Senses Case

A sensory system consists of the five main senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. Each individual sense posses their own advantages and disadvantages, but all are crucial to a person’s survival. However, many individuals still take these natural gifts for granted. This is where the same question continues to surface; “if you had to give up one of your senses, which one would you select?” In other words, which sense could a person do best without? I think about this every single time I spend time with my little cousin Jolie who is deaf. I contemplate to myself how it is that she copes and manages? When will she realize she is different? Is it when she sits in school surrounded by her classmates who are able to sing the little hymns to learn their alphabet? Or is it when she has to place a massive hearing aid in her ear every morning before class? The sad truth is she was never given a choice in the matter of her hearing. She will always be considered as one of the “unlucky” ones! If I had the choice I would not allow her to maneuver this uphill battle alone.

Choosing which of the five senses to give up would be a fairly easy choice for me. I derive at my perspective rather from what I would keep for my sacrifice as opposed to what I would give up. Undoubtedly I would give up my sense of hearing. For me personally, giving up my hearing would be the most logical decision. In addition, rumor has it that when you lose one sense the other senses become heightened.

Sight plays into a large part of my life. I consider myself to be an aspiring artist, and giving up my vision would render me unable to fulfill my dreams. I not only consider myself to be an artist more specifically, a “visual” artist. If I were to give up that one outlet in my life it would be devastating as well as disappointing. Not only would I be unable to express myself through my abilities, but I would also miss the mystic beauty of other peoples’ works. I would fall short of the enjoyment that can be had in appreciating the paintings of Picasso, the joy of new fashion trends, or even the first scribble of a crayon on a sheet a paper that my future child made for me. So many “firsts” in life would be missed such as that of my spouse’s expression when we marry, my child being born, or even my child’s face with eyes staring up at me full of unconditional love. Giving up my sight would not be a meaningless endeavor; it would be my greatest undoing. I cherish my sight just as Jolie would her hearing if she had only been given the choice.

Smell and taste are the next two senses that would be detrimental