YetiManY3K

I think humans have more senses than the 5 we credit ourselves for. I can sense the presence of other people, can sense when someones looking at me, I can sense when something bad is going to happen, and in many cases I can sense the mood of other people. Do those count as senses?

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EeJay

^They might, but they also might be the sub-conscious work of one or a combination of the 5 senses. I once read the human brain can process 3000 thoughts per second, it makes you think how many of those are sub-conscious.

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Fewl

I have also always wondered about what blind people "see." In fact, a blind man came to my school and gave a speech last year and he got asked that very question.

I think I got a little further in my understanding of this as a result of my very first high... I was lying down in a tent outside with Pink Floyd on the stereo, and as I started to focus less and less on everything but the music, I started seeing (or just imagining) visuals that went with it. Like the visualisation features in WinAmp or similar programs, but infinitely better. Months later, when I was thinking about this, the thought entered my head that when you're high, there's much less difference between your real eyes and your mind's eye, and then I realised what I now believe to be the truth -- there really isn't a difference.

I don't think we perceive the world directly. When you see something or hear something, it feeds into your brain and your brain creates an image for you of what it thinks the outside world is like. You can influence this image yourself if you want (close your eyes and imagine seeing something or hearing something -- how much difference is there between that and "really" seeing or hearing?). How else do you explain hallucinations? People can sometimes really believe they see or hear something that, by all other accounts, simply wasn't there. Or what about dreams? If you stop to notice, dreams are just as visually detailed as real life, and somehow, you do see them, but of course you aren't seeing them through your eyes.

So, to bring all this back on topic, I think your 5 senses are all just factors in an equation that your brain uses to imagine what the world is like. I would guess that, for people who have less than 5 senses, the missing sense simply doesn't factor into the equation, and as a result the others are given more weight.

[Edit: another cool thing to think about is how bats can basically "see" with their ears by reflecting sound off objects. Their brains just interpret information from their ears differently than ours do.

http://howstuffworks.lycoszone.com/bat2.htm]

nw_stoner

I think I`d rather go blind, because if you were born blind, you would know that you are missing out on something, and you`d never be able to know what it was like. I think that would suck.


Think about this:


Reading is like hearing something that dosnt make a sound.

Like when you think, you can hear yourself thinking, but you`re not actually making any noise.

MicroBud

I have thought of many of these discussed topics for a while now. and i have been lately interested in lucid dreaming and astrl projection. And while you are dreaming your subcounce produces all of the images, feelings, and everything else you take in while sleeping. I believe that if your mind are able to produce images that arnt truely there, then it is able to produce and do much more than we know of. I think that anyone is capable of doing things such as moving objects with your mind, see into the past, future, read others thoughts, and much more. Although you just need to know the proper techniques of praticing and pratice for a long period of time.

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zoltron

I think that David Blaine guy has tapped into something mystical...& I'm not just talking that 43 day stunt over London Bridge, but if you've ever seen the guy perform magic...I think it goes deeper than that. Especially the levitation he can do anywhere. I believe the human mind is capable of way more than we're using it for, & in some cases, WAY, WAY more!!

beats

Sorry to burst your bubble zolt, I know how he does every single one of his tricks. But I won't just blurt them out, it'd ruin the fun. But he ain't no mystic.

Anyways, Do you think someone born blind can conjur an image in his/her head? Imagine a colour? Thats what I heard suggested, but how could they imagine it if they've never even seen anything remotely close to it. Literally, nothing.

But what DO they see..that's wierd.

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zoltron

I'll bet they just see whiteness. I would think...or total blackness. Not sure...
How does he make a playing card end up 30 ft down a bar with the chick's initials on it exactly stuck in some beer bottle...plus she tore it up? Enlighten us...I'll tell ya, I'm more impressed with that kind of illusions than some cat like Copperfield making the Space Shuttle disappear.

nw_stoner

I was watching this movie in school, and there was a blind guy in it. He said that it wasn`t black that he saw, but more of a gray fog that would never clear.

Loki's_Gardener

I dont know about blind people but I'm completly deaf. Unlike some unfortunate people, I wasnt born deaf. But after it happend, for the longest time, it was like I was still hearing things even though I knew I wasn't. I kept hearing sirens, especially when i was driving down a highway which freaked me out. It's sort of like phantom limb syndrome where i cant hear, but seems like still can. Maybe that helps you understand alittl bit.