Verified Document

Sensory Perceptions Essay

¶ … Fallibility of Reliance Upon Sensory Data Accounting

Author's institution affiliation

The Necessity & Fallibility of Reliance upon Sensory Data

Without sensory data, most humans would likely die after very short lives. Sensory data on a very basic level allows beings to navigate and interact with their environments and world. Without sensory information, the simplest tasks could not be accomplished and it would be exceptionally difficult to maintain general safety. Without sensory data, society would not be able to exist as such. How could any tasks be executed? How would anyone know which tasks needed to be executed? How would people calculate their priorities?

While sensory data is quite necessary for people to see, touch, smell, hear, and feel, reliance upon sensory data alone can also be dangerous as there are often a multitude of factors that contribute to a circumstance, event, or occurrence, that many people, including the participants and those otherwise directly or indirectly affected by the event, of which they are unaware. Therefore, it behooves people to attempt to gather as much information about an event as possible factoring in their sensory data regarding the matter, but not solely relying on their sensory data as the primary source...

In legal proceedings and criminal investigations, officers of the law and the court often rely more upon forensic evidence rather than witness testimony, though witness testimony is valuable and admissible in court, because witnesses remember inaccurately. Memory is an inaccurate tool of measurement that changes with time. Other fallibilities with sensory data include poor or imperfect eyesight and hearing, diminishment of stimulus response due to nerve damage, or even something as simple as the sense of smell affected or diminished as a result of a common cold or flu.
Sensory data can be improved with prescription glasses or Lasik eye surgery. Hearing can be improving with surgery and devices such as cochlear implants or other forms of hearing aids. Some nerve damage can be restored as well. There are external devices and forms of technologies that improve existing sensory data output as well as some technology that replaces the receptors for sensory data. To reiterate, people must rely upon their sensory data for everyday functioning. The…

Sources used in this document:
References:

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2011) The Problem of Perception. Available from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perception-problem/. 2012 May 04.

Firth, R. (1950) The Sense-Datum Theory. Excerpts from Sense Data and the Precept Theory. Available from http://www.ditext.com/firth/spt2.html. 2012 May 05.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Sensory Perceptions Three Reasons for Believing in
Words: 983 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Sensory Perceptions Three Reasons for Believing in the Accuracy or Inaccuracy of Sensory Information Sensory perception can be defined as the process of receipt of stimuli and then their organization and interpretation by using the five senses for making the meaning of one's surrounding environment. In other words, it is the process by which a person acquires an understanding of his/her environment (Kemp, Hollywood & Hort 2009). Thus, by employing sensory perceptions,

Sensory Perceptions Can Trust Senses Interpretation Sensory
Words: 753 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Sensory Perceptions" Can trust senses interpretation sensory data give accurate view Sensory data is a valuable means of obtaining knowledge and information about one's surroundings. However, sensory data is extremely prone to bias due to an assortment of different factors. These factors include the unreliability of memory, the degree to which senses can be influenced by other cognitive and emotional responses, and the fact that sense are essentially subjective, and

Sensory Perceptions
Words: 1121 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Sensation and Perception The issue of being able to trust one's senses has been the topic of many philosophical debates and whole books have been written on this debate. There are convincing arguments made for both sides of the issue. Nonetheless, anyone who ambulates, operates a motor vehicle, eats, interacts with others, etc. trusts the information that their senses give them (Christian, 2011). Sensory information is the result of physical stimuli

Properties of Sensory Perception Within the Realm
Words: 753 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Properties of Sensory Perception Within the realm of Gestalt theory, the concept of attention is differentiated from that of perception. Attention is the cognitive ability of the human brain to simultaneously focus on a variety of subjects, while continually adjusting the intensity of that focus in response to external factors. A total of four techniques have been identified by Gestalt theory to exert an impact on one's attention: intensity, novelty, incongruity,

Why Extra Sensory Perception Is Not Real
Words: 636 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

ESP The term ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) was coined by J.B. Rhine in the 1920s (Blackmore, 2001). Rhine investigated paranormal phenomena while at Duke University. ESP refers to a number of psychic abilities such as telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance (remote viewing), or clairaudience (hearing voices or thoughts psychically). One of the more popular methods to demonstrate that someone has ESP called the Ganzfeld procedure (Bem & Honorton, 1994; Blackmore, 2001). In the Ganzfeld

Perceptions at a Party
Words: 698 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Perceptions at a Party Different sensations from the environment are processed through sensory receptors, such as the eyes, ears, nose, skin and mouth, which are then perceived and processed in the brain to be organized and interpreted (Huffman, 2007). For the party example, several sensations are being processed through our sensory receptors. When we arrive to the party, it is already dark outside, so when we enter the hosts' house, the

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now