The Ergonomics of Seating

Abstract

What is comfort? As far as we know, the human body has no peripheral nerve endings capable of registering a sensation of comfort as such. Comfort is a state of mind which arises in the absence of intrusive bodily sensations. Thus we do not notice our clothes unless they are too tight or they hamper our movements. Physiologically, comfort is the absence of discomfort, although the subjective experience of comfort may be modified by other influences.

“All sedentary workers suffer from low back pain. We know when Plautus says: ‘Sitting hurts your back; staring hurts your eyes’. I do not see what precautions we can prescribe for these workers, so long as the existing cause remains the same and they are driven by supplying themselves and their families with daily bread.”

De Morbis Artifcum, Bernardini Ramazzini (1713), quoting Plautus (circa 200 bc)