Every person on earth is connected to the world around them. Free, independent spirits do not exist. You are human because there are other people. Others make you the person you are. If there are no other people to mirror you, then your constitution also changes. Do you want to know who you are? Look at your environment.
But what about that? the lonely cowboy, wandering in the Wild West? The odd mountain dweller, the hermit, living in complete isolation because of the inhospitable environment? Or, closer to home, what about that very old lonely woman in the anonymous city center?
Lonely cowboys, do they still exist? The existence of the cowboy has been greatly romanticized in our time. In reality, this more or less backward profession was looked down upon. Indeed, there were some strange birds among them. And if they weren't already, they became so in the weeks and months on the prairie. Patrolling the cattle rancher's immense border area and caring for and guiding the cattle was their job. Nothing more and nothing less. In the fall, the cowboy scanned the horizon for prairie fires. In case of danger, he warned the residents of the nearby farms with pistol shots. In complete seclusion, the cowboy was connected with the environment. Nature, the cattle, his horse, fellow cowboys and other inhabitants of the prairie. He had to. His life depended on it.
The lonely cowboy behaved as raw as his surroundings. The cowboy was not a free, independent spirit.
The strange mountain dweller, he undoubtedly exists. What his life looks like cannot be checked. After all, he lives in isolation. One thing we know for sure; in order to survive, the strange mountain dweller must be completely in touch with his environment. The dangers of the season must be known to him. In which period are the animals around him the most dangerous? Which crops are edible? When do the bears hibernate and how long will spring be away? The strange mountain dweller lives according to the rhythm of nature. His metabolism, posture and attitude change. He loses his sense of decorum. The muscles of the mouth become slacker and his vocabulary becomes more limited. The strange mountain dweller has no mirror in the form of others. No one corrects him. Being human is something you do together.
Is it bad that the strange mountain dweller transforms into, let's say, a human with animal features? No, because that is what the environment demands of him. Or of her.
The elderly lonely woman in the anonymous city centre is worse off. Living without connection to an environment becomes a form of survival. Energy resonates, and without reciprocal energy, vitality seeps out of life. Where vitality disappears, disarray appears. Mind you: in every anonymous inner city people live without any meaningful connection.
Everyone adapts neatly to their environment. Sometimes it is raw, rough, poignant, criminal, cruel. Sometimes it is civilized, arrogant, loving, decent, dignified, well-mannered or elitist. Which social biotope do you choose?