The Written Rational CCDN231

After researching how people put their shoes on, it was found that some people can put on their shoes quite rough and aggressively. To contrast this, I am going to create an environment of comfort.  Having an environment is very important when trying to create a comfortable mood. John E. Crowly in “The sensibility of Comfort” explains how the word “comfort” was frequently used in order to express the satisfaction and enjoyment with immediate physical circumstances. To incorporate this idea into my experiment, I am going to be having my environment being in the participant’s bedroom.

“To make up an environment of comfort, what after all could be more human than desires to be warm, and to have a cozy home?” Crowly, J. E. (1999, pg 750) – this idea was applied to the experiment for my activity. The initial testing involved the participants lying down on their bed. The purpose of this is to introduce the participant to a familiar environment and a place where they will experience an instant feeling/mood of comfort. As Goldberger (2009) states “we are most comfortable with what we know”. The next step involved altering the hearing sense. I put on relaxing music, had the blinds down to have a quieter environment and also put the blinds down to block out distractions from outside which completed my environment.

“Comfort alone, or ‘contentment’, if that term feels more natural to you, is enough some of the time, but not all of the time. What we need, more than anything, is to understand the importance of synthesis” (Goldberger, B. 2009). With this in mind I made sure to explain the reasons behind the environment and music to the participants before starting and then got the participants to lie down until they felt very comfortable but not to the point where they go to sleep. Once this was done I got the participants to put their shoes on without getting off the bed making them stay in a comfortable state.

The results of this experiment were interesting in the sense that the simple everyday activity of putting on shoes had changed due to the feeling of comfort being implemented with sound and enviroment.  Not so much how they put their shoes on but something to be noticed evidently was the approach to putting their shoes on which was in a very slow, lazy manner compared to normally putting on shoes in a very fast second nature way which is normally expected.

From this experiment I have come to find that by making a room which expresses comfort with familitary and a sense of comfort using feel and hearing as. As Farell (2009) states “Comfort is a low-key, steady-state condition. And people are animals designed for sensory stimuation”. It is very easy for someone to slip into a very comfortable state of mind and then this been shown in a physical way as a resualt with putting on shoes in a more slow manner, heightning the importance enviroments have on people aswel.

Bibliography:

Goldberger, B. (2009). Challange And Comfort. The Kenyon Review , 21-31.

Crowley, J. E. (1999). The Sensibility of Comfort. The American Historical Review , 165.

Farrell, James. J. (2009). The Clergy Journal.