Sensing the world around us

We have five senses with which to sense what is happening in the world around us, although these are not equal. In particular, what we see dominates the other senses, closely followed by what we hear. Touch, taste and smell are significant in specific circumstances (such as eating), but for change they are seldom of interest. This stream of input into our brains is guided by our attention, which turns our heads and moves our bodies, as well as being able to create a narrow or broad focus.

The outside world

The outside world is full of people, machines, trees and much, much more. Or at least so we have inferred. Actually, all that is really there is space, time, energy and matter (and even that can be debated). Everything else is an interpretation that comes later during the inference activity whereby we create meaning from the four basic inputs.
Space

As far as we can tell from our senses, there are three dimensions of space. This can be seen via the light energy which reflects off surfaces. It can be heard through echoes (bats see with their ears). It can also be sensed by touch, as we feel the shape of the world around us.

Time

Time is a mysterious thing, because we do not directly sense it. We actually create our sense of time internally. This makes it a very flexible perception that can be manipulated during interactions with other people.
Energy

Energy includes heat, electromagnetic energy (light, microwaves, radio, etc.), the kinetic energy of movement, chemical and nuclear energy. Sound is really waves of kinetic energy as air molecules strike our ears.
Matter

Matter is the physical atoms and molecules of solids, liquids and gases. Matter gives off heat energy that we can detect through touch. We can smell gases and taste solids and liquids. Strangely, the closer we get to understanding matter, the less we find is actually there. Atoms are hollow, as are electrons: all that seems to be there is more energy.

Five senses:
Vision

Vision is often a the primary sense as we get much useful information about the world around us from what we see. It is also complex and requires a lot of neural processing to turn it into useful information. What we can see is limited by spectrum and intensity of electromagnetic radiation to which our eyes are sensitive. Too bright a light hurts, although we can see with surprising little illumination.
Hearing

Sound is usually the second most important sense as we not only detect things around us but very importantly use it for our major form of communication: language (without which, we would arguably be little better than our chimpanzee cousins). We also use little noises in our communication, perhaps throwing back to our animal past. Our hearing is limited to frequencies at best from about 20Hz to 20,000Hz. Above about 100 decibels sound is no longer useful: it is only painful.
Touch

Touch is how we connect with the world around us, and our hands are one of our most important organs in this area.

We sometimes communicate with each other through touch, although this can be very intimate activity. Touching another person can be a sign of affection or (if it is rougher) a very clear indicator of dislike. Something that we often do not notice is that we detect our emotions through touch. When we feel happy, angry or sad, these appear literally as bodily sensations, such as tingling or tension in the skin or deeper muscles.
Taste

Taste is little used in communication, although it can have a strong pleasure element. It is well known by sales people that careful conversation over a good lunch is a powerful persuasion tool.
Smell

Smell is closely related to taste. In fact much of what we call taste is actually smell (which is why things become tasteless when we have a cold). Smell can be very evocative of emotions from disgust (at someone with bad breath or who breaks wind) to pleasure (from pheromones to perfumes). Smell is also the only sense that is wired directly into our cortex: all other senses are filtered through the mid-brain. Some of our earliest memories are around smells, and the smell of baby talcum powder will send many people into paroxysms of nostalgia. Our sense of smell is so powerful, we can detect as little as one molecule. Excessive smell can be overpowering, as skunks know very well.