Not Having Any Senses

[Jeremysr]

I think this is philosophy... I was wondering today about not having any senses. What would a person think like if they didn't have the 5 senses from when they were born: touch/pain, taste, smell, hearing, seeing. I decided the only way they could sense the world is a sense of motion (fluid inside your ears I think.) I think when you only have one sense, that sense is very strong. So what would they think about the world, what would they learn? Sorry if this is a bad idea

[juroara]

but a sense of motion requires a sense of touch move your body right now. you know its moving becuase of the different air pressure, becuase of your own skin touching your own skin, such as bending your elbow, or becuase of your clothes. there are really only two other senses, emotions and thoughts. for instance, lets say this person can sense emotions instead. their entire world is based around the emotions that others give. bad vibes and good vibes. thoughts, we experience this in dreaming. lets say youre running in a dream. but you cant feel your feet, or the ground. how do you know youre running? you just...know.

[Merlock]

I'll randomly pop in and add that "just knowing" is conceptual thought but thoughts, as in, mental interaction and knowledge is hardly a sense and someone couldn't live by "sensing" thoughts, it would be a form of communication rather than sense. Emotions, however, are surely sensible. The only difference is that currently within our society most only know how to sense their own emotions and never really think "what would it be like if I were to sense the emotions of others", let alone put sorcery to practice.

[King and God]

Very interesting subject. I have thought of this several times myself, but I can't imagine what one would think if being without the senses from birth.

[Indecent Exposure]

I personally dont beleive they would understand that they or anything else existed There thougths would be limited to nothingness, as they have not picked up a language to think in There emotions, nothing to create aspecific emotion and no udnerstanding of the emotion I have ehard of people who have been born both deaf and blind but never without the touch sense aswell Nice question Prsonally I dont think they would "exist" in a sense of the word, they would know nothingness, even when you were shoving a pipe i nthere motuh 2 feed, them they wouldnt feel it theyd be non existant Imran

[Merlock]

There thougths would be limited to nothingness, as they have not picked up a language to think in [/b] First: we don't think in a language. That's only the conscious verbal thought - the internal dialogue that many are used to. When we truly think we use conceptual thought but it is a complicated concept in itself relative to the world we exist in. But all together, someone born with no senses probably wouldn't survive either, not just "not exist" in a figurative form. With no senses a person would remain in some sort of vegetative state, like the smallest of children but even worse off.

[Indecent Exposure]

We may not think i na kanguage but without ever having picked up any ideas to think about or any concepts to contelmpate There would be nthing to think about no thoughts Just nothingness and the question revovles around the idea of "if the erpson was able to survive" Imran

[Goldney]

Well the thought that we have only 5 senses isn't true. The actual number is closer to twenty. One of them has already been mentioned before a sense of self, e.g knowing (without looking) where your hands etc. are. Also there is a sense of balance and a sense of pressure (altitude)... the list goes on. I just thought that this topic needed some clarification.

[Neruo]

Well it really depends on how you categorise the senses. I think the standard 5-senses are often a bit vague. Like what you said, the sense of balance. Some totally different systems are at work there then with the touch-sense. But lets say you have no to hardly any senses: That would suck balls. Maybe you wouldn't notice however, you wouldn't really have learned to think as much, you can't even speak a language. I don't know how it would be, I can only guess you would go totally crazy. I would, if I was completely paralyzed now.

[blade5x]

Well the thought that we have only 5 senses isn't true. The actual number is closer to twenty. One of them has already been mentioned before a sense of self, e.g knowing (without looking) where your hands etc. are. Also there is a sense of balance and a sense of pressure (altitude)... the list goes on. I just thought that this topic needed some clarification. [/b] Except, when I'm in sleep paralysis - all of that is cut off also Without the 5 senses, your conscience doesn't develop, and maybe you never become self aware?

[King and God]

But lets say you have no to hardly any senses: That would suck balls. Maybe you wouldn't notice however, you wouldn't really have learned to think as much, you can't even speak a language. I don't know how it would be, I can only guess you would go totally crazy. I would, if I was completely paralyzed now. [/b] Well, if one would not have had said senses from birth, it would not really suck, as one would not be able to compare not having those senses to having them.

[Bonsay]

Well, if one would not have had said senses from birth, it would not really suck, as one would not be able to compare not having those senses to having them. [/b] True, but there wouldn't realy be a reason to live. No contact with the world and all, he couldn't process any information, so he would be in a sort of meditation state all the time, I guess..

[King and God]

You can't know for sure, and neither can I. Neither of us have been there.

[Bonsay]

The question is if you should let him live or die. Well, I mean what would "they" do in a situation like this.

[King and God]

He/she would not necessarily suffer due to it, but I think most people would think in a narrow-minded way that he/she would be better off dead, only because they would not enjoy having none of the senses themselves. Another factor would be that it would take resources and time to keep someone in this condition alive.

[juroara]

imran, I would have to disagree. our thoughts are not based off words. words dont decide what we think. we can still be angry without knowing the word anger. we can still be happy without knowing the word happy, bored without knowing the word bored. come on..whos that famous blind and deaf woman who still had a lot on her mind? words help us express what we are thinking, they dont decide what we think, or what we feel. otherwise, we cant even learn a language

[Neruo]

I do think that words, language plays a Very important role in thinking. I seriously think without it, you could only think "!" or "?", as in just emotions and such. You also might dig up memories without using words. But to actually get new ideas... I think language is one of the main reasons humans accomplish so much more then animals. Comprehending is pretty hard without words. I think.

[Goldney]

It seems to me that this person is practically comatose. So we're basically talking about a paralized person who cannot hear, see, smell, taste or feel. They would never develop beyond the intelligence of a newborn baby because we depend on all our senses and experiences to learn. How can you have any thougts when you have no experiences? Juroara I disagree with your point of the person having feelings because they would have no experiences to base these feelings on. When you ask a toddler what makes them happy they often reply ice-cream or something similar. Do you see where I'm going with this?

[juroara]

we experience feelings based on situations. but situations dont create our feelings. this person may not have any normal senses, but that doesnt mean they are experiencing nothing. no, they are experiencing something, just being, existing, their own mind. they would either feel peace, or absolute bordom.

[blade5x]

we experience feelings based on situations. but situations dont create our feelings. this person may not have any normal senses, but that doesnt mean they are experiencing nothing. no, they are experiencing something, just being, existing, their own mind. they would either feel peace, or absolute bordom. [/b] How could this person feel anything if this person doesn't even know he/she exists?

[Elwood]

You would turn into a worthless blob. No joke

[juroara]

How could this person feel anything if this person doesn't even know he/she exists? [/b] what proof do you have they dont know they exist?

[CryoDragoon]

imran, I would have to disagree. our thoughts are not based off words. words dont decide what we think. we can still be angry without knowing the word anger. we can still be happy without knowing the word happy, bored without knowing the word bored. [/b] those are emotions... not thoughts... just try to think right now.... without language... it's not happening isn't it? you HAVE to THINK in WORDS... or in figures, shapes or other different things you have constructed from things you've seen/heard/felt/etc. before... you need to have something to base your thoughts on... and about emotions: you can't just SUDDENLY become angry... right? can you? i require a stimulus in order to feel emotions... I don't get pissed because of nothing... I get angry because my stupid little sister is irritating me again... i need a stimulus... and since this man/woman we're talking about here hasn't got any of these senses to experience these stimuli with, i don't think he'll (easily) be able to feel any emotion.... but those are just my ideas... might be wrong, might be right...

[13redfan]

those are emotions... not thoughts... just try to think right now.... without language... it's not happening isn't it? you HAVE to THINK in WORDS... or in figures, shapes or other different things you have constructed from things you've seen/heard/felt/etc. before... you need to have something to base your thoughts on... [/b] True to some extent, but a lot of thought is based on associations and images, or smells and emotions. For example, when I see a picture of KFC fruit chutney sprinkle pops, my mouth starts watering and I see images of greasy fingers and a satisfied me, and I smell that smelly smell and taste that tastey taste. Agreed, I do at some point think "mmm, I love the smell of KFC, and the crunch of fried bread crumbs" but not all of my thought is based in language. Also, we all think in different languages, and our minds don't notice. For example, I did Afrikaans as a second language at school, I was fluent in it and still am. If someone is talking to me in English, and suddenly halfway through a sentence changes to Afrikaans, I don't always notice, and at times I find myself answering in Afrikaans without any recollection of beginning to answer back in afrikaans (most afrikaans people can understand english, so usually I'd answer in English anyway). Is my brain thinking in both? At the same time? I get angry because my stupid little sister is irritating me again... [/b] My friend's stupid little sister used to be SOOO irritating, we hated her. Now she's HOT I tried to hit on her and she was like I'm still trying, her mom asked me yesterday why I'm trying so hard to get her attention

[CryoDragoon]

Yes, we all use a different language to think in... and we need emotions to be a possible helper in thinking... But that doesn't make the point I'm trying to make less valid: I think (hehe) that we need something to express our thoughts in... be it language (no matter what language), shapes, sounds, or whatever.... and because the man we're talking about does not have knowledge whatsoever about these things, i personally find it difficult to believe he actually IS (or would be) able to think... Also: as I said, this man does not (correctly) receive the stimuli needed for an emotion to form... since he does not have the senses which are needed to receive them... and about boredom: how can someone be bored when he hasn't experienced ANYTHING AT ALL... he needs to have knowledge about things in order to be able to think and to feel emotions... that being said, i am still convinced that this guy isn't able to think nor feel emotion whatsoever... (and again: this is MY mind thinking, I am not this man... So: I don't know whether i'm wrong, or whether i'm correct... this is just my theory, and i'm happy with it.... at the moment... at least) well: surprise: my sister isn't hot... she is, however something else that also has 3 letters in it...