Determining environmental determinism

This commentary is a direct response to the Forum article ‘Environmentalist thinking and/in geography’ by Radcliffe et al. (2010). Two main problems are addressed: the perpetuation of a false analogy between cultural and biological evolution, and a misunderstanding of memes. I review the literature and summarize the main issues in cultural and biological evolution and in the related field of memetics, noting ways in which the Forum’s authors’ arguments might be strengthened. In conclusion, some suggestions are made for how geographers might productively engage with innovative ideas from other closely related disciplines.