One of the popular words today is 'environment', used in quite different contexts. What is your definition?
Environment commonly refers to the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism where pollution is important, and in systems engineering, also the surroundings of a physical system that may interact with the system by exchanging mass, energy, or other properties. (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment
I suppose it is expected that we should give our own definition. I would like to define it as: The animate and inanimate beings/features of earth comprising of natural as well as man-made elements from which we draw our life support systems is what would constitute our environment.
Environment commonly refers to the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism where pollution is important, and in systems engineering, also the surroundings of a physical system that may interact with the system by exchanging mass, energy, or other properties. (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment
Dear Marcel,
Among possible definitions is society, the cultural milieu, the surroundings, the community, the land, space and nature!
Environs is the surrounding area or volume. Environment includes the characteristics of the surrounding area and volume, especially those that influence a process. There are social environments, political environments, aircraft environments, and email environments. Anything we discuss or are interested in has an environment (even when we are not interested.)
THE environment is a sacred, unattainable place that is the subject of research grants and politics. It used to be a nice place before the other guy broke it.
Dear @Marcel. The word " environment" commonly refers to "natural environment" consisting of living and non living species. The former includes plants, animals and micro organisms while the later includes air, soil, water, temperature, etc. These things are necessary and affect the organisms or objects in one or the other way.
There is also a saying, “You can't make positive choices for the rest of your life without an environment that makes those choices easy, natural, and enjoyable.”
I guess it refers to the surrounding conditions, natural ecosystems or psychosocial milieus that provide the many contexts for life to occur in. Then again, the word 'life' comes with many shades of meanings.
Its the sum total of abiotic and biotic factors and the inter-relationships of both contributing to a space.
Dear Marcel et al., like some others here, I tend to use the word as ecological environment with its biotic and abiotic components.
Besides that, other occasions when I use 'environment' are as in Bandura's theory, where Personal variables (like motivation) interact with environmental variables (like college, school, teachers, peers), and interact with Behavior variable (like satisfaction in learning sciences).
I am with Miranda definition. I also see it as our houses, schools, near by hood, and inside your entity of Education.
I agree with all your answers, because I asked for YOUR definitions.
If we place the definition in an empirical research framework, thus based on own observations, there must exist an infinite number of definitions because each organism has its own perceived environment, or not?
Interesting is that when people publish on 'environment', they rarely or not cite work that provided an acceptable published science-based definition. Why?
Conventionally for people worldwide, the generic understanding of environment was mainly in relation to nature and natural ecosystems & conservation and protection of the environment was the common mindset. Slowly and gradually the domain of environment started to encompass interactions between social-natural elements of the biome, and wise use and sustainable management of environmental resources was the new outlook. In current times, environment refers to a central system (set of resources) required for economic growth, ecological security and socioeconomic wellbeing. Sometimes it sounds as a holistic perspective and at other times, as vague.
It is Mother nature and needs no explanation as includes you and me and everything visible and invisible.
Key word 'environment' in Google Scholar: 5 400 000 hits in 0.05 s
A very long published definition of what a human social environment is following
Elizabeth Barnett, PhD
Michele Casper, PhD
Human social environments encompass the immediate physical surroundings, social relationships, and cultural milieus within which defined groups of people function and interact. Components of the social environment include built infrastructure; industrial and occupational structure; labor markets; social and economic processes; wealth; social, human, and health services; power relations; government; race relations; social inequality; cultural practices; the arts; religious institutions and practices; and beliefs about place and community.The social environment subsumes many aspects of the physical environment, given that contemporary landscapes, water resources, and other natural resources have been at least partially configured by human social processes. Embedded within contemporary social environments are historical social and power relations that have become institutionalized over time. Social environments can be experienced at multiple scales, often simultaneously, including households, kin networks, neighborhoods, towns and cities, and regions. Social environments are dynamic and change over time as the result of both internal and external forces. There are relationships of dependency among the social environments of different local areas, because these areas are connected through larger regional, national, and international social and economic processes and power relations.
Perhaps specialists from other research fields would add components?
Micro-biology: Inter-specific networks involving micro-organisms living inside/on each human body?
There are two types of environment: Internal environment and external environment. External environment can contain, political, economical, social, and technological environments.
Where will 'spatio-temporally' the environment of an organism/individual stop, accepting that there are different types of organism-environment interactions including mental communication networks?
Can an environment be adequately quantified from an empirical point of view?
Excellent point by Francesca Cansani on 'mutual interaction'. Many environmental mathematical models are made with an understanding of mutual interaction between various species. Natural laws need to be understood well in this modelling process.
Best wishes, Sundar
In the Ecolexicon from the university of Granada (Spain) we find following brief definition of 'Environment': set of external conditions (biotic and abiotic) that may act on organisms to influence their development, which includes air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans and their interrelation. (see also the Wikipedia definition mentioned in the beginning)
How much scientific liberty is allowed when a phenomenon/terminology is defined?
What are the potential biology-based underlying mechanisms causing variability in science-based terminology defining a given phenomenon A?
Example:
What are biology-based mechanisms that cause the (scientific) definition of 'environment' to vary in time and/or space, e.g. within/across research disciplines, within/across cultures, ...?
In my opinion and use, environment means both physical as well as mental surrounding, living and non-living, and also situations, circumstances and opportunities, facilities and infrastructure, work place, home and everything of day to day life where we spent much of time and what we face from time to time.
But, for instance, in the case of the environment of a stone, physical, not conscious/mental, interactions will define the environment of the stone?
There are different levels of biology-based mechanisms that might influence the expression of a scientific definition/terminology: (1) The characteristics of the phenomenon that is defined (e.g. the definition of 'environment' is based on physical characteristics or interactions, general or specific), and/or (2) the characteristics of the person that produces the scientific definition/terminology (e.g. the definition of 'environment' is based on the biological or cultural characteristics of the scientist/citizen/teacher that formulates the definition, including the perceived education background).
True Marcel! The definition of the word (environment) can be based on the plural characteristics, features, manners, customs of the people who have created, shaped, produced it including their education and cultural rearing!
Marcel,
I would favor the following definition for "environment": "the surroundings of a physical system that may interact with the system by exchanging mass, energy, or other properties".
For example, for a given organism, it is its local surroundings with which it may interact by exchanging mass, energy, or other properties.
When asking this question what is your purpose?
Dear Marc,
The goal is to have the opinion from others perhaps also to show that definitions and opinions differ across people with different education backgrounds.
How much liberty is scientifically allowed when a phenomenon, like 'environment' or 'adaptation' is defined. If you see across the science literature, I have the impression much liberty is allowed because of X reasons, including aesthetics (writing styles more or less appreciated by colleagues/referees/editors).
Dear Ali,
Scientific data could perhaps also be placed at the center of your figure?
Dear marcel
It depends on the context in which we define the environment. To avoid falling into a rather academic definition, the concept of environment arouses anyone "Anything that can surround." Example of journalistic, political environment etc .... By cons in science the concept of environment certainly comes from everything around us taking account of biotic and abiotic factors that can be quantified at any time.
Best regards
Environment is a multifaced definition. Four examples:
a) The surrounding space considered with all or most of its features.
b) The set of physico-chemical and biological properties that allow and encourage the life of the community of living things: respect, the safeguarding of the E; the E of forest, of scrub.
c) Ambient, unheated or artificially cooled.
d) A complex of social, cultural and moral values in which a person is, is formed, is defined
As stated before, every science discipline investigates aspects of interactions with the environment placing either non-living beings or living beings at the center of investigation? It is the environmental component in a system that creates dynamics in the system? Do you know science disciplines that are interested in undynamic systems?
Precisely, the surrounding and everything that affect an organism during its lifetime is collectively known as its environment.
Does this imply that each science discipline is linked to 'Environmental Sciences', or not (see also remarks above)?
Dear Marcel - These days almost all research is multi-disciplinary including research in Environmental Science.
There are visible, but also invisible, environmental components of which some are more or less accessible to scientists?
In nature, the totality of surrounding conditions. The world around us is our environment: air, sun, ground, sky, house, woods, whatever we live within is our environment. It is the atmosphere and the surrounding conditions like a good home, how we were raised and the people who we were around that shaped or influenced the way we developed mentally as we grew up. Environment is the interrelationship between human beings, their natural surroundings and the environment they create. In computer science, it is the conditions under which one operates a computer, as it relates to the hardware, operating platform or operating system. The actual definition of environment is the influences and resources in a system.
Precisely, our all actions/reactions affect the natural or social or economical ... environment in one way or other; tangibly or intangibly. As such, each science discipline is linked to environment.
Dear Yogesh - If my deductions are correct, your current job is closely related to environment! ["Watson! The game is afoot!"]
Perhaps, You may be correct Dear Sundarapandian; my current job is related to forest management through rational exploitation and value added application of wood and non-wood forest produces that ultimately abet forest conservation and environment protection.
Dear Marcel
As we all know the environment definition is not unique. In its etymological sense the environment is what is around.
The International Council of the French Language (1976) defines the environment as "the set at one point, physical, chemical and biological, and social factors that may have a direct or indirect, immediate or future on living organisms and human activities. "For the Encyclopaedia Universalis, the environment is considered in its etymological sense, to appeal Ecology is the science of habitat "as the way of life of the animals, all the relationships they have with the environment in which they are "
Best regards
FADEL
Dear Yogesh - have you spotted any wild-life in your forest trips?
Environment in the opinion is all that surrounds us from living organisms or particles or conditions, it also has relations between us and these things.
The sum total of all surroundings of a living organism, including natural forces and other living things, which provide conditions for development and growth as well as of danger and damage.
I think a word "environment" is very large. "Environment" means clustering everything around the humain.Environnement be means clustering ecology, ecology is a science of habitat.
I have encountered some snakes in real life, when I was in Kanpur (India), and it was all a scary experience. Comparatively, snakes are not so feared in Malaysia, and when I visited Penang Hill, Malaysia, it was a pleasure to see school kids holding hill snakes (very big and long ones) and posing for photos. It was not free though and some small money was collected for such photos by the snake owner. He also invited me to take one photo with a python on me. It might have helped me to alleviate some fear, but life is also precious (both python's and mine), and so I politely turned down the offer.
Environment can be defined as:
- The circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded.
- The complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors (as climate, soil, and living things) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival.
- The aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community.
- The position or characteristic position of a linguistic element in a sequence.
- A computer interface from which various tasks can be performed.
@Fadel: Based on some of the published remarks of internationally recognized organisms, I have the impression that some people think that non-living physical entities do not have an environment?
The definition of the environment can either be defined from a subjective versus objective point of view? From a practical point of view, are the subjective definitions more important than the objective definitions?Anymore thought?
Paraphrasing Thant U, "it's a wonderful spaceship,flying and rotating in the cold space with its vulnerable cargo of life"
Dear all,
By the different responses of colleagues, we can conclude that: the environment has no a unique definition.
Different animal species will perceive the same environment (e.g. garden x) differently, which would imply that animals are not objective despite the fact that their species-specific interpretations of the species-specifc environment can be adaptive? This would support the subjective point of view of the practical/adaptation-based definition of an environment?
Dear Roland,
you are giving a definition including all human-defined components, whatever the cultural/spiritual background! Accepting that people vary in the perception of environmental components (e.g. spiritual components à la Rudolf Steiner accepting that people differ in supra/ultrasensitivity), we will only have practically access to subjectivity?
If 100 researchers simultaneously observe the same environment (e.g. garden X), researcher 1 will never be able to truly know how researcher X+1 will mentally perceive that environment (e.g. garden X) and vice versa, even if one description is presented in a publication? If researcher X+1 reads the publication of researcher 1 describing that environment (e.g. garden X), researcher 1 will never know how researcher X+1 created a mental representation of that environment based on the published description of that environment (e.g. garden X)?
Artists are outstanding observers of the environment, but different artists will not paint the same sunflower in the same way? Both science and art are based on the senses and therefore subjective?
Dear Marcel:
My personal definition of environmental and other conceptual abstractions may differ from those thought by most people. But that's not really important. After all, I think the debate is the most important here.
Best Regards.
Andréa
For me the environment is everything that revolves around the human being as living beings and solid, climate ....... let's not forget the human environment also
Intertwined issues of public health and social justice, attitudes towards nature, and agreements/disagreements about matters of science, policy, rights, and ethical obligations constitute social, political, economical and communal environment of the world. Contemporary condition of this environment is detrimental to the natural environment.
Environment means where we live. Thus, the Earth is the environment of all mankind and each of us has his own country or the country where he lives. Then we are responsible of our little environment and our great and only one (Earth).
But there is also the space surrounding the Earth interacting with planet Earth. How much distance above our head(s) may belong to the personal/community environment?
Umwelt, 'the world around'
'Environment' is a term cognate to the French: 'environs', meaning: 'surroundings'
Regards, + Salut.. Yah love, protect us!
Umwelt, the world around not only consist of what is visible and accessible to the scientific appoach
We can define Environment as all the physical, chemical and biological factors external to the host as well as all visible and invisible factors impacting related behaviours.
This would imply that the environment cannot be fully defined?
At a focal point all the Known & "can be present" surroundings which are in interaction, will denote with the title of an environment.
So there is a theory-based environment including invisible components that cannot be measured by humans but that might influence behaviour, and an empirical-based environment that focuses on what is measurable or what has been measured?
If they are "in interaction" by anyways rather than the fact that they influence or not, visible or invisible, provided its under scenes as "to be present / known", will defiantly come under environment.
So the environment can only be defined via the interaction(s)? What is not perceived or simply ignored does not belong to the environment?
Dear Dr. Marcel M. Lambrechts,
I have my definition: Environment is everything that exists in our globe, and I describe environment with its components
Environment with its components
The environment is what we mean vital and non-vital everything above and below ground, and consists with its components
Based on the English school, namely to colleagues from the University of Oxford, already in our experience, the environment is comprised of:
A. Bio-geo-physical natural and cultivated environment; and
B. Socio-economic environment (Glasson, Therivel, Chadwick, 2005; Lushaj, 2005; Lushaj, 2008; Lushaj, 2015).
A. Bio-geo-physical natural and cultivated environment with its environmental components
Bio-geo-physical natural and cultivated environment consists of these environmental components, such as:
air and the atmosphere;
water resources and water bodies;
land and geology;
flora and fauna;
human beings;
landscape (marine and terrestrial);
infrastructure and cultural heritage;
climate and Climate Change; and
energy (Glasson, Therivel, Chadwick, 2005; Lushaj, 2005; Lushaj, 2008; Lushaj, 2015).
B. Socio-economic environment with socio-economic components
Socio-economic environment consists of social-economic components, such as:
direct economic base;
indirect economic base;
demographics;
consumption;
housing;
local self-service services; and
social-cultural aspects (Glasson, Therivel; Chadwick, 2005; Lushaj, 2008; Lushaj, 2015).
To mr Lambrechts: yes, you can't see greenhouse effect gases, also William Shakespeare and Paul Éluard wrote about the invisible, mr Éluard had the honor of wearing the 'cornes' from Salvador Dalí, ou au style Brassens: -'C'est vous mon cocu préféré. Il réplique alors : Entre toutes mes cornes, celles que je vous dois, mon cher, me sont sacré’s-, but 'spiritual' cornes, if for Jean Genet ('Journal d'un voleur', hard gay sex) auto-chiro-erastia was a preferred activity, for S Dali, it was the exclusive one), W Shakespeare wrote about the many things in the world that we don't see or ignore, and P Éluard, that there are many worlds, but it all are inside this one.
Francis Maziere, in his trip to the 'Fantastique île de Pâques', reported receiving the warning from a native that: 'In this world, there are beings we can't see'.
Pedro Salinas wrote in 1929: 'For a suspected world behind, concrete and virgin, for what I can't see, I keep my eyes open'.
Regards, + Salut
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