If a human could have another "sense' what would it be?

Question

Other than sight smell hearing, taste, feel... what could the other one be? is there space on the mind to accomodate for one more? Or do we already have it and just not see it as logical..

Answer 1

Telepathy.

I don't think the senses are plug-ins.

Answer 2

If anything, we will develop LESS senses rather than more. Right now we have DOZENS of senses... they're just not ones that more people think of.

Kinesthetic sense is a good example. It allows you to feel the position of your body (some few people lack this, and can't walk without looking at their feet). There are special nerves to detect internal and external temperature and pain. People have a sense of verticality from their inner ear. And there are easily dozens of different biochemical variations that can be detected in your own blood (blood sugar, certain chemical contents, total volume). There are even a few people who can use cells in their nose to detect the Earth's magnetic field.

Nor can those five 'standard' senses be considered even vaguely uniform either. Most people can detect only four different 'tastes', but some can detect a fifth (umami). Some people can see into the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums. And many people lack even a rudimentary sense of smell (it's the most commonly absent sense).

Now here's the problem. We DO NOT have any extra neurons hanging around. We use EVERY ONE. And if you stop using a set of neurons, they get re-purposed to do something else. This is referred to as 'neural plasticity' and can be dramatically observed in blind people - the 'vision centers' of their brain, over time, are turned into expansions for other senses. Blind people really CAN hear, smell, and feel better than sighted ones because they devote far more neurons to those tasks, even if their physical hardware (ears, nose, and skin) isn't any better than anyone else's.

So this means that with equipment any of us can 'develop' new senses. We've seen this in experiments peformed with neural implants on primates - their brains can re-wire themselves to directly control computers as if the computers were just an extension of their bodies. And we can see this in various sensory adaptations we have applied to humans, from glasses that make everything look upside-down (the brain ends up automatically fixing the image) to magnetic belts that another user mentioned.

But this comes at a price. If you use neurons for one thing, that means you are not using them for another. In some cases this ends up being not much different... instead of having a section of your brain that knows how to manipulate your fingers to type, you might just have one that sends the letters directly to the computer. But would you rather have your brain occupied with operating a dozen completely new senses, or would you rather have it occupied with, say, thinking better?

There are already animals with better sensory inputs then ourselves in just about any way you can name. But this does not help them succeed against us. It is our REASON which makes us the dominant species on the planet. And if we wish to be more dominant, we will want MORE reason, not less. Which will probably mean that other things will have to go.

Like some of the sensory ability we already have...

Answer 3

The ability to sense when someone else is physically attracted to you, beyond body language. I have a friend who insists that he can see attraction between other people in a room. Kind of like a wave length of energy. I always thought how convenient that would be to minimize rejection, frustration, mind games, etc.

Answer 4

Another sense? How about some "common" sense? You don't see too much of that in the world today, it seems. I suppose that would probably fall under reason and rational thinking, like two previous posters suggested.

Answer 5

to naturally have a sense of the 4th and the 5th dimensions would be very interesting!

but of practical value in such a sick world and ruled by sick people, more common sensibility should be it.

Answer 6

There is space in the mind to accommodate many more. Wired did a fantastic feature about the senses.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/esp.html

Answer 7

Reason. Many people just can not reason. But it is necessary to operate in the world.

Answer 8

i agree with previous poster, REASON, common sense, many people don't use either they forgot about it. many people first do things than start thinking. we Humans aren't logical, we are more emotions creation

emotions - greek word, energy in motion

Answer 9

Yes, it's called our sixth sense. Or intuition. Our third eye. Everyone has it.....those who don't see it as logical just ignore it, therefore don't listen, and therefore don't develop it.

Answer 10

the sense to see death before it happens like that cat