Thread: Which senses would be the worst and best to lose?

For me, my life would be destroyed if I lost my sight. That's something I'd never want to lose. I don't think losing my sense of smell would bother me too much. Obviously I'd prefer to keep it, but if I did lose it, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Doesn't one's sense of smell heavily influence one's sense of taste? So if you lose that, wouldn't it also diminish your sense of taste as well?

Losing your sight would be pretty devastating, I'd hate to go blind. Losing your sense of touch would be horrible as well, you'd probably harm yourself without knowing it, but I think it'd be easier than having to go blind.

Yeah, I have trouble with the vision vs. touch one, and chose touch, but am unsure. I agree vision would be horrible to lose, and it seems I'd rather have to cope with losing my sense of touch than sight. When I pay attention, I rely on my sense of touch a lot more than I'd expect before paying attention. Even now, I have to feel the keys to type. It would be difficult to do anything. I'd have to look at the keyboard while typing, I don't know if walking would even be possible, and I'd always be worrying about the state of my body while I'm not looking at it.

The occasional time a part of my body, like my foot, goes numb, it bothers me a lot. So it seems even something as horrible as blindness might be preferable to everything being numb all the time.

It's hard to tell how bad it really would be, though, to lose my sense of touch. Eventually, I'd get used to it, to some extent. So maybe it would be preferable to blindness once one gets used to it.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

I have to feel the keys to type. It would be difficult to do anything. I'd have to look at the keyboard while typing, I don't know if walking would even be possible, and I'd always be worrying about the state of my body while I'm not looking at it.

So it seems even something as horrible as blindness might be preferable to everything being numb all the time.

I didn't think of it that way. Maybe that actually would be worse than going blind. =/

I couldn't imagine having to live without touch. Being blind would be horrible yes, but I would hate to not feel anything. I can't even explain it in words, it's just asdfasf

Originally Posted by Keresztanya

it's just asdfasf

Oh god, totally.

I choose
[Vision] [Touch]

Vision : Smell. When there would be a really dirty smelly sewer right behind me I woudn't notice it at all, smell wise. Unless Im aware of it but still it would be really really faint and won't bother me. So yeah I don't really have a smelling sense anyway.

yeah, I agree, vision and smelling...
I know there is a connection with smelling and tasting but lets say there isn't

Taste is almost useless. Pinch your nose while eating and you'll see how much sensation you lose without smell.

touch - taste

Vision would suck to lose, but without touch you wouldn't be able to know anything around you. Wouldn't know if you got cut, broke a bone, etc.

Without touch YOU WILL DIE.

I have actually spent 7 years without the ability to smell so i would REALLY hate to lose that again, then again vision is good too... and hearing... you know what id probably want to die if i lost any.

Originally Posted by Dreamerb90

I have actually spent 7 years without the ability to smell so i would REALLY hate to lose that again, then again vision is good too... and hearing... you know what id probably want to die if i lost any.

Man that statement was as depressing as your avatar
Im sorry dude that must have sucked, at least you got it back.

Awww man, that avatar is depressing.

But yeah, smell being related to taste makes it a bit harder to decide. Although, I would still lose smell instead of taste since I would like to be able to taste my food. Even if the food does taste bland without smell, there's still the slightest hint of flavour in the food. I mean, just think of your favourite meal and never being able to enjoy it again. I'd rather be able to still enjoy the sweetness of chocolate, even if it is just a slight taste.

I just remembered that sometimes smells bring back memories. Like you smell something familiar and you have a little flashback to when you were a child. My mum used to hang little decorations on the christmas tree that smelled kind of like pine. So whenever I come in contact with that smell, I instantly remember some of my first christmases and how much I loved it. It would be a shame to lose that.

I think the current concept of sense is rather primitive. The set includes both essential and the non essential to life as we know it. Let me do my rant here, and refer to a more advanced model, one hidden in the metaphors of scripture. The "seven". Each of the seven has, for want of a better word at the moment, dimensions.

An environmental acquisition system of a living organism is that system which must acquire something from the environment, abstract an element from that thing, and with that element make a product that maintains and promotes the life of that organism. Now, it might be realized we can loose a dimension of that system, and live, but we cannot loose the sysetem and live.

Those that acquire the element of material difference.
1) The digestive system. dimensions are taste smell etc.
2) The Respiratory system.
3) The manipulative system. dimensions are touch, sense of heat, cold, etc.

Those that Acquire the element of form.
4) The Ocular system.
5) The Vestibular system.
6) The procreative system.
7) The Judgmental system.

Now Scriputure uses many metaphors for these seven, my fav, is the beast with seven eyes and seven horns. Seven ways to perceive and seven means to protect our life.

So, I don't see much progress in understanding when people are still talking rather senseless.

Each of these brings pleasure and pain, which is a dimension of the judgmental system also.
The judgmental system is defined in the solution to the name of the beast 666,
"to regulate our actions so as to turn the past into the future, and to bring the future to pass" i.e. it deals in time. it does that through the understanding and use of language--an example is scripture itself. It will one day be understood, I think.

Worst would probably be vision or pain. Yes I'm serious about the latter.

Best sense to lose in humans would be Magnetoception (if it actually exists for us), because it's almost useless. Failing that, taste or smell, though both are linked. I'd probably lean towards smell.

People always think that humans have only five senses, when actually we have a lot more than that. Things like balance and thermoception aren't considered senses by most people for some reason. I never really thought about it until it was pointed out in a show I was watching.

Interesting fact I just found, people born blind can't see in their dreams, people who become blind after birth DO see in their dreams. Pretty cool.

Originally Posted by dacher2

Interesting fact I just found, people born blind can't see in their dreams, people who become blind after birth DO see in their dreams. Pretty cool.

It was an observation stated by Aristotle in the universal form. If you cannot perceive a thing, you cannot mentally manipulate it. It has a great deal to do with how edication takes place today. Words in a book is not an education.

The loss of any sense entails a loss of knowledge. conversly, the loss of the sensed implies the same. Or in common terms, seeing is believing.

Worst: the 6th sense.
Least: ...none.

Originally Posted by Heavy Sleeper

People always think that humans have only five senses, when actually we have a lot more than that. Things like balance and thermoception aren't considered senses by most people for some reason. I never really thought about it until it was pointed out in a show I was watching.

isn't thermoception touch?

You put your hand on something that is hot and it burns you, isn't that you feeling it?

If you lose your sense of touch you can't tell if something is hot or cold so how does thermoception count as a sense?

No, it isn't touch. Think about it, you don't need to have any feeling in your skin to know if something's hot or cold. For instance, if I ate something very hot and felt it burning my stomach, I'm not touching it, I just feel it.

I've frequently heard being deaf is worst. Apparently, when deaf, your cut off socially as well. Following conversations is much harder if not practically impossible.

FWIW,

TimB

There are different types of touch receptors, so I guess it isn't clear what 'sense of touch' really means. If I remember from biology class correctly, there are at least two types of 'touch' receptors. One that senses light touches, and the other that senses pressure, deeper in the skin. Then there are pain receptors, and there might be more than one type of those. (When you eat spicy food, that feeling of 'spiciness' is really pain receptors in your tongue being activated. Not really relevant, but interesting.) I didn't really consider this in the OP. I guess I was imagining that losing one's sense of touch wold involve losing all of the receptors.