Ask Harvard Medical School researchers how many senses humans have and you’re bound to receive a range of answers. This lack of consensus isn’t limited to Harvard: Neurologists and others who study perception have long disagreed on the number of senses we possess to help us navigate our way through life.
Researchers argue that true senses are bodily systems consisting of a group of sensory cell types that not only respond to a specific physical phenomenon but also correspond to a particular region in the brain. Using that definition, many neurologists recognize additional human senses.
Equilibrioception. Whether you’re slaloming down a slope or strutting down a street, this sense—otherwise known as balance—helps keeps you upright. Although vision plays a role in equilibrioception, the vestibular system of the inner ear is mainly responsible.
Nociception. If you’ve touched a boiling kettle or stubbed a toe, you’re likely all too familiar with nociception, the sense of pain. Recent research shows that what was once viewed as a subjective experience related to touch is, in fact, a distinct phenomenon that corresponds to a specific area in the brain.
Proprioception. Close your eyes and touch your fingertip to your nose. Quick: Where’s your hand? Unless you suffer from a deficit of this kinesthetic sense, you know where your hand is, even though you can’t see it. This sense, the awareness of where your body parts are, sounds silly—until you consider that without it, you’d have to constantly watch your feet to make sure they were planted on the ground.
And the list goes on and on…
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We tend to analyze things.
We tend to find more and more components of something.
But overanalysis leads not to infinity.
Overanalysis leads to One after all.
Analyze your senses to 1,000 senses.
And you will finally see that you only have one…
