Chinese fable stuck out to me. A boy was born in a small marketplace village. As he grew older, he started to collect sticks and sell them as if he was selling in the actual marketplace. Because his family longs for him to focus and study, they decide to move to somewhere quiet where he can learn without any distractions. They decide on moving to a graveyard, a place where no one else would live. However, despite their actions, as soon as the boy gets used to his new home, he immediately started worshiping his dead ancestors like many of the occasional graveyard visitors did. Again concerned with his actions, the family moves next to a school where the boy is finally able to study in peace. …show more content…
The child tries to fit in with his environment even when in changes thus shaping his actions and decisions. Also, there have been many cases of feral children, children who have lived with animals since the beginning of their life and have learned to live like them. One feral child, Oxana Malaya was neglected by her parents and lived with dogs for years. As she grew older, she changed and adapted and learned how to live with the dogs and survive. When authorities finally found her, she ran around on all fours, barked, slept on the floor, and took care of her hygiene like a dog. Because Oxana grew up with dogs, these dogs were her “environment” so she changed herself to become like one of them. These dogs had become her environment so she was able to change her decisions and actions to match the others. Our environment will shape us into someone similar to everyone else around us without us noticing, but for sure, it will deeply affect our decisions and