Can matter be perceived directly?

[Dremmer]

I mean we can touch it and feel it. Can it be perceived directly? I thought it was the one thing that could be perceived directly, unlike energy, gravity, space and time which can't be perceived directly.

 

[phinds]

I mean we can touch it and feel it. Can it be perceived directly? I thought it was the one thing that could be perceived directly, unlike energy, gravity, space and time which can't be perceived directly.

In what way is touching it NOT perceiving it directly?

 

[bahamagreen]

Yipes! Don't you know that you perceive nothing directly?

All* perception is the end result of a very long chain of sensory processing mediated by complex connections between nerve cells - all the mind has to work with is a universe of these signals.

* The one known exception is direct stimulation of visual association tissues in the brain from exposure to radiation; astronauts and some others have reported "seeing" flashes of light during some exposures. This radiation is not acting on the retina of the eye, but directly on the cells in the back of the brain that process visual information.