Human Universal 1: Adjusting to the Environment

“Adjusting to the environment” appears in Donald Brown’s list of human universals as “environment, adjustments to,” capturing the myriad ways people adapt, through lighting, shelter, tools, or heating, to their physical surroundings. We chose it as a core affordance in the first edition of the CultureAfford Atlas to surface objects that enable environmental adaptation across cultures. The following are corresponding affordances mapped from Dollar Street.