what is the difference between possiblism and environmental determinism
Environmental determinism Environmental determinism (also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism) is the study of how the physical environment predisposes societies and states towards particular development trajectories. Nineteenth century approaches held that climate and terrain largely determined human activity and psychology, and it was associated with institutionalized racism and eugenics.[1] Many scholars underscore that this approach supported colonialism and eurocentrism, and devalued human agency in non-Western societies.[2][3] Jared Diamond, Jeffrey Herbst, and other social scientists sparked a revival of the theory during the late twentieth century. This "neo-environmental determinism" school of thought examines how geographic and ecological forces influence state-building, economic development, and institutions.
Positivism Positivism asserts that all authentic knowledge allows verification and that all authentic knowledge assumes that the only valid knowledge is scientific.[12] Thinkers such as Henri de Saint-Simon (1760–1825), Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827) and Auguste Comte (1798–1857) believed the scientific method, the circular dependence of theory and observation, must replace metaphysics in the history of thought.[citation needed] Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) reformulated sociological positivism as a foundation of social research.[13]