21DJC Day 11 – Out of Your 5 Senses, Which is the Most Important to You, and Why?

1. 

   Ezza 14 years ago

   I believe out of all our senses… Touch is important to me. I would be most devastated if I was unable to touch and feel a connection with someone. I value being able to touch and feel what is around me because I love being creative and feeling the autumn grass through my fingers. :love:
2. 

   Andreea 14 years ago

   I could never live without music, so hearing is the most important sense for me. Also, I find a man’s voice as one of the most arousing features. I actually fell in love with a man who worked as a radio host. So I’d choose hearing anytime, anywhere. I think I’d be able to adapt losing sight or other senses, but if I’m not able to hear then my life is over.
   I try to keep all my senses alert and never take them for granted. If one can hear, see, taste, smell, touch, move… what else does it take to feel blessed and lucky? There are so many people out there who are less fortunate, deaf, blind, crippled, disabled in some other way… Put myself in their shoes and I already feel ashamed for complaining about silly, trivial things.
3. 

   Emerita 14 years ago

   Out of Your 5 Senses, Which is the Most Important to You, and Why?

   The most important for me is the sense of sight. As long as I can see, I can be aware of what is around me. If I don’t have the sense of smell so long as I can see what it is, I would be able to recognize anything before me. The same is true for touch, if I don’t have the sense of touch, so long as I can see, recognition will be possible. I may not be able to hear what others say, but I can look at their faces and the motion of their mouths when they speak, I will be able to figure out what they are saying. But even if sight is the most important to me, I pray and I will do my best to take good care of my body, so I don’t lose any of my senses. Reaching my goals will be more difficult if I lose even only one of them.
4. 

   Bazik 14 years ago

   It is very difficult to choose, as a person blessed with all 5 of them, I take them for granted, and also, as a whole, and my perception of the world is based on the complex of those senses. Of course, sight is very important, but I think the most important for me is hearing, because I am very communicative, and I believe it would be much more difficult to converse with my friends if I could not hear. Also, I love music and singing, and I cannot imagine my life without that. When I meet a person, their voice and what they say is much more important for me than how they look, for example. There is a saying, that a woman loves with her ears. I guess I am one of them :)
5. 

   Jeffrey Q 14 years ago

   I don’t agree with other people’s approach to this question about valuing about which sense you would try to save if you lost your other senses. I would probably answer something different if I needed to choose the sense I would save, but the most important sense to me is my hearing.

   The ability to listen is my greatest strength. I am someone who can fully immerse with people through meaningful conversation and although seeing someone is equally as important, being able to hear people express themselves through their voice is just not the same. The art of conversation has the power to create a powerful intimacy that sight cannot replicate.

   We hear music and the infinite symphonies, arias, and ballads of audiological expression. The spoken word, poetry and books can be felt through the words heard aloud. The exchange of ideas in an eloquent speech or presentation is delivered through the medium of parlance and elocution.

   I will have to go against the grain and choose hearing over sight. That is not to say sight isn’t as important, but I believe that is too obvious a choice of convenience. It may be more limiting to function as a person without sight (I have no idea on the validity of that, I’m just assuming), and that with sight, we would still be able to fit into society relatively well, but if we were just answering the choice of favorite sense, I go with hearing. Hearing has much more meaning as a form of communication at the human level. Our voices give us much more ability to express ourselves at a higher level than through our writing or paintings.

   Our ears and our voices are the most primal ways of communication and expression. I believe it allows for one of the most intimate ways of connecting between all of us.
   • 

     Jeffrey Q 14 years ago

     The whole act of listening as well and being attentive, to listen actively, is one of the greatest gifts we can give to each other as people. The act of giving our attention is under appreciated and most of us can not comprehend how much meaning it holds merely to volunteer our undivided attention and awareness. To be heard and to be given the courtesy of respectful engagement is such a rarity in the rush of daily life.
     • 

       Barry 14 years ago

       Jeffrey,

       I agree, the question was not was not “what’s the last one you’d want to lose” – it was which is most important to you. The question did not imply that you’d have to do without any of them, just which you favored more, while you still had them all.

       It was a close call for me between sight and sound. I always write my post without reading any others prior, so that my mind is clear of any influence on the subject.

       Looking now at others posts -Sight is an overwhelming favorite – interesting to see. (or for you, to hear.)
6. 

   Bonnie Jo 14 years ago

   Right off the bat I can say that the senses of taste and smell are my least important. I would say that hearing might actually be the sense most important to me, which surprised me because I thought it would be sight. But conversation and music and the spoken word are more important to me than visual senses. The sense of touch comes in second, because I can’t imagine not being able to feel things. To feel others, or a breeze, or my feet as they dance….
7. 

   edwilk 14 years ago

   I would have to say my sight would be the most important. It seems that being sightless would leave one more vulnerable than being without any of the other senses. For example, it would be difficult to walk anywhere, and impossible to drive or ride a bike. Also, a lot of what is available for reading would not be available unless one could get it in braille. One could still watch TV with sound captioning with sight. And, of course, without sight, I would miss the beauty of women.

   Any other sense would be missed, of course, but it seems that life without sight would be much more difficult than without one of the other senses.
8. 

   Lottie 14 years ago

   Thank you Celestine for this disturbing question. It has had the effect of making me consider all these senses which I tend to take completely for granted and, in turn, I am now filled with a profound sense of gratitude for each and every one of these senses, these amazing gifts.

   The most important sense, for me, is touch. The thought of not being able to ‘sense’ the touch of my husband’s skin, my children’s faces, different textures, my cat’s fur, pulses, hot, cold, wet, dry, smooth, rough, silky, crumbly and so on, is unthinkable. Touch can be so comforting and helps me make sense of the world. I often state that I am touched by things or that something has touched me.
   • 

     Elezhara 14 years ago

     I just loved your answer! :hug:
9. 

   Elezhara 14 years ago

   This is the toughest question so far!

   On the one hand, I would say the most important sense for me is sight. I wear glasses and because of that, I know how important is this sense to us. The best thing for me would be to wake up and be able to see the things around me.

   But if I had to choose one, that one would be hearing. Music is a really important part of my life and I think I could not live without it. I wake up with music, I exercise with music, I study with piano music, I meditate and relax with music… Also, listening to what others have to say is very important to me.

   I could manage without sight but never without hearing.

   I can´t imagine living without the sense of touch. It would be really weird, and dangerous too! But even if I had to be in bed all day long and even if I needed people to help me get through my life, I need to be able to hear them.
10. 

    Iva 14 years ago

    All the 5 senses are very important to me, because there is not even a single day when I have not used any of them.

    My sense of sight is the reason I am able to see the beauty of nature, things around me, my loved ones, facial expressions, body languages, art & crafts, wonderful colors, and many more amazing things. I also use it for the two of my favorite activities which are reading and writing. It also protects me from danger when it is something that could be seen and avoided.

    My sense of hearing is the reason I am able to hear my favorite music & songs, the voices of my loved ones, the talks & discussions going around me, the amazing sounds of nature, melodious chirping of birds, and many more sounds that are important in my life . It also protects me in many ways, for example, I could avoid an accident if I hear a car rashly coming towards me.

    My sense of taste is the reason I am able to know various flavors and the difference between sweet, bitterness, salty and sour. I love eating and trying different cuisine. But if I didn’t have the sense of taste, I wouldn’t be able to taste various delicious foods or know the difference. Without the sense of taste, I would just be eating food to keep my body parts working properly and there would be no enjoyment in eating.

    My sense of smell is the reason of me knowing beautiful fragrances, the sweet smell of flowers, delicious smell of food, etc. It also helps me in smell rotten food, protect me from getting sick by eating it and save my life.

    My sense of touch is the reason I am able to feel texture, pain, heat, strength, the happiness that comes from hugging, elders placing their palms on my head while giving me blessings, making me feel loved & protected, and the warmth of my loved ones holding my hands.

    I can’t choose one of the 5 senses to be most important. All of them are essential for my daily activities, and to feel alive. :dance:
    • 

      Ezza 14 years ago

      Right on Iva! I believe all our senses are important to us. I couldn’t imagine not being able to hear children laughing, smelling the roses, tasting the finest of wines and hugging those I love. But, there is many people in the world who has one of these missing or many of these missing from their lives and yet they live a happy and fulfilling life. I would not be able to fathom what it would be like for them or for me to lose something we all take for granted. I give my hat off to them for facing adversity, rising above it and overcome it.

      Have a great day. Love Much, xxx Ezzy :hug:
      • 

        Iva 14 years ago

        Hi Izza,

        I totally agree with you!

        When I read today’s question and thought about it, the first thing that came to my mind was how important my senses are and how blessed I am to have all of them. Next when I tried to choose the most important one, I couldn’t imagine giving importance to only one sense or losing any of them. Then, I felt how amazing those people are, who have one of these missing and yet they live a happy and fulfilling life. But, I was in such a hurry in writing all the other things that I missed to mention it. Now this made me realize how sometimes I become little insensitive and miss some of the important things. Thanks for reminding Izza :hug:

        Kudos :clap: to all those people in the world who have any of their 5 senses missing or have any kind of disability and yet live a happy & fulfilling life or try their best to overcome the adversity. They are an inspiration to all.

        ~ Iva ~
11. 

    Bob 14 years ago

    I think my sense of sight is the most important to me. I use it to filter in what I want in my environment. By choosing where I go and how I get there I fill my sight with as many pleasant experiences as possible.

    I especially like observing nature watching the changing of the seasons – the leaves falling off the trees, the cold winter mornings, the freshness dynamic of spring with the buds shooting out of the branches in spring, the blossom and the fruits. The nests of the birds in the trees, how they are built in spring, a cooperation between two birds it is fascinating viewing, they intricately join the twigs and materials together to form a home for their family. Tree branches twist and turn in intricate ways to reach for the light with leaves moving to catch the maximum exposure of the sun.

    As I observe something closely I see all the mix of shapes forms and colours blended together, the subtle hues of colour, the shade and the light. I wonder how this was made up, where it comes from and how did it get there.

    I see my senses as the entrance to myself, they are my link with my world, the contact with everything. I also love all my senses especially auditory and touch which I have developed more than the others.

    Celes, I discovered we have nine senses. I would add a tenth intuition – I would describe this as all your feelings as a result of the experiences you have lived which indicate how to act in any given moment. The nine senses:
    1. Sight or vision
    2. Hearing or audition
    3. Taste
    4. Smell or olfaction
    5. Touch
    6. Balance and acceleration – the sense that allows an organism to sense body movement, direction, and acceleration, and to attain and maintain postural equilibrium and balance.
    7. Temperature Thermoception is the sense of heat and the absence of heat (cold) by the skin and including internal skin passages.
    8.Kinesthetic sense Proprioception, the kinesthetic sense, provides the parietal cortex of the brain with information on the relative positions of the parts of the body. Neurologists test this sense by telling patients to close their eyes and touch their own nose with the tip of a finger.
    9. Pain Nocicepton (physiological pain) signals nerve-damage or damage to tissue. The three types of pain receptors are cutaneous (skin), somatic (joints and bones), and visceral (body organs).
12. 

    Karman Warner 14 years ago

    I have a desperate fear of blindness, so I would say that for me my sight is most important and most significant.
    The other senses are important, but all that I do is dependent upon my sight. All that gives me joy from my photography depends upon my sight. I take captures that I can turn into inspirations. I do portraits for those who can not afford to hire someone. When I am angry, I can walk and shoot what my heart sees, you can not remain angry while searching for beauty.
    To loose my sight, I would loose a part of who I have become…..I have a desperate fear of blindness. :shy:
13. 

    P.Callychurn 14 years ago

    For me the eyes constitute the most vital and most important of the five senses. Even at the thought of it, I get the scare of my life that I am deprived of my sense of vision.
    The one who is born without the gift of sight is indeed an unfortunate person , and may not feel its absence in the same way as a person who loses his eyesight, for any reason would feel. There can be no bigger tragedy, when all of a sudden , the door of this world is closed upon you. Life will stop for me at that very moment. If I am given the choice to chose, I shall without any hesitation opt to have my eyes, and continue to behold Nature in all its manifestation and splendour. Some say, you can, if you want to, behold God in his manifold creations. The sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, and lower down, the sea , the rivers, the mountains , and the cascades , not to speak of the flora and fauna, and most importantly man with all his qualities and imperfections.
    This having been said for the purpose of this challenge project, I should also like to add that the five senses and harmoniously and inseparably linked and your life will indeed be greatly affected by the absence of any one of these five senses, and will impact negatively on the remaining senses It is a divine arrangement where one cannot do without the other. Just like the five fingers. Remove anyone, and you lose the fist for ever,and it will never be the same again.
    sona
14. 

    Fraser 14 years ago

    My first reaction is to say my sixth sense….my intuition is my most important sense.
    If I were focused on my traditional 5 senses, I believe my strongest and most favoured one is my sight. The ability to read, observe and notice things. The power observation.
15. 

    Viole 14 years ago

    Sense of inner feeling, from the heart, touch…

    One can be blind but still can see with the heart.
    One may be deaf but can see the colours of the world.
    One may be a mute but still uses sign language to communicate
    One might lose the taste but still indulge

    But if you cannot feel, what good is nice food, sad moments or happy laughters.
    No sadness, no excitement, no passion, no sense of direction.
16. 

    Mary Jane Hoover 14 years ago

    Five senses: Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch…

    Hearing my children’s laughter and music is important to me.

    Seeing my child’s smile and beauty and design is important to me.

    Touching and feeling my children and their hugs are important to me.

    Tasting food i appreciate the different flavors.

    Smelling the different smells is important to me because the world has so many different scents like the flowers my lover give to me.

    But I think if I didn’t have my mind, than it wouldn’t make a difference what sense I had or didn’t have.

    My mind isn’t a sense but it makes sense of all the other senses. It makes them all real.
17. 

    Rahul 14 years ago

    Though all senses are important and complement each other, if I have still to choose one then I would choose ‘sight’ as most important for me.

    This is because of many reasons:
    * I love to observe people
    * I love to see and appreciate beauty in all forms – people, places, things, etc.
    * Most important of all – I personally feel that the best way to learn/consume knowledge is to read and I love to keep learning. So, I believe that if I can see, I can continue learning effectively through out my life.

    So, for me ‘sight’ is most important.
18. 

    ASLO 14 years ago

    It is really hard to choose on sense , because all 5 senses are important to everyone. but if i have to choose i would choose sight.without it i wouldn’t have read such inspirational blogs, books are very important for my life.
19. 

    Vanessa 14 years ago

    I can’t imagine my life without all my senses. I wouldn’t like it and am thankful to have them all.
20. 

    Vanessa 14 years ago

    Sight is the most useful sense to me over smell, taste, touch, and hearing. With sight you can see words for communication, expressions on peoples faces, the beauty of the world and of people. With sight you can see how much someone loves you through there eyes and the way they act. Without sight I wouldn’t be able to tell if someone is lying to me. I wouldn’t be able to see the beauty of the world. Well hearing though is important to me too. I love to hear the sound of someones voice or listen to music. I would still pick sight above all the other senses. I am glad I have all my senses it is a blessing.
21. 

    Jen 14 years ago

    It may seem the most obvious, but it’s still true: my sense of sight is the most important to me.

    I have always been an observant viewer. Of course, I know that many people who are deprived of their sense of sight are observant in other ways. But, since I have always had my sight, I’ve always observed visually. I actually earned the nickname “the sponge” from one of my teachers, because I would observe what was going on around me and simply soak it in. That’s my primary way of gaining information about the dynamic of any given situation. It’s very important to me to be able to read a situation, and to understand what people are feeling and what the vibe between the participants is. That’s something I do visually.

    Additionally, I am someone who loves walking around and seeing new things. I recently moved to New York City, and every day I’m seeing something new. I can’t help but stop in my tracks sometimes as I’m walking down the street, just to capture a mental picture or whatever it is I’m seeing. These snapshots do so much to make every day new, that it would be a huge adjustment for me to do without them.

    And, finally, I am an avid reader, and sight is very important to me for that. Of course, I realize people who do not have their eyesight read in other ways– whether by using Braille or by listening to a book being read aloud. I don’t mean to discount those kinds of reading. But I have so many positive memories of poring over a page, and letting my eyes wander up a few lines to reread something that I just loved, that I connect reading with my sense of sight.
22. 

    J 14 years ago

    Definitely sight for me, for simply biological reasons: I’m a visual person. Relatedly, I’ve always been a spatially-oriented type of guy … good in physics, remembers where things are around the house, never gets lost, etc. Of course, I have many flaws, too…

    I’m less strong in the taste department. I apparently miss some pleasure, but the upshot is that I enjoy foods’ natural flavors and can eat a healthy diet fairly easily.
23. 

    Aparna 14 years ago

    Well, this is a very tough question. Each sense is important in its own way. I choose “touch” over other senses, why?

    A sense of touch makes us come closer to a person and this is the best form of communication.
24. 

    Lex 14 years ago

    I choose hearing – what is life without music ? =)
    • 

      manju 14 years ago

      i agree Lex :)
25. 

    Prion 14 years ago

    I think of emotion as the sixth sense. So probably that one.

    Think about it, we process things often emotionally, and then visually, acoustically (if I’m not mistaken), and through taste, through our tactile senses, and not to mention our olfactory senses.
26. 

    Prion 14 years ago

    All of them are extremely important to me. But as I reflect on my poetic musings, I realize that sight comes up the most. The most intuitive connections have come to me from sight and then from sound.
27. 

    Monisha 14 years ago

    Out of Your 5 Senses, Which is the Most Important to You, and Why?

    I am blessed to have all five of my senses, so it is going to be quite hard for me to choose one. I LOVE all my senses, I need them so much!

    I have to choose between sense of touch and sight. I have seen that blind people can use certain tools to help them. They touch things to try to know what the things are. I want to choose touch because I want to know when I get injuries so that I can get treatment. And even when I can’t hear words of love, when someone touches me lovingly, I I think I will still feel the love.

    But then again, I can feel and show someone love since I will be able to see the body languages. I want to see the beauty around me. If I get a lover, I want to see his face while I spend time with him. I want to see the faces of loved ones. I want to see the beauty of nature, etc.

    It will be both sad to not feel the touch of someone’s hand and not to be able to see someone. It will be sad to lose sense of pain otherwise how can I get treatment? When something is too hot to touch, I will know I shouldn’t touch it.

    I will feel a little lost if I am blind. But then again, I might receive life-threatening injuries if I am not able to feel pain. I want to be emotionally and physically safe. But I will suffer from emotional pain if I am not able to see. I will feel sad if I am not able to taste yummy food, smell flowers or etc, not be able to hear the voices of loved ones or etc, but I don’t want to receive life-threatening injuries and I also want to feel the touch of someone.

    I think I will need someone to always be with me so that I can tell them things like ‘Is the swimming pool too cold to be in?’ “Is the food too hot?’, ‘Is the weather too hot here?’ ‘Is this room OK to be in?” ‘Is there going to be any mosquitoes biting me?’, etc. So, if there is someone to help me with this, then I think I will choose ‘Sight’, But if I can’t get such help, I need to think more about which of the five sense organs is the most important to me. Although I am not sure if it is right to write this answer.

    Writing this made me understand that how thankful I should be to God for giving me all five sense organs.
28. 

    Manju 14 years ago

    Genuinely if you ask me all 5 senses are the most important for any person.

    For me the most important sense is the 6th sense which i believe its common sense and with out common sense you can’t expect a person to be respectable:)

    Regards
    Manju
    • 

      Prion 14 years ago

      iNtuition?
29. 

    Ankita 14 years ago

    Oh boy, tough cookie here. If I had to choose one, it would be sight. I can’t imagine life without any of my 5 senses, but I think this would affect me the most. Without seeing, I wouldn’t believe.
30. 

    Elizabeth 14 years ago

    Sight. Even though mine isn’t the best, I really appreciate it. I read so much I can’t even imagine what it would be like to not be able to read words. Or watch a sunset. All are SUPER important, but definitely eyesight for me!

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