Do We Truly See the World Around Us?

[Thomo]

I was thinking the other night how blind people appear to have heightened touch and hearing etc.
Sure the lack of sight will mean less distractions but their ears and fingers are the same as a sighted persons.
All this made me wonder how much we are missing due to the fact that we are not using our senses to their full potental whether it is because of distraction or lack of training.
I wonder what sort of world we would "see" with all our senses heightened

 

[teddy]

if you practice 'yoga' you will certainly sharpen your senses.it can't be explained in words(atleast i can't do), you have to experience it.
certainly its cool

 

[Another God]

I believe that they have 'sharpened senses' simply because our subjective world is built on our experience of it. Since touch and hearing are their two primary methods of world experience, their subjective experience is built to turn such experiences into meaningful perceptions.

I am about to attempt to write out my new conception of Subjective experience right now. I think the idea in this thread is well incorporated into my theory. Thanks.

 

[zimbo]

Originally posted by Thomo

All this made me wonder how much we are missing due to the fact that we are not using our senses to their full potental whether it is because of distraction or lack of training.
I wonder what sort of world we would "see" with all our senses heightened

I don't think it's about our senses not reaching their full potential - only that our senses compete with each other for brain processing capacity. The visual cortex in someone born blind is 'taken over' by other functions during childhood development. So what you call 'full potential' is actually over-development at the cost of other functions - it's not possible to have all our senses heightened in this way because our brain is only that large.

 

[Another God]

=https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=603&goto=nextnewest[/URL]
Under the philosophy explained in this thread, the consequences of being born blind, would probably be a subjective world where different hardnesses were assigned colour shortcuts, and hearing was assigned elements of depth perception etc. Subjective pictures, of the sort us visually able people make, would be constructed from a different sort of experiental input. (no doubt less effective than vision, but the subjective experience of the world would probably be of a similar kind.)

 

[Kerrie]

i think with the effort we put into 5 senses, that effort would be greater in 4 senses if a person was blind

 

[Thomo]

Originally posted by zimbo
I don't think it's about our senses not reaching their full potential - only that our senses compete with each other for brain processing capacity. The visual cortex in someone born blind is 'taken over' by other functions during childhood development. So what you call 'full potential' is actually over-development at the cost of other functions - it's not possible to have all our senses heightened in this way because our brain is only that large.

I do suspect that is the case zimbo, but I am sort of hoping its not.As a flight of fantasy it paints an incredable world to see

 

[RuroumiKenshin]

Originally posted by Thomo
I was thinking the other night how blind people appear to have heightened touch and hearing etc.
Sure the lack of sight will mean less distractions but their ears and fingers are the same as a sighted persons.
All this made me wonder how much we are missing due to the fact that we are not using our senses to their full potental whether it is because of distraction or lack of training.
I wonder what sort of world we would "see" with all our senses heightened

First off, our brain is like a muscle, and the more you excercise it, the more stronger it gets. Studies show that when one part of the brain that is mostly used actually "grows" and takes so much room, so that another part of the brain is smaller. It's quite simple, really.

 

[Thomo]

Originally posted by MajinVegeta
First off, our brain is like a muscle, and the more you excercise it, the more stronger it gets. Studies show that when one part of the brain that is mostly used actually "grows" and takes so much room, so that another part of the brain is smaller. It's quite simple, really.

Isn't it a bugger when the facts get in the way of an idea Oh well

 

[RuroumiKenshin]

But its still an interesting idea. I have asked myself this question repeatidly: What does a blind person "imagine" when feeling something? How do they "view" the world?

don't give up on it just yet...

 

[RuroumiKenshin]

Originally posted by teddy
if you practice 'yoga' you will certainly sharpen your senses.

how so?

 

[Mentat]

Originally posted by MajinVegeta
how so?

Have you ever practiced yoga, Majin? It centers you, so that your mind and body become one, and thus you gain a hightened awareness of the senses.

 

[steppenwolf]

this thread has reminded of me something i read a while ago about women feeling more pain because estrogen is an 'exicter', ie hightens sensation, i was wondering if that meant we percieve the world more 'sharply' then men, if it is pertinent to pain then it must affect the other senses.

this has also reminded me of the case of synesthesia, people who experience the world with multiple senses at once, ie hearing coloured sound or tasting shapes. these people's brains seem to be able to spread the brain processing capacity that zimbo mentioned over multiple senses, sight or hearing doesn't compete with smell or touch for attention. the amazing thing about synesthesia is that it doesn't originate within the cortex, that leaves a lot of brain that can be dedicated to sensation!

one of the only books on the subject of synesthesia that is very useful in understanding perception and sensation in general is 'the man who tasted shapes' by Richard E. Cytowic

 

[RuroumiKenshin]

Originally posted by Mentat
Have you ever practiced yoga, Majin? It centers you, so that your mind and body become one, and thus you gain a hightened awareness of the senses.

That's true..I have practiced autogenic meditation, but not always yoga in particular. Have you? what do you think of it, if you have?

 

[Mentat]

Originally posted by MajinVegeta
That's true..I have practiced autogenic meditation, but not always yoga in particular. Have you? what do you think of it, if you have?

I used to. I think that it definitely makes you more aware. It's good for you, not only physically, but mentally.