If you choose to shrug off the skeptics' jeers and run barefooted anywhere you want to, remember as you enjoy your journey to practice patience, because full adaptation can take a while.
We spend most of our waking day in shoes. We put on dress shoes in the morning for work, then switch to running shoes for workouts in the gym. With so much time spent in shoes, we've come to expect not only style, but also comfort in footwear.
We've still got those same feet, but we don't use them anymore. Instead, we cover them up. We wear shoes that alter the structure and function of our feet, and that weaken the myriad tendons, muscles, and ligaments through disuse.