How does that explain what is happening when more than one being, whether human or other animal, experiences the exact same forces, yet behave differently?

For example, what causes one person for fight back against an external force and another to be moved by the same force? Why does one person seek shade in the desert, while another fal.s from the heat and just lays there?

I tend to agree that plants, without the ability to ambulate, must bend towards the sun for survival, but it is too simplistic an explanation for animals.

No doubt external forces have a lot of influence, but it is not absolute, other than some immutable laws of nature like gravity.

External forces like societal norms, laws and rules likewise are not absolute - hence one person may become a criminal while his brother does not. Or one Muslim woman might accept Sharia law with its constraints while her sister rebels, in spite of the known risk to her life.

To accept the premise that we have no power over these outside forces, whether natural or manmade, is to deny the essence of humanity.