# If you had to get rid of one of your five senses, which would you choose to lose? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2005, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935 "2005-09-16T06:28:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/1 "2005-09-16T06:28:25Z")
Hmmm. I’ve got it narrowed down between smell and hearing. Mostly I find that smell and taste go hand in hand…they kinda work well together. When I hold my nose and taste something, I find it hard to actually taste it. Plus I think that the sense of smell is really underestimated. I’d probably rank it more important (to me anyway) than hearing. Besides…I know sign language already, so that works out. And there is closed captioning everywhere. I think if I had to choose to lose one, it would have to be hearing. And this brought up an interesting sub project of sorts…please, if you’re so willing…list your five senses in order which, to YOU personally, would be the ones you value in order of importance (with the one you think is LEAST important last [obviously it should be the one you would choose to lose]) For me it’d be: Sight Touch Taste Smell Hearing ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/2 "2005-09-16T09:40:55Z")
Interchange smell and hearing in your list, and you have mine. ---
**Author:** ![Zerc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/82dd89/32.png) [@Zerc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zerc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/3 "2005-09-16T11:53:27Z")
Sight and Hearing are my most important senses because of all the information I receive through them with Sight being much more important than hearing. Touch, I need to know when I’ve injured myself Smell, this is slightly more important than taste because I use my sense of smell more often than my sense of taste and I have heard that without a sense of smell taste doesn’t work too well. Smell is also useful when the house is has just started to burn down. Taste is the sense I would be most willing to lose as it’s goal in my life is mainly pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![Spikesbud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Spikesbud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spikesbud)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/4 "2005-09-16T11:54:58Z")
Sight Hearing Touch Smell Taste ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/5 "2005-09-16T12:13:10Z")
Touch Sight Hearing Smell Taste ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/6 "2005-09-16T12:14:10Z")
I have a teenage daughter. Guess which sense I’d excise. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/7 "2005-09-16T14:22:15Z")
Hands down, taste. The only thing it really does for me is make eating fun. Besides, I’ve been completely tasteless for most of my life. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/8 "2005-09-16T14:53:15Z")
I’d rather lose sight first. If you lose smell then you’ve lost a good portion of your taste as well. Normally I’d say I wouldn’t want to lose hearing under any circumstances (and I’ve dealt with major hearing loss before), but if I had to lose all my other senses then leave me touch. If you can’t feel your way around or are too numb to scratch your own ass, then I think that qualifies as a persistent vegetative state. I can attest though, losing one’s hearing is heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/9 "2005-09-16T14:55:40Z")
Uh, guys. As a person who has lost hearing in one ear, lemme tell ya, you DON’T want to lose hearing. I would rank it right after sight. Just a major hearing loss is a huge annoyance. Losing the whole thing would be really difficult. Cause most people when they talk assume you can hear as good as they can, and so they talk fast and quiet and you cna’t pick up half of what they say. A REAL problem unless you live by yourself. If you work in an office, even worse. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/10 "2005-09-16T14:57:06Z")
Sight Hearing Touch Smell Taste If I lost my sight, I’d rather just stumble down to the firearms closet, and put one to use. For hearing, while Mrs. Butler might complain, I would no longer care! 😃 (Kidding, in case she reads this!) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/11 "2005-09-16T15:04:29Z")
Speaking as somebody who lost his sense of smell a couple years ago, I’d pick that one as the one I had to lose. If I have to pick a second one, I’d say taste, since it’s mostly gone, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/12 "2005-09-16T15:11:43Z")
I’m really surprised that anyone would choose to lose any sense over taste. All the other four definately have a use, and a far greater impact on your life that you probably realize. And they’re more likely to save your life. Taste seems about the only sense that is purely a pleasurable sense. If we were living back in hunter-gatherer days, then i can see taste being useful in determining poisonous or bad foods. But we generally don’t have that problem anymore. Plus, you can eat the most atrocious, terrible-tasting foods that are the most healthy. But come on, lose your hearing? You’ve got to be kidding me. It affects your life in so many ways other than just communicating. No sign language could ever even come close to replacing it. I assume **Evil Captor** has only touched the surface, and that’s only partial hearing loss. On the other hand, losing the sense of touch can be downright deadly, especially in regards to pain. Pain is so useful in so many ways. When children are born without the sense of pain, it creates so many problems. Adults would probably fare better with previous experience, but still. For the record: Touch Sight Hearing Smell Taste ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/13 "2005-09-16T15:40:55Z")
Sight Hearing Touch Smell Taste I’ve heard that a big part of whether something tastes good or not is texture, so losing it might not even affect it that much. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/14 "2005-09-16T15:46:55Z")
Taste of course. I think for both sight and complete hearing loss I’d want to off myself. Partial hearing loss I could deal with, but sight - never mind. I’d really rather not lose any though. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/15 "2005-09-16T16:14:36Z")
Taste. I love to eat, but not as much as I love movies, music, etc. Losing smell would lose taste anyway, so might as well ditch the latter. Plus, losing taste might make it easier to lose weight and eat things I don’t like that are good for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/16 "2005-09-16T19:17:51Z")
My sense of decency ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/17 "2005-09-16T21:02:32Z")
Well, since I’m half-deaf already, I’d probably let hearing go before anything else. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/18 "2005-09-16T21:34:47Z")
If I could lose smell without losing taste, I’d go for that. Aside from smelling smoke, smell has fairly limited utilitarian uses, and I can think of way more unpleasant smells I deal with everyday than unpleasant tastes (since I decide what goes into my mouth, but if someone wants to put on smelly perfume, I’m helpless). As for touch, I’m guessing that I’d still be able to move, just not feel it, kind of like being a robot. I don’t think that would be too, too terrible, although I’d have to keep checking myself for injuries like a leper. So mine would go: sight hearing taste touch smell Count me in as one of the people who don’t understand the people listing hearing first to go. Hearing is essential. Especially if you have a job. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/19 "2005-09-16T22:14:34Z")
> [@alanak](#): > > But come on, lose your hearing? You’ve got to be kidding me. It affects your life in so many ways other than just communicating. No sign language could ever even come close to replacing it. I assume **Evil Captor** has only touched the surface, and that’s only partial hearing loss. Like **Evil Captor** , I already have lost all hearing in one ear and partially in the last one. _shrug_ And yes, it was pretty bad at first, but over the years I adapted to it really well. It doesn’t bother me much anymore. I figure since it’s already almost gone (and the fact that I’m used to it anyway), that I’d just choose it to be be the one taken rather then lose any other one fully. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935/20 "2005-09-16T22:51:48Z")
## Hearing Sight Touch Taste Smell Taste and smell - nice, yes, but important? Not really. The other three, I’d pretty much be suicidal if I lost them, as they’d keep me from doing the things that are truly important in my life. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-get-rid-of-one-of-your-five-senses-which-would-you-choose-to-lose/321935.md?page=2)