# If you had to give up one of your 5 senses for a month, which would you pick? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 24, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743 "2024-07-24T17:38:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/41 "2024-07-26T01:12:06Z")
I’d go without the sense of smell, simply because I know people who have no sense of smell and it doesn’t seem to bother them a whole lot. Also, I’ve had sinus problems my whole life and I occasionally lose my sense of smell, and when that happens it’s not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/42 "2024-07-26T17:10:23Z")
Smell, probably. Second choice would be taste. I understand food would be boring. Hopefully that would lead to me losing a few pounds due to not snacking rather than gaining a few pounds due to continually snacking because nothing is satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/43 "2024-07-30T22:28:05Z")
When I was married, I probably would have gone with hearing. 😄 Now, my knee is messed up. Maybe wouldn’t hurt as much if I gave up feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/44 "2024-07-30T22:30:28Z")
Smell without question. Touch maybe. It’s not great to lose it but for a month I could deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/45 "2024-07-30T23:21:38Z")
Not hearing. I would not like to go that long without my favorite songs. Not sight. I couldn’t read the board. I’d be so bored. I’d probably choose smell although I don’t like that idea either. I’ve lost my sense of smell before when I had a bad sinus infection and it affects your taste too, so you’re losing two senses. I thought I’d lose weight when I had no sense of taste, but it didn’t work that way. I still ate the same out of habit. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/46 "2024-07-30T23:29:22Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > I did lose my sense of smell when I had covid. It came back after a couple weeks. It sucked. Coffee tasted just bitter. Food all tasted flat and boring. I’d be curious if losing taste rather than smell would be preferable, but don’t know the answer. The biggest part of [taste](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste) really is related to smell, I believe - you can taste just sweet / sour / salty / bitter / umami. Would losing the sense of taste also include things like temperature, coolness, heat and texture? When I had COVID, I lost my sense of smell for just long enough to be interesting (48-72 hours). It was annoying but not life-changing. I THINK that’s the sense I’d choose to skip; while some aspects of it might be life-threatening (anyone smell a gas leak?), otherwise I could tolerate it relatively well. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/47 "2024-07-30T23:35:22Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Touch maybe. You’d probably be dead before the end of the month. You wouldn’t be able to do _anything_. You couldn’t walk, or pick anything up, or type, or really interact with anything. I don’t think you could even eat properly since chewing and swallowing require some sense of touch. I doubt your intestines would work. Ever have Novocaine? It would be like that, except instead of a tiny portion of your mouth, it would be every square centimeter of your body–even the insides. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/48 "2024-07-30T23:37:28Z")
Good point. I was just thinking of my fingers (maybe toes too). ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/49 "2024-07-30T23:46:14Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > The biggest part of [taste](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste) really is related to smell, I believe - you can taste just sweet / sour / salty / bitter / umami. Yeah, I’m shocked that so many people picked “smell” when i feel you’d give up so much less of you picked “taste”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/50 "2024-07-30T23:54:43Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yeah, I’m shocked that so many people picked “smell” when i feel you’d give up so much less of you picked “taste”. When I’ve lost my sense of smell, it has _affected_ but not completely _removed_ my sense of taste. Just speaking from personal experience here. I mean, it’s not pleasant but it’s okay. And I do have the advantage of not being bothered by bad smells. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/51 "2024-07-31T01:03:10Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > The biggest part of [taste](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste) really is related to smell, I believe - you can taste just sweet / sour / salty / bitter / umami. Dumb question: what else is there? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/52 "2024-07-31T01:07:31Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Dumb question: what else is there? All the nuances of a particular taste or combination of tastes. When I had COVID, I ate a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream. It was cold. It was sweet. It had these little brown chips in it. And if it had mint, you couldn’t prove it by me. Is the broth you just ate chicken or beef? Dunno, but it’s salty either way. That sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/53 "2024-07-31T01:11:44Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Is the broth you just ate chicken or beef? Dunno, but it’s salty either way. That’s a great example. I don’t think I can tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/54 "2024-07-31T01:14:22Z")
I found this video (fellow losts his sense of taste due to COVID, and tried foods he hates) hysterical: [Sad COVID Boy Hank Green Eats Foods He Hates but Can’t Taste (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b01PDkSjcDY&ab_channel=vlogbrothers) I had my son pick up a bag of black licorice when he was fetching my husband’s meds from the drugstore. This is something I normally lurrrrrrve. I knew it was licorice because the bag said so. and I got just the faintest hint of the aroma (my anosmia was not that severe). But it was not at all enjoyable, so I saved it until the next week. In hindsight, I wish I had tried some salty licorice - which I’ve tried in the past and LOATHED. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/55 "2024-07-31T01:16:54Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > > > The biggest part of [taste](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste) really is related to smell, I believe - you can taste just sweet / sour / salty / bitter / umami. > > Yeah, I’m shocked that so many people picked “smell” when i feel you’d give up so much less of you picked “taste”. Same here. If you can’t smell you can’t ‘taste’ the difference between an apple and an onion. People don’t realize how much of their sense of taste is actually the sense of smell. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/56 "2024-07-31T03:04:12Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > > > Is the broth you just ate chicken or beef? Dunno, but it’s salty either way. > > That’s a great example. I don’t think I can tell the difference. Huh. Have you tried real (home made) broth? Many commercial broths are quite thin, and largely taste of salt, msg, and onion. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/57 "2024-07-31T12:13:47Z")
No, just commercial. > [@TriPolar](#): > > If you can’t smell you can’t ‘taste’ the difference between an apple and an onion. I haven’t tried this, but I feel like I’d know! If I ever do the experiment, I’ll let you know how it turns out. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/58 "2024-07-31T12:28:44Z")
I missed where you said you have no sense of smell. Yeah, all broth is going to taste the same to you, just a little more or less salty or more or less sweet. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/59 "2024-07-31T15:40:04Z")
I wonder how well the loss of taste as a side effect of COVID has been determined. I think the loss of smell alone will lead people to think they can’t taste anything either. I have often recommended adding corn oil to corn prepared or included in any dish. It is the volatiles in corn concentrated in corn oil that gives us the best sense of it’s taste through our noses. Stop boiling corn, steam it with some corn oil and you’ll get the best corn you ever tasted. Use corn oil instead of other oils in cornbread too. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743/60 "2024-07-31T15:46:44Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Huh. Have you tried real (home made) broth? Many commercial broths are quite thin, and largely taste of salt, msg, and onion. I have indeed- have made both, in fact. My point being, if I had anosmia, I might not be able to tell which was which (chicken vs beef); both would simply taste salty / umami. The whole lose smell vs lose taste debate: I mentioned I’d likely choose smell, simply because in my (admittedly quite brief) experience, it was an annoyance but not a life changer. I still ENJOYED that ice cream - the sweetness, the texture, the coolness - just not as much as if I’d been able to taste it. I think it might literally be difficult to eat, if I couldn’t at least manage that much. Obviously I cannot know for sure; it’s not like there’s a way to induce temporary anosmia or ageusia in isolation. > [@TriPolar](#): > > I wonder how well the loss of taste as a side effect of COVID has been determined. I think the loss of smell alone will lead people to think they can’t taste anything either. I had thought that it was widely accepted that it was the loss of smell that was the major culprit with COVID (though I could be wrong). Certainly in my limited sample size (me), it was smell, not actual taste (I could still detect sweetness, for example). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-give-up-one-of-your-5-senses-for-a-month-which-would-you-pick/1004743.md?page=4)