Critical Thinking – PHI 210

The Accuracy of Our Senses
The ability for a person to learn how something smells, tastes, looks, sounds and feels is directly related to senses (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2007). A human’s sense organs are their nose, tongue, eyes, ears and skin (Sensitivity, 2005). These organs have the ability to interpret sensations causing the body to have reflex reactions that do not require thought (Sensitivity, 2005). This is proof of sensory information and data collection, given how a person reacts to certain events. Take for instance a thunderstorm; all five senses can help someone know that a storm is coming. A person can see storm clouds forming, hear the sound of thunder, smell the rain ahead, feel the temperature change, and even taste the rain falling. The ability to retain this information is what helps enable the senses (Sensory System, 2011). Retention and repetition help the body sense that something will happen by learning to relate these interactions to a thunderstorm. The old wife’s tale of feeling a storm in one’s bones is better expressed as the change in barometric pressure causing discomfort in the joints, but it is the body sensing this discomfort and the brain relating the discomfort to its known cause, a storm.
Another aspect is our adaptation or compensation of senses. If you take away a person’s sight, the body typically adapts more acute hearing (Maloof, 2011). If you take away a person’s ability to hear, deaf people develop better eye sight (Maloof, 2011). The human’s sensory system will adapt to provide its host the best abilities. These adaptations are better formed at a younger age, giving the body the ability to make necessary changes in the developmental stages (Maloof, 2011).
While the body can adapt it can also sharpen or heighten its sensory system. There are many triggers that will cause certain