• Question: Do we really only have 5 senses?

    Asked by CheekyMonkey to Alex, Ali, Kerry, Philip, Theo on 10 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by Cooldude1604.
    • Photo: Alison Thomson

      Alison Thomson answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Sort of! The ‘Classic 5’ are Touch, Sight, Smell, Sound, and Taste.

      Within these senses though there are a lot of other ones, for example, proprioception is the sense that allows us to be aware of the relative position of our body parts.

      Here’s a fun way to test if yours is working:
      Close your eyes, then touch the nose of the person next to you.
      Did you manage that? Probably not! Since you can’t see where the other person is, you can’t really work out where they are.
      Now, close your eyes, then touch your own nose.
      Did you manage it?! Then it means that your proprioception senses are working! Your body knows exactly where your hands are in relation to your nose, so you found it easy to touch it!

      There are lots of other senses that aren’t classed as the ‘standard 5’ like pain, balance, and temperature.

      Hope that helps!

    • Photo: Alex Pool

      Alex Pool answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      I agree with Alison, we’re always taught there are 5 in school, but there are loads more than that really.

      She gives a great example, along with things like pain, and temperature. So if anyone tries to tell you there’s only 5 you can definitely prove them wrong.

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