Sight the Human Sense of Term Paper

Total Length: 917 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

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Similarly, the sense of sight would allow us to see animals that we were hunting, giving us a great advantage.

The human sense of sight is somewhat unique in the animal kingdom. As humans, we have effective full-color central vision that allows us to accurately perceive information in our immediate environment (Vision1to1).

While sense of sight maybe our most important sense when looked at in isolation, human perception is best when all senses are engaged. Importantly, "our brains think and learn best in three dimensions and when our other senses are somehow engaged" (Vision1to1). Similarly, it is important to note that we learn using all five senses. This is especially true of children, who incorporate all five senses to learn within and without the classroom (Health Information.com).

In conclusion, the sense of sight is the most important human sense. We take in the majority of information about our environment through this sense, causing us to consider sight perhaps our most crucial sense. Sight does offer a number of strong advantages, including the ability to take in information at a distance, and perceive detailed color information in our immediate environment. At the same time, the sense of sight is most effective when combined with the other senses. Taken together, this information suggests that while the sense of sight may be our most important single sense, it is the integration of our senses and our ability to interpret such information that is especially valuable in our lives.
References

Balaram, P. Smell, Science and the Press. Current Science, 87(1), 10 July 2004. 04 November 2004. http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jul102004/5.pdf

Health Information.com. Students' Most Important Sense: Sight, Added: 05/21/2004. 04 November 2004. http://www.health-informant.com/article955.html

Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Seeing, Hearing, and Smelling the World. 04 November 2004. http://www.hhmi.org/senses/

Vision1to1. Sight Sense. 04 November 2004. http://www.vision1to1.com/EN/HomePage.asp?BGColor=1&Category=6&Article=12

The accurate perception of all of our five senses relies upon neuronal processing. Notes the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, "anything we see, hear, feel, smell, or taste requires billions of nerve cells to flash urgent messages along cross-linked pathways and feedback loops in our brains, performing intricate calculations that scientists have only begun to decipher."

Interestingly, the same surveyed noted that "the absence of the sense of smell might even be considered an advantage" (Balaram).

It is possible for a human being to selectively have a condition called motion blindness. This can occur during stroke, when areas of the brain that govern perception of motion are damaged. When this happens, an individual will lose the ability to see objects move through space, but still may be able to accurately perceive color, shape, and position (Balaram)......

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