I’ve lived in various places — sometimes in the countryside, other times in the heart of Manhattan. In some years I had a suburban existence, and I spent one long lovely stretch of time living near the beach in Rio de Janeiro.
I believe that these different environments have drawn out different aspects of my personality. When I am a country mouse, I am definitely not the same as when I am a city mouse.
One thing that I am curious about how permanent these changes are. When we move to a different place — desert to mountain, hot to cold, urban to forest — does that create long term changes in our personality? Or do is the opposite true: Do we quickly morph our inner being to match our environs?
I wonder whether anyone has done any long term studies to work out the answer to this question.