Maverick scientist thinks he has discovered a magnetic sixth sense in humans | Hacker News Reader

Maverick scientist thinks he has discovered a magnetic sixth sense in humans

sciencemag.org

8 pointsgivan7 comments

If true it would be a seventh sense. Balance is the sixth sense that everyone forgets.

Proprioception, in general.

After thinking about this I disagree. I did a search of proprioception and it essentially means self-perception, more specifically of the body's self orientation. The sense of balance is actually a sensor that provides information external to the body, i.e. relative orientation in a gravity field to external entities. It is mediated by the vestibular system of the inner ear, so it is a specific sense organ.

Then this new sense would be an 8th sense.

I think the key to qualifying something as a sense means that it provides info external to the mind and body, i.e. the whole organism. Proprioception doesn't qualify as a sense by this standard. It depends on where you draw the line. You could include it if you defined sense as providing inputs to the mind only but that commits you to the mind/body dichotomy.

I'm fine with a mind/body dichotomy.

When I'm asleep, I'm not aware of anything, but I toss and turn. When I wake up in the morning, I instantly know where all my limbs are. I can also move my arms around my desk with my eyes closed, and reach towards things even if I can't see them - I know the position of my arms without any other senses.

I'm not sure why that doesn't qualify as a sense.

> I'm not sure why that doesn't qualify as a sense.

It does given your definition and does not given mine. There is no contradiction here just alternative ways of slicing up reality using abstractions. There is nothing inherently wrong with slicing things up your way as long as your definitions are clear and used consistently. Nevertheless, for my money the mind/body dichotomy is an error but why I think that would be a whole different discussion. ;-)

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