European colonialists initially were scared of and threatened by nature, but a love of nature arose once European settlers felt a distance from nature in their everyday lives. Do you feel more comfortable in the woods or downtown in a city? Why do you think that is so? Does your comfortability shape what you value?
I feel more comfortable in a “downtown.” I feel this way because downtowns are full of reliable amenities and services. I know that my phone will always have signal; I will always be able to get medical or police assistance; and I am safe from the elements. I am defining comfort as “a state of ease and satisfaction of bodily wants, with freedom from pain and anxiety.” It is obvious that a downtown will always be more comfortable than the woods, but that does not mean that the downtown is more enjoyable than the woods. In fact, the uncomfortableness of being in the woods is what in makes the experience more enjoyable. I would use the words “humbling” and “relaxing” to describe being in nature. Humans are in control of everything that happens in the city (except for weather) but this is the only place this can happen. Nature is so powerful and unpredictable that it humbles those in it; however, knowing that you are in a place that you have no control over is also relaxing. My comfortability does not shape what I value. I believe that times of discomfort are more valuable experiences, so this question is not applicable to me.
