Myerson, A. (1934). Some general environmental forces. In A. Myerson, Prentice-Hall Psychology Series. Social psychology (pp. 26-35). Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/14518-002
Man lives in an environment of which he and all his institutions form a pitifully insignificant part. It has been estimated recently that all the human beings on the face of the earth at the present time could be placed in the Grand Canyon, covered over, and easily escape the attention of a careful observer. That the surface of the earth upon which man lives is but the thin, irregular rind of a ball which itself is insignificant in the cosmic scheme, but recently has become a part of the social consciousness. The naive belief that man is the center of the universe was nigh destroyed by the astronomical theories of Copernicus, and the advent of the theory of evolution gave it a finishing blow. Yet while it is undoubtedly true that a detailed study of the effect of that phase of the environment which is not human is not part of social psychology, the complete separation is only technical; it is a separation for convenience rather than for the better interpretation of fact and real influence. Whatever men do, think, and feel in their social relations does depend in very important measure and, in fact, in an intimate way upon their climate, geography, and economic organization—to cite but a few environmental factors. It is good mental discipline, and a necessity, for us to get a bird's-eye view of the whole situation before we can descend to examine the more pertinent facts of social psychology. This chapter discusses general environmental forces. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)