These senses are indeed the main channels through which we perceive the world. But assuming they are the only ones undermines a great deal of what our bodies can do to make sense of their surroundings. The fact that these five main senses leave out a stimulus as important as motion is enough to show that general knowledge about the senses is inadequate. 

 

A main sense that is left out is proprioception, or our sense of position. This is also known as the kinesthetic sense. Through this sense, our brain is informed about the positions of the different parts of our body. For example, it is how our brain knows where an arm or a leg is positioned, or how it has moved. Perhaps an even more important sense is that of pain, without which our body would be suspect to serious harm. This is known as nocicpetion where pain receptors pick up on damage to nerves or tissues and transport it to the brain. Without such a sense, we would not know to keep our bodies away from heat or harmful objects. On a similar note, our sense of thermoception also tells us when our body feels heat or cold. Finally, equilibrioception indicates our body’s balance; it senses the motion and speed of our body, and allows us to maintain balance. This task is undertaken by the inner ear. 

 

The senses we do not generally consider are as important as those commonly thought to be the final set as the absence of any of them would imply serious consequences.  Some may have been left out because they were only recently confirmed by researchers. Although what constitutes a sense is still debatable, it is undisputed that our senses remain our bridges to the outside world and our channels for cognitive processing and interpretation.