according to my neurophysiology lecturer proprioception is a sixth sense.
it has specific receptors and neural pathways distinct from touch.
it’s not balance, it’s the sense of being aware (consciously or unconsciously) of the position of limbs and body in space.
the sense that gymnasts use to orient themselves after a complex flip or tumble. which can be done with the eyes closed.
I think we’d have a much deeper understanding of the universe if we were able to directly sense electric and magnetic fields. What if we could see the earth’s magnetic field? Or Jupiter’s? Can you imagine what the flux tube between Io (I think it is) and Jupiter would look like?
And not only that, but it is possible to lose your proprioceptive sense. People who lack it can’t point at a light source on the other side of a darkened room. That’s gotta suck.
Irishgirl has it right. Proprioception, aka kinesthesia is the 6th sense. Neurologists around the world agree!
Well, that settles that! (I think.)
How about 7? Do I hear a 7?
…I got nothing here. If you find more to talk about, go right ahead. I’ll just watch…
Of course it’s not a peer-reviewed scientific journal, but then this isn’t a totally scientific, quantifiable issue. I wasn’t trying to prove that there are 9 concrete set in stone senses. The number of senses is a subjective thing and depends on definitions. It’s like arguing about whether or not Pluto is a planet. You can’t look under a microscope and count the number of senses. There do seem to be a good number of reference and academic sites which state that there are more than 5 senses and I remember learning this in college. One sense, beyond the traditional 5, that I definitely remember is proprioception. If you check out this Google search you’ll find a number of pages on various university sites discussing senses beyond Aristotles traditional 5.
This really isn’t worth a long argument so if anybody wants to insist that there are only 5 then that’s fine by me.
I’ve had a lot of thoughts about this over the years – it’s a neat subject…
Kinesthesia – sure.
Are we saying Balance/Gravity is in between Kinesthesia and Touch? Ok by me.
Pressure and Comfort were always poorly explained by touch. What is comfort/discomfort?
Creativity is an interacting with sensate data – for instance a well-done jazz session. Is that touch, or feel, or what?
Perfect Pitch might be in there as well.
A sense of danger might sound like a comic book, but being able to tell that “something isn’t right” about a situation without knowing what exactly it is – maybe a sub-class of intelligence.
Others, maybe later…
Whoa there, I totally misread that as "Being able to see peoples’ * anuses *. Whew, there’s a sense I could do without, though I suppose life would be much less serious if only we could close our eyes and picture each other’s anus. Taking the “picture someone in his underwear” idea to the next level.
I don’t need extra senses, just expand my vision to include UV and IR, and my hearing to include very low and high frequencies (0-60,000Hz would do fine). 
With Wikipedia, I gotta wonder… is pain really a separate sense? I’m not sure… I think it could be an intellectual and instinctual cognative evaluation. Post sensory. It is a way of saying ‘too much’ or ‘too little’.
(Vision) Light, at a certain intensity becomes painful.
(Audition) Sound, at a certain intensity becomes painful.
(Tactician) Pressure, at certain intensies becomes painful.
(Thermoconception) Heat at certain intensities becomes painful.
(Proprioception) Abnormal input is painful. (Broken arm or cut.)
Think about it. Pain relies on a measurement by another sense. The three types of pain sensory information can easily be lumped as sensory abnormals from other senses.
Just a thought.
I take it you don’t work around computers? 
I was working on a fantasy world one time in which the number 8 had mystical meaning to the main race, and therefore everything was categorized by 8s, including senses. The 8 senses were the standard five plus memory, intuition, and I don’t remember the 8th. Possibly something paranormal.
Oh, my objection to Wikipedia wasn’t that it isn’t a peer reviewed journal or an ‘official’ source. It’s just that my experience with it is that they often define things in slightly unusual ways so that while their information is correct and reasonably complete, it’s often taken from a slightly odd perspective.Thus it’s reasonably likely that the 9 senses they list would probably be taken differently by others - some grouped together, some seperated.
I certainly agree there are more than 5 senses. I’m just not sure I agree with the exact 9 wikipedia lists.
[Sean Connery voice] Shocking. [/Sean]
Mr. Pratchett would like a word with you…
I personally go with the magnetic field sense.
My son has Sensory Integration Disorder so he gets therapy to help him learn to cope with it.
His therapy counts six senses with “Vestibular processing”, balance control, as the sixth. Once, if he closed his eyes, he’d fall over from the lack of body position feedback - his only feedback was visual. He’s doing better now - he actually gets dizzy if spun and controls his body better, too.
That said, I’d go for 360-degree awareness as my new sense - kind of like Daredevil.
-B
That’s because you work in a funeral home. That doesn’t count.
Really? Well, then I guess it’s a good thing that the paragraph above is the most I ever wrote on the idea.
One can break down the qualities of an item into 3 categories
#1 physical - size, shape, density, location, motion
#2 chemical - elemental composition
#3 electromagnetic - EM radiation or a magnetic field
One could get by with three external senses if the range of each were sufficiently broad. A dolphin, for example, has little or no sense of smell and can do quite well even if totally blind because it’s sonar covers all the factors of category #1 to a greater or lesser extent.
Maybe we could perform dances to show the rest of the hive where the honey ale is.
No, no, no. He’s merely a Young Republican, & they are merely reasonable facsimilies of dead people.