Human nature being what it is, our sense of curiosity defines how we behave. In other words, outside stimuli is processed by all of us, and we react to our environment through the filter of our brains. Since curiosity is a sign of intelligence, then our behavior is a natural state of balancing outside forces such as the environment, with our internal “filtering systems”.

Our behavior is a result of processing that external environmental information, and thus affect our decisions which ultimately control our behavior. For instance, a good example of this in action is the act of purchasing a car. Let’s say that Joe wants to buy a new car, and he has been watching the television car commercials and is quite impressed with the new hybrids coming out on the market. Hybrids use electricity as well as gasoline, for an extended mileage range. They are also more “green” for the environment. So Joe sets his sites on getting down to the dealership, and speaking to a salesman. So far, so good….

Joe gets down to the dealership, sees the salesman trolling the lot for new prospects, and walks up to Joe. Unfortunately for Joe, the salesman is trying to ram a deal home in an aggressive and obnoxious manner. Joe begins to have second thoughts about not only buying the hybrid car from this dealership, but buying the hybrid at all! The salesman has turned Joe off with his pushy sales tactics, and this has so affected Joe that he has had enough, so he walks off with a bad taste in his mouth. One could say that the environment has affected Joe’s behavior, because the salesman is part of the environment, correct? But it’s also human nature to put up ones guard against pushy and aggressive tactics such as the salesman displayed. So is it human nature that affected Joe’s decision to turn and walk? I would say so.

Everything we do and experience is processed through our own personal “filter”. Of course our behavior is affected by everything in the environment, but it is ultimately human nature that makes the final decision on what we do, not the environment. The environment doesn’t force us to make a decision, but it does influence us. We seem to balance all we see and hear against our own personal litmus test. Things that have affected us from childhood, as well as our family values, influence us to a great degree. The environment is surely a huge part of what affects us, but in the end it comes down to our nature that defines how we act.