evolving vs growing

Knowledge can't be separated from the experiential world. We learn by building up our prior knowledge(?). But doesn't it mean that the prior limits the subject? Can we change the environment to shape the individual?

If our knowledge is built upon our development (and I understand development as a linear thing), won't the agent continue taking actions as he's in his previous environment? Yes, but the new environment will generate new feedback loops so agent will be forced to adapt.

As Bateson's Paradox states: Environment changes and either you don't and die or you do and "you" die. Resisting the change is impossible if environment demands it. Every environment strives to reach stasis as it's most habitable for its habitants to grow. But you need to adapt if you want to evolve and it requires operating in multiple diverse and challenging environments.