5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Have you ever wondered about how your life would have been if you were born blind, deaf, or mute? I was watching the movie Black Mask and started thinking about how Jet Li's character couldn't feel any pain in the movie, which also reminded me of the Alexandre Dumas classic The Count of Monte Cristo and how Edmond could see in the dark after being in a dark prison cell for fourteen years:

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Alexandre Dumas

"Do you wish to see anything more, sir?" said the concièrge.

"Yes, especially if you will show me the poor abbé's room."

"Ah--No. 27."

"Yes; No. 27." repeated the count, who seemed to hear the voice of the abbé answering him in those very words through the wall when asked his name.

"Come, sir."

"Wait," said Monte Cristo, "I wish to take one final glance around this room."

"This is fortunate," said the guide; "I have forgotten the other key."

"Go and fetch it."

"I will leave you the torch, sir."

"No, take it away; I can see in the dark."

"Why, you are like No. 34. They said he was so accustomed to darkness that he could see a pin in the darkest corner of his dungeon."

"He spent fourteen years to arrive at that," muttered the count.

The guide carried away the torch. The count had spoken correctly. Scarcely had a few seconds elapsed, ere he saw everything as distinctly as by daylight. Then he looked around him, and really recognized his dungeon.

We experience the splendor of the world through our five senses. For example if I related it to a girl: With your eyes you can see her smooth milky skin and dazzling red hair. With your ears you can hear her soft lilting voice. With your nose you can smell her perfume that has a hint of peach. With your sense of taste you can taste her lips in a passionate kiss. With your sense of touch you can feel her embrace. Ok, now let's pretend for a moment that tomorrow you would be involved in a terrible accident where you would lose all but one of your five senses.

If you had to continue living life with only one of these faculties:

• Sight
• Hearing
• Smell
• Taste (combine Smell and Taste if you want, since they are so closely related)
• Touch (including sensation and pain)

Which would you pick, and why would you pick it over the other ones?

Similarly, how would you rank in importance these five senses if for some reason you would systematically lose each faculty over a period of time in the order of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (five being the least important and one being the most important)? What makes one sense more valuable to you than another? It doesn't have to be based on survival but can be based on what sense you love the most. I would assume that after you lose all five senses it's as though you were dead, or you may as well be.

This question doesn't have to necessarily fit in with the first one though. For example, if I had to continue living life with only one sense, I would probably pick sight, since I want to see what is going on around me and don't like to be surprised. Another reason would be is that I wouldn't want to forget the people I love. After a long period of time, my memory would deteoriate and I would forget what people would look like. If I had my sight I could look at a picture or try to find them again to remember. However I might rank in importance hearing over sight, since I love listening to music and just vegging out and I couldn't bear to be all alone in silence for the rest of my life. I could always hear the voices of those people I love and talk to them at least.

Edit: Changed the question a bit to make it more interesting and some examples:

Spoiler:

Also, keep in mind that being born without a particular sense or even losing one after having experienced it can adversely affect the way you interact with the world, so try to think of the good and the bad that will come from it. I'm sure some people will want to be godlike and be aware of all of their surroundings no matter how many senses they lost, but here are some examples of what could happen if you were born without these senses or lost them:

• If you had no sight, someone could be pointing a gun at you ready to shoot and you wouldn't know it. You wouldn't be able to see the beauty of the world like when the sun sets and lights the horizon on fire, not to mention all of the beautiful men, women, and children in the world.

• If you had no hearing, a fire alarm could go off but you might not be aware there is a fire until it is too late to escape. You would be surrounded by silence all your days and that may drive you insane. You wouldn't be able to hear your loveds nor talk to them effectively, since you cannot hear the sounds to mimic. I wonder if you would be able to scream when frustrated.

• If you had no smell, there could be a natural gas leak in your home and you unknowingly create a spark or flame to ignite yourself to oblivion. You might stink at times and people would avoid you on purpose because of your horrible odor. On the flip side you could go through stinky places with ease, if you ever threw away something by accident and had to root through your trash.

• If you had no taste, you wouldn't be able to experience the lusciousness of your favorite food anymore, or even know what food tastes like. I'm not sure if you could tell when you are hungry or thirsty, but eating and drinking would become bland mechanical routines. On the flip side you could eat very healthy foods and not have to spend so much money on "gourmet" foods.

• If you had no touch, you could be bleeding internally and not know you were dying until it is too late. All the sensations you could ever feel would be gone, not knowing what it feels like to be kissed or held, etc. Without feeling pain you are more susceptible to injuring yourself without knowing it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Scarletdeath

Not really. You won't feel it, but you're still vulnerable. If you stand in a fire for instance, you won't feel pain, but you'll still die. Same if you were to stay in the Artics naked.

Yes, keep in mind that being born without a particular sense or even losing one after having experienced it can adversely affect the way you interact with the world, so try to think of the good and the bad that will come from it. I'm sure some people will want to be godlike and be aware of all of their surroundings no matter how many senses they lost, but here are some examples of what could happen if you were born without these senses or lost them:

• No sight - Someone could be pointing a gun at you ready to shoot and you wouldn't know it.
• No hearing - A fire alarm goes off but you are unaware until the flames are upon you.
• No smell - Natural gas leaks? Hope a spark or flame doesn't ignite the room you're in.
• No taste - You could eat or drink something toxic? Who knows, be creative.
• No touch - You could be bleeding internally and not know anything was wrong until it was too late.

Edit: Modified the train of thought and questions in the topic to better suit discussion. Scarletdeath and IdentityCrisis answered the initial topic questions, so don't let that throw you off. My bad.

There's nowhere I can't reach.