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Where are We Happiest?

Anne Dalke's picture

Having followed these instructions for exploring Bryn Mawr...introduce yourself here and and answer the survey questions: where are you happiest, and why? Where do you think plants are happiest, and why? What similarities and differences are there between what plants and humans find most comfortable? (While you are here, might you want to speculate also about the happiness of non-human animals?)


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Hannah's picture

Where humans and plants are happiest

Where I felt happiest:

 

  1. English House 1
  2. Morris Woods
  3. Room 20 Park science building
  4. The glass staircase in Dalton Hall
  5. The campus center parking lot

 

The English house was a place that stood out to me as most comfortable for me, and for other humans to live. It has a great amount of space both outside in nature and inside. Shelter is an important of the human existence because we wish to be protected from extreme weather, heat, and annoying insects. However, we also like to have connections with our natural environment and appreciate it’s beauty. This makes a house a perfect place because it has both an inside and an outdoor yard.

            The other places are ranked mostly with this in mind except I put the woods second on the list because I personally really value and enjoy being in nature. Room 20 is third because it is a good environment for learning and experimenting.

 

Where plants feel happiest:

 

  1. Morris woods
  2. English house 1
  3. The glass staircase
  4. Room 20
  5. The campus center parking lot

 

Plants I thought would of course feel happiest in their most natural habitat: the woods.  Here they are outside and can be fed by the sun and rain. They can be pollenated by insects and the wind spreads their seeds. The outside of the English house is also a good place for plants, the glass staircase has a lot of sunlight, and room 20 I can imagine plants would not like very much because experiments are done on them which are not what they are naturally used to.

 

The main difference between plants and humans is that humans really need some kind of shelter to feel comfortable. Plants, however, are more comfortable outdoors. The environment effects plants in more positive ways and humans in both negative and positive ways, meaning that plants are more positively effected by the environment and more comfortable without shelter. Lastly, everyone feels uncomfortable in the campus center parking lot because it is filled with earth killing robots.