Environment vs. Culture — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on November 2, 2023
Environment refers to the physical and biological backdrop where organisms live, while culture encompasses the beliefs, practices, and social norms of human groups.
Difference Between Environment and Culture
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Environment pertains to the natural and man-made settings in which all living things exist. It includes climate, geography, flora, and fauna. Culture represents the collective behavior, traditions, and customs that are passed down through generations in human societies. While the environment can influence cultural development, such as architecture adapting to climate, culture can also affect the environment, seen in practices like agriculture.
The environment is a broad term that encompasses both the natural world and the built environment created by human activity. It affects and shapes the lives of the living organisms within it. Culture, on the other hand, is uniquely human and refers to the shared attributes, values, and artifacts that define a group. While environmental factors can necessitate cultural adaptations, such as clothing styles in different climates, culture can also dictate environmental modifications, such as the creation of parks within urban spaces.
The environment consists of the physical parameters that can determine the survival and growth of organisms, including humans. It can be changed and influenced by natural events and by human intervention. Culture encompasses the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society. It is transmitted through language, material objects, ritual, institutions, and art, from one generation to the next.
The environment includes all the external conditions and factors, living and nonliving, that affect an organism or a community. It does not require the presence of humans to exist. Culture, however, is inherently tied to human existence and would not exist without human interaction. Environmental conditions can create pressures that shape cultural practices, but cultural values can lead to environmental conservation or degradation.
Environment and culture intersect and influence one another. Environmental changes can drive cultural evolution, while cultural practices can profoundly impact the environment. Environmental conservation efforts often stem from cultural values, and cultural sustainability can depend on a healthy environment. They are separate yet interdependent concepts, each playing a pivotal role in the narrative of life on Earth.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
The surroundings where organisms live, including natural and built spaces.
The shared practices, beliefs, and values of a group.
Origin
Natural or altered by living beings.
Exclusively created and evolved by humans.
Components
Includes air, water, land, and all ecosystems.
Comprises language, religion, cuisine, and social habits.
Transference
Not transferable; organisms are born into it.
Passed down through learning and socialization.
Change
Can be rapid or gradual, often due to natural or anthropogenic causes.
Evolves with societal changes, innovations, or through cultural exchange.
Compare with Definitions
Environment
The overall condition of the planet, including climate and natural resources.
International agreements are focused on improving the global environment.
Culture
The characteristics, knowledge, and practices that define an ethnic group.
The ethnic culture was preserved through storytelling and rituals.
Environment
The biophysical context includes all living and nonliving entities with which organisms interact.
The fragile biophysical environment of the Arctic is threatened by climate change.
Culture
The values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of a business.
Their organizational culture emphasizes teamwork and innovation.
Environment
The immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops.
His social environment was influential in shaping his political beliefs.
Culture
A way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variance with the prevailing social norm.
The counterculture movement in the 1960s challenged many traditional values.
Environment
The network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their surroundings.
Protecting the ecological environment is crucial for maintaining biodiversity.
Culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies. A cultural norm codifies acceptable conduct in society; it serves as a guideline for behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template for expectations in a social group.
Environment
The man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity.
The built environment in cities can affect residents' mental health.
Culture
The arts, beliefs, customs, institutions, and other products of human work and thought considered as a unit, especially with regard to a particular time or social group
Edwardian culture.
Japanese culture.
Environment
The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates
Survival in an often hostile environment
Culture
These arts, beliefs, and other products considered with respect to a particular subject or mode of expression
Musical culture.
Oral culture.
Environment
The natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially as affected by human activity
The impact of pesticides on the environment
A parliamentary environment committee
Culture
The set of predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize a group or organization
A manager who changed the corporate culture.
Environment
The totality of the natural world, often excluding humans
"Technology, of course, lies at the heart of man's relationship with the environment" (Mark Hertsgaard).
Culture
Mental refinement and sophisticated taste resulting from the appreciation of the arts and sciences
A woman of great culture.
Environment
A subset of the natural world; an ecosystem
The coastal environment.
Culture
Special training and development
Voice culture for singers and actors.
Environment
The combination of external physical conditions that affect and influence the growth, development, behavior, and survival of organisms
"Conditions in a lion's environment ... can drive it to hunt people" (Philip Caputo).
Culture
The cultivation of soil; tillage
The culture of the soil.
Environment
The complex of social and cultural conditions affecting the nature of an individual person or community.
Culture
The breeding or cultivation of animals or plants for food, the improvement of stock, or other purposes.
Environment
The general set of conditions or circumstances
A terrible environment for doing business.
Culture
The growing of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
Environment
The entire set of conditions under which one operates a computer, as it relates to the hardware, operating platform, or operating system.
Culture
Such a growth or colony, as of bacteria.
Environment
An area of a computer's memory used by the operating system and some programs to store certain variables to which they need frequent access.
Culture
To cultivate (soil or plants).
Environment
The surroundings of, and influences on, a particular item of interest.
Culture
To grow (microorganisms or other living matter) in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
Environment
The natural world or ecosystem.
Culture
To use (a substance) as a medium for culture
Culture milk.
Environment
All the elements that affect a system or its inputs and outputs.
Culture
The arts, customs, lifestyles, background, and habits that characterize humankind, or a particular society or nation.
Environment
A particular political or social setting, arena or condition.
Culture
The beliefs, values, behaviour and material objects that constitute a people's way of life.
Environment
(computing) The software and/or hardware existing on any particular computer system.
That program uses the Microsoft Windows environment.
Culture
The conventional conducts and ideologies of a community; the system comprising the accepted norms and values of a society.
Environment
(programming) The environment of a function at a point during the execution of a program is the set of identifiers in the function's scope and their bindings at that point.
Culture
(anthropology) Any knowledge passed from one generation to the next, not necessarily with respect to human beings.
Environment
(computing) The set of variables and their values in a namespace that an operating system associates with a process.
Culture
(botany) Cultivation.
Environment
Act of environing; state of being environed.
Culture
(microbiology) The process of growing a bacterial or other biological entity in an artificial medium.
Environment
That which environs or surrounds; surrounding conditions, influences, or forces, by which living forms are influenced and modified in their growth and development.
It is no friendly environment, this of thine.
Culture
The growth thus produced.
I'm headed to the lab to make sure my cell culture hasn't died.
Environment
The totality of surrounding conditions;
He longed for the comfortable environment of his livingroom
Culture
A group of bacteria.
Environment
The area in which something exists or lives;
The country--the flat agricultural surround
Culture
(cartography) The details on a map that do not represent natural features of the area delineated, such as names and the symbols for towns, roads, meridians, and parallels.
Culture
(archaeology) A recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society.
Culture
(euphemism) Ethnicity, race (and its associated arts, customs, etc.)
Culture
(transitive) to maintain in an environment suitable for growth especially of bacteria cultivate}}
Culture
(transitive) to increase the artistic or scientific interest in something cultivate}}
Culture
The act or practice of cultivating, or of preparing the earth for seed and raising crops by tillage; as, the culture of the soil.
Culture
The act of, or any labor or means employed for, training, disciplining, or refining the moral and intellectual nature of man; as, the culture of the mind.
If vain our toilWe ought to blame the culture, not the soil.
Culture
The state of being cultivated; result of cultivation; physical improvement; enlightenment and discipline acquired by mental and moral training; civilization; refinement in manners and taste.
What the Greeks expressed by their paidei`a, the Romans by their humanitas, we less happily try to express by the more artificial word culture.
The list of all the items of the general life of a people represents that whole which we call its culture.
Culture
The cultivation of bacteria or other organisms (such as fungi or eukaryotic cells from mulitcellular organisms) in artificial media or under artificial conditions.
Culture
Those details of a map, collectively, which do not represent natural features of the area delineated, as names and the symbols for towns, roads, houses, bridges, meridians, and parallels.
Culture
To cultivate; to educate.
They came . . . into places well inhabited and cultured.
Culture
A particular society at a particular time and place;
Early Mayan civilization
Culture
The tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group
Culture
All the knowledge and values shared by a society
Culture
(biology) the growing of microorganisms in a nutrient medium (such as gelatin or agar);
The culture of cells in a Petri dish
Culture
(bacteriology) the product of cultivating micro-organisms in a nutrient medium
Culture
A highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality;
They performed with great polish
I admired the exquisite refinement of his prose
Almost an inspiration which gives to all work that finish which is almost art
Culture
The attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization;
The developing drug culture
The reason that the agency is doomed to inaction has something to do with the FBI culture
Culture
The raising of plants or animals;
The culture of oysters
Culture
The set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture.
Museums are often seen as repositories of high culture.
Culture
The entirety of attitudes, ideas, images, and other phenomena that are within the mainstream of a given culture.
Social media has become a significant part of popular culture.
Common Curiosities
How does culture affect the environment?
Culture affects the environment through land use, consumption patterns, and the values people hold about nature.
What is meant by cultural environment?
Cultural environment refers to the human-made aspects of our surroundings, encompassing tradition, norms, and built landscapes.
Is culture dependent on the environment?
Culture can be dependent on the environment, especially for traditional societies that rely directly on their immediate natural resources.
What defines a healthy environment?
A healthy environment is one that sustains all life forms and maintains natural processes effectively.
What is an environment?
The environment is the sum total of all surroundings of a living organism, including natural forces and other living things.
How does the built environment relate to culture?
The built environment is often a physical manifestation of cultural preferences, norms, and advancements.
Can cultural practices be environmentally sustainable?
Yes, many cultural practices promote environmental sustainability, such as indigenous land management.
Can environmental factors change culture?
Yes, environmental factors like climate and geography can significantly influence cultural development.
Can culture be changed by external influences?
Yes, culture can change in response to new ideas, technologies, environments, or social interactions.
What role do cultural values play in conservation?
Cultural values can play a significant role in conservation by guiding behavior and policies that protect the environment.
Why is the environment important to culture?
The environment provides resources and conditions that can shape cultural practices and sustain livelihoods.
How does the environment influence human behavior?
The environment can dictate human behavior by affecting livelihoods, health, and the resources available to a community.
Does culture always have a positive effect on the environment?
Not always; some cultural practices can lead to environmental degradation.
What are the main components of culture?
Language, customs, values, norms, mores, rules, tools, technologies, products, organizations, and institutions are considered main components.
How is culture transmitted?
Culture is transmitted through language, education, family, peers, and media, among others.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
