Ruling hypothesis in studying human-environment interactions

The study of the human-environment interaction is an interdisciplinary topic approached by Geographers, Historians, Environmental Scientists, Anthropologists, Sociologists and many other scholars.  It is humanity's original research topic and it is simply asking the question of ‘Why our world is the way it is, and what role do people play in it?”  It is a fundamental question, which we have asked for all recorded history, yet we still do not fully understand the relationship between humans and the environment.  Why is this topic is so complex to understand, yet fundamental to who we are as people?  Furthermore in what ways can we approach this research?

To begin thinking of the human-environment relationship we must first ask ourselves is it possible to study these interactions without inherent bias?  Since we are born, grow, and die in our environment, it is nearly impossible to study it without preconceived notions.  Everything that we know about the world and ourselves up to the point we begin to research human-environment interactions bias us to the core.  We have a working understanding of how the world operates, that is how we each as individuals are able to operate in it. These preconceived notions form our ruling hypothesis, or something that we believe is true thus other possible explanations are discounted and not considered. The method of multiple working hypotheses (Chamberlin, 1965) is one way to mediate this problem. By simply developing, prior to research, several hypotheses that might explain the human-environment phenomenon we want to study, it maybe possible to avoid the trap of the ruling hypothesis and thus makes it more likely that our research will lead to meaningful results.  The challenge here is trying to keep an open mind and look at alternatives that are contrary to our understanding.

An example of how inherent bias must be conquered to advance knowledge is Carl Sauer’s 1944 work, A geographic sketch of early man in America, which outlined how both human beings and the environment are environmental change forces (Sauer, 1944).  He examines the arrival of human beings to the North and South American continent at the end of the Pleistocene, the first human migration into the ‘new world’, investigating the environmental changes that took place. During this time period there were unexplained mass die offs of megafauna, which Sauer attributes to human cause.  This was a radical idea that went against the ruling hypothesis of the time of environmental determinism, or the environment dictates how culture and society form. Sauer argues that the primitive people, even with very limited technology, were able to dominate the natural system affecting major land cover change leading to the mass extinction of megafauna. The technology mode that empowered early man was fire, which Sauer outlines they used to modify land cover to make it more conducive for hunting, and used large scale burns to herd megafauna for effective hunting.

The preconceived notions of people not being able to impact environmental change limited the creative process required to come up with a better theory on man’s role of changing the environment. Before this ‘outside of the box’ thinking environmental determinism dictated that human-environmental interactions were one direction, the environment on to people, because how can people impact something so large as the Earth systems.  Sauer opened the door to a bilateral relationship between humans and the environment.

The human-environment interaction is complex to study because it is a study of our surroundings and ourselves.  It is impossible to divorce the researcher from the study making objectivity hard and preconceived notions easy to dominate our thinking.  The way we should approach this research is to develop as many hypothesis as possible and then eliminate the ones that do not work.  This is why being creative and open-minded are two qualities required to be an effective researcher.

Works Cited

T.C. Chamberlin, The Method of Multiple Working Hypotheses, Science 148:754-759 (1965, reprint of 1890 original)

Sauer, C. O. (1944). A geographic sketch of early man in America. Geographical Review, 34(4), 529-573.