假设有人问，"你是谁？"如果只是回答你的名字就太简单了。但是如果这人要知道关于你的所有故事，回答这个问题就更加困难了。很显然你要提供你身高，年龄和体重的细节。还要包括你所有的感情和偏好，甚至你从来没有分享给别人的秘密-对你爱人的感情，取悦和你交往人的渴望，对姐夫的讨厌；对你所喜欢的饮料，衣服品牌和音乐的执着。
你的态度也不能忽视——当事情变得复杂时你的不耐烦，对特定课程的讨厌，对高处、狗、和公开演讲的恐惧。这个清单还可以继续下去。如果要完成它，它必须包括你所有的特征——不仅仅是身体上的，还包括情感和智力。
要提供所有这些信息将是非常复杂的。但是如果提问者依旧认真的问，"你怎么成为现在的你的？"如果你的耐心还没有耗尽，你有可能这样回答:"我成为这样是我选择的结果，我考虑过其他感情和偏好和态度，然后做出了我的选择。我的选择是最适合我的类型和性格的。"这个回答再自然不过，某种程度上说是正确的。但是从更大的视角看，这不是真相。我们周边世界的影响比我们大多数人认识到的更大。
时间和地点的影响
你不仅仅是这个特殊物种“智人”的一员，你还处在这个物种在历史上特殊的时刻，这个星球的特殊地方。这个时刻和地点决定了特殊的环境，知识，信仰和习俗，所有这些限制了你的经历，影响你的思维框架。如果你生活在美洲殖民年代，你很可能不会反对阻止女人进入陪审团，签订合同，拥有财产，或者投票。如果你生活在十九世纪，你不会反对父母拒绝小孩接受教育，被安排每天工作16小时，你更不会想到青春期的特殊需求。（青春期的概念在1904年后才被发明。）
如果你在中东长大，相比你在美国长大，你会和周边的人交谈时站立的更近。如果你在印度长大，父母替你选择配偶，你可能会觉得非常好。如果你的母语是西班牙语而且你的英语水平一般，你可能会被一些英语俗语搞糊涂。詹姆斯.亨斯林（James Henslin）提到两个有趣的关于混淆的例子。雪佛兰诺瓦最初在墨西哥销售非常糟糕，因为诺瓦（no va ）发音在西班牙语中的意思是"没有用"；帕杜鸡（Perdue chickens）一度遭到质疑（甚至更糟糕），因为这个公司的口号“硬汉也能做出美味的鸡肉”在西班牙语中变成了“雄起的男人也能让鸡变得可爱”。
在欧洲，亚洲，或者南美洲成长的人对于准时有不同的观念。就像丹尼尔古尔曼（Daniel Goleman）解释的那样，"在美国商业会谈中5分钟算是迟到了，但是可以接受，但是在阿拉伯国家30分钟也是正常的。在英国，被邀请赴晚宴，5-15分钟的迟到是比较合适的；意大利人可能2小时后才到，埃塞尔比亚人还更晚些，爪哇人根本不去，接受邀请只是为了主人有面子。"不同的民族起源也意味着不同的食物品味（风格）。相比纽约条状牛排和炸薯条，你可能更喜欢"活猴脑"或者"用干骆驼粪便熏过的骆驼奶酪饼"和用"热乎乎的骆驼血”冲洗。"社会学家伊安罗伯逊（Ian Robertson ）简明的总结了全球范围内的饮食差别："美洲人吃蚝但是不吃蜗牛。法国人吃蜗牛但是不吃蝗虫。祖鲁人吃蝗虫但是不吃鱼。犹太人吃鱼但是不吃猪肉。印度人吃猪肉但是不吃牛肉俄罗斯人吃牛肉但是不吃蛇。中国人吃蛇但是不吃人。新几内亚的食人族认为人很美味。"［作者注:印度人的说法是错的。］
总结一下，生活在不同的年代和文化中，你就成为不同的人。即使你背叛了你时代和地点的价值，它们依旧是你生命的背景——用另外的话说，它们依旧影响你作出的反应。
原文：
Suppose someone asked, “Who are you?” It would be simple enough to respond with your name. But if the person wanted to know the entire story about who you are, the question would be more difficult to answer. You’d obviously have to give the details of your height, age, and weight. You’d also have to include all your sentiments and preferences, even the secret ones you’ve never shared with anyone—your affection for your loved ones; your desire to please the people you associate with; your dislike of your older sister’s husband; your allegiance to your favorite beverage, brand of clothing, and music.
Your attitudes couldn’t be overlooked either—your impatience when an issue gets complex, your aversion to certain courses, your fear of high places and dogs and speaking in public. The list would go on. To be complete, it would have to include all your characteristics—not only the physical but also the emotional and intellectual.
To provide all that information would be quite a chore. But suppose the questioner was still curious and asked, “How did you get the way you are?” If your patience were not yet exhausted, chances are you’d answer something like this: “I’m this way because I choose to be, because I’ve considered other sentiments and preferences and attitudes and have made my selections. The ones I have chosen fit my style and personality best.” That answer is natural enough, and in part it’s true. But in a larger sense, it’s not true. The impact of the world on all of us is much greater than most of us realize.
The Influence of Time and Place
Not only are you a member of a particular species, Homo sapiens, but you also exist at a particular time in the history of that species and in a particular place on the planet. That time and place are defined by specific circumstances, understandings, beliefs, and customs, all of which limit your experience and influence your thought patterns. If you had lived in America in colonial times, you likely would have had no objection to the practice of barring women from serving on a jury, entering into a legal contract, owning property, or voting. If you had lived in the nineteenth century, you would have had no objection to young children being denied an education and being hired out by their parents to work sixteen hours a day, nor would you have given any thought to the special needs of adolescence. (The concept of adolescence was not invented until 1904.)1
If you had been raised in the Middle East, you would stand much closer to people you converse with than you do in America. If you had been raised in India, you might be perfectly comfortable having your parents choose your spouse for you. If your native language were Spanish and your knowledge of English modest, you probably would be confused by some English colloquialisms. James Henslin offers two amusing examples of such confusion: Chevrolet Novas initially sold very poorly in Mexico because no va in Spanish means “it doesn’t work”; and Perdue chickens were regarded with a certain suspicion (or worse) because the company’s slogan—”It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken”— became in Spanish “It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.”2
People who grow up in Europe, Asia, or South America have very different ideas of punctuality. As Daniel Goleman explains, “Five minutes is late but permissible for a business appointment in the U.S., but thirty minutes is normal in Arab countries. In England five to fifteen minutes is the ‘correct’ lateness for one invited to dinner; an Italian might come two hours late, an Ethiopian still later, a Javanese not at all, having accepted only to prevent his host’s losing face.”3Adifferent ethnic origin would also mean different tastes in food. Instead of craving a New York Strip steak and french fries, you might crave “raw monkey brains” or “camel’s milk cheese patties cured in dry camel’s dung” and washed down with “warm camel’s blood.”4 Sociologist Ian Robertson summed up the range of global dietary differences succinctly: “Americans eat oysters but not snails. The French eat snails but not locusts. The Zulus eat locusts but not fish. The Jews eat fish but not pork. The Hindus eat pork but not beef. The Russians eat beef but not snakes. The Chinese eat snakes but not people. The Jalé of New Guinea find people delicious.”5 [Note: The reference to Hindus is mistaken.]
To sum up, living in a different age or culture would make you a different person. Even if you rebelled against the values of your time and place, they still would represent the context of your life—in other words, they still would influence your responses.