The relative importance to man and animals of the five senses of

sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell

It is difficult to grade the senses in relative importance to mankind. Opinions vary particularly
between sight and hearing. A person blind from birth has no concept of vision, so presumably does
not `miss' sight. It is different for a person who goes blind because suddenly, or gradually, so much
is lost personal independence to a large degree, driving a car, reading and watching television,
en!oyment of all forms of visual beauty. "ome of these deprivations can be partially overcome. The
loss of sight tends to train a more acute hearing. #eople will always help the blind in practical ways,
and there are many modern aids for the visually handicapped, ranging from braille and books on
tape to all kinds of domestic appliances designed for the sightless. $usical appreciation and music
making are also open to the blind. $any blind people would grade vision as less important than
hearing, since, given help and their own determination, they can live a relatively full life. The
obvious drawback to deafness lies in loss of communication, though today there are some
marvelous machines which allow the sufferer to learn speech through varied fre%uencies of
vibration. The traditional method of lip&reading supplements this, so that conversation and teaching
can be carried out. The social disadvantage of deafness is that of the impatience of others. 'eafness
is not at once obvious and so may be mistaken for stupidity. In the modern world deafness can also
be dangerous traffic&sense, particularly in children, depends largely on hearing. Touch, taste and
smell are all sources of pleasure, the two latter being important in the en!oyment of food, but they
are all relatively dispensable. Their absence can, however be dangerous the loss of nerve endings
can lead to severe domestic burns and abrasions, while taste and smell can detect lethal gases and
poisonous substances.
(rom the human point of view most people would grade the importance of the senses in the order
given in the %uestion. This is not necessarily so in the animal world. "mell or 'scent' is of crucial
importance to many animals, who rely on it to detect enemies and to find %uarry. Thus it becomes
far more highly developed than in humans, since survival may depend on it. (or the same reason
hearing is of nearly the same importance. The hearing range of animals is much wider than that of
humans. 'ogs can hear supersonic sounds and react to them at great distances. $any animals have
very limited vision, simply because vision is relatively unimportant. Touch and taste are also of less
importance to animals than to humans, though, as with humans, these two senses, combined with
smell, have a protective role in warning them off obno)ious and poisonous organic and inorganic
substances.
*obody can ask an animal to grade the importance of the senses, but it seems to be, smell, hearing,
sight, touch and taste in that order.