Blog 6

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WEEK 7- BLOG 6

Ethnographic writing 

This ethnography took place in Costa, Oxford. Whilst I was in here, I was aiming to explore how the space is used in this social setting.

So for the time I was here, I observed that many used it in the same way. For example, everyone faced each other, people at the back half of the cafe faced the front and vice versa.  This raises an interesting question of why this is?

A possible explanation could be that because people naturally wanted to be able to be aware of the others in the shop. This made me aware that I subconsciously did the same. Perhaps it is so we can know we are safe?

From further research of this idea, it became apparent that humans have always been innately hardwired to be aware of our surroundings.

Nigel Nicholson explored this idea:

"You can take the person out of the Stone Age, not the Stone Age out of the person."

 - Nicholson (1998) 

Nicholson explores this idea by highlighting that even on the Savannah Plain 200,000 years ago, Homo sapiens had to be aware of their surroundings in order to maintain survival. 

Our innate behaviour to observe has been the reason as to why homo-sapiens evolved to be the smartest species on the planet. I found this fascinating that within us all, even in a neutral and safe zone, that people still have the traits we have been using throughout our evolution. 

Images of Costa Coffee shop. Sourced myself (Nov, 2023):

Reference List:

- N. Nicholson (1998) "How hardwired is Human Behaviour?". Harvard business review.