The Power of Context

The environment that a creature is surrounded by affects its behavioral attitudes, and this includes humans and animals. When an animal is forced into a new climate, a natural instinct arises causing the animal to change. As mentioned in the essay, the subway was one example of how the difference in appearance changed the behavior of people passing through. When the subway was covered in graffiti, the crime rate was high, but when things were cleaned up, the crime rate went down. This occurrence implies that surroundings affect the living beings that live in them.

The common person changes how they are because they want to fit into a crowd or survive a specific situation, and the only way to do that is to match the surrounding. Fitting into a crowd may mean changing personalities completely. For example, a smart nerdy kid may want to hang with the punk kids, but unfortunately there is a behavioral and outward appearance difference. The nerdy kid may have to trade in his pocket protector and good grades for a Mohawk and rebellious attitude. Obviously these two cliques have major differences, so it would be nearly impossible for the two to coexist without drastic changes. As a human, the way we act and look gives a brief look at who we are, so in order to give the wanted perception, a certain characteristic or trait may be taken on.

Animals are also frequently forced to change their characteristics also. This may mean for an animal that it changes its food source since it has more competition with another species, or even breeding for the best traits. The British Peppered Moth is one example of an animal adapting to its surroundings since these moths have different colors depending on where they live. When the moths were living in more polluted areas, they were black because the trees around them were more soot colored. Moths rest with their wings open, so when the moths were more of a gray color, they were an easier target for predators. Another example of animal adaptation is the Galapagos Finches. The finches on the Galapagos Islands bred so that the best suited traits were more prevalent, and from this new species of finches were created. The different types of finches adapted to different food types to lessen competition, and the bills of the birds changed as a result of this. Even in the animal world changes are made, but unlike humans these changes are made that future generations may survive.

Behaviors are not always natural to a living thing. The environment influences the actions and habits of all animals causing them to make changes on a daily basis. Humans, birds, and even moths even make these subconscious changes. Life is all about fitting in, whether it means for survival, or even just getting into the “In” crowd. Whether a person is aware of it or not, they make decisions every day about their behavior and appearance, and this is because they as an animal want to survive.

Galapagos Finches:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin

Peppered Moth:
http://http//www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/jim/pap/malletgensoc03.pdf