Sense-perceptions

Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries - Neil deGrasse Tyson– (Chapter 1: Coming to Our Senses)         Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure science. — Edwin P. Hubble (1889 - 1953), The Nature of Science       What, if anything, lies beyond our senses? Does there exist a way of knowing that transcends our biological interfaces with the environment?       The persistent failures of controlled, double-blind experiments to support the claims of parapsychology suggest that what's going on is nonsense rather than sixth sense.       The honing of our senses from birth through childhood allows us, as adults, to pass judgment on events and phenomena in our lives, declaring whether they "make sense."         Problem is: hardly any scientific discoveries of the past century flowed from the direct application of our five senses. They flowed from the direct application of sense-transcendent mathematics and hardware.         As a consequence: the average person, relativity, particle physics, and 10-dimensional string theory make no sense. Include in the list, black holes, worm holes, and the big bang.         A newer and higher level of "common sense" enables a scientist to think creatively and to pass judgment in the unfamiliar underworld of the atom or in the mind-bending domain of higher-dimensional space.         ... there are realities existing apart from our sense-perceptions... these realities are of greater value for us than the richest treasures of the world of experience. —Max Planck (1931)         Q: If you can't smell the carbon monoxide, then how do you know it's there? A: You drop dead.           If the sole measure of what's out there flows from your five senses then a precarious life awaits you.       Discovering new ways of knowing has always heralded new windows on the universe that tap into our growing list of nonbiological senses.       As we technologically evolve into supersentient beings, a new level of majesty and complexity in the universe reveals itself to us.