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When (if ever) should we trust our senses to give us truth?

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Introduction

When (if ever) should we trust our senses to give us truth? If there is an answer to this question the logical process would be to analyse the critical parts and define key area?s within the argument; and then begin the process to create a logically structured argument that can act as our response or answer (but to what level of certainty?). Our senses are based on our perception, our ability to use our combined senses to understand and interact with our environment. Using information from our senses we can use as a basis for further investigation and inductive and deductive reasoning to understand things unrelated to those our senses are able to perceive, how are we to trust our rationalist thoughts if we are unsure as to whether we trusted our senses in the first place? Is there anyway we can test and prove that our senses are what we believe they are, could this become the path that our senses can lead us to truth? ...read more.

Middle

Using information from our senses we can use as a basis for further investigation and inductive and deductive reasoning to understand things unrelated to those our senses are able to perceive, how are we to trust our rationalist thoughts if we are unsure as to whether we trusted our senses in the first place? Is there anyway we can test and prove that our senses are what we believe they are, could this become the path that our senses can lead us to truth? After deeper contemplation of possible reasons the human race has not yet discovered its purpose, perhaps it is more likely that there is not truth. Our species along with all others on this planet are merely a trivial example of possible organisms that can be found perhaps throughout the universe (why limit the example to one universe). The point is however perhaps the development of life is merely a process, there is no silver lining to existence, no truth or higher state of consciousness on which to base our lives upon. ...read more.

Conclusion

A keen sense of smell allows animals to run away from predators and allocate food, similarly, a good eye-sight allows us to see what is going on around us and helps us get familiar with the surroundings in order to adapt. In 2004, many animals such as elephants and flamingos escaped the tsunami in Sri Lanka and India, the animals ?predicted? the coming disaster as they may have more acute sense of hearing or touch which allows them to feel the strong vibration of the Earth. On the other hand, our senses can easily be deceived. Advertisements on TV and internet tell us how great a product is and encourage us to buy it, however, the truth may be that the actual product is not as effective as it seems to be. I bought a shampoo because on the advertisement it said that it can moisturize my hair and make my hair look shiny, and the hair of the model in the advertisement looked pretty which made me want to look like her. However, when I actually used it, it did not have all the effects that were described and my hair still looked the.. ...read more.

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