Question

Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Ritter supported the idea that human development was not influenced by the environment. could be predicted according to latitude. was determined by ethnic and racial characteristics. was determined by the environment.

Answer 1

I would say that both being leading geographers during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, they  believed that the characteristics of the natural (and social) environment played a large role in human development. Tw o modern day examples of this could be that Canadians are known as having a pioneering spirit because they have to deal with a harsh northern environment, especially in winter and dealing with it and surviving it requires a pioneering spirit ready to meet the challenges presented by it. Another modern example is that in Latinamerica, since it has been far away from the centers of industrial production and imported machinery parts are too expensive and take too long to get, they have become  highly skilled at either repairing what they have or re-using things which were originally designed for another purpose. An example of this in Chile is industrial garage doors made out of flattened 45 gallon steel drums welded on the edges observed by the author.