got geoint?

Welcome to the Friday’s Food for Thought post on got geoint? Hurricane Earl, a gunman at the Discovery Channel headquarters, Obama trying to broker peace in the Middle East…wow, lot’s happening this week. So much so, that we totally forgot about the three-day weekend that lay ahead of us. Rather than doing another Labor Day FFT post, we decided to dive a bit deeper and highlight the role our 5 (or perhaps 6) senses that we have and how our sense shape our perceptions of the world. Why this topic? Well, it’s kind of cool and hopefully it will give you some “food for thought” as you head off into the weekend.

Definition of “Sense”
Senses are the physiological capacities within organisms that provide inputs for perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology (or cognitive science), and philosophy of perception. The nervous system has a specific sensory system or organ, dedicated to each sense. The traditional five senses are sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste, a classification attributed to Aristotle. Read more from Wikipedia here.

Descartes’ View of Sense Perception
Some have suggested that René Descartes argues that sense perception relies on the mind rather than on the body. Descartes asserts that we can know our mind more readily than we can know our body. In support of this idea he gives the example of a piece of wax which is observed in its solid form and its liquid form. After pointing out the difficulties of relying on the senses of the physical body to understand the nature of the wax he makes this claim: “[P]erception … is neither a seeing, nor a touching, nor an imagining. … [R]ather it is an inspection on the part of the mind alone.” 1 This quote is perhaps the most direct statement of the author’s thesis on this subject. Read more here.

Seventh Sense Biosystems – Shout Out
Seventh Sense Biosystems is developing novel products to optimize the interface of diagnostic medicine and the healthcare consumer by dramatically simplifying blood sampling and testing. By eliminating the barriers to the acquisition of critical diagnostic information, Seventh Sense is contributing to the future of informed, effective healthcare delivery and patient participation in their own well-being. Okay, we admit this really has nothing to do with our weekly theme, but since we like the name of this company, we wanted to give them a shout out. Learn more about Seventh Sense Biosystems here.

Checking Your Sixth Sense – From The ‘School of Champions’
Because of the large number of people who have had such extra-sensory experiences as foreseeing the future, seeing what seemed to be spirits, and possibly reading the minds of others, there is a good probability that all humans have what is called a 6th sense. Some people seem to have it more than others. It is possible to verify that you have this sense and perhaps even improve your sensitivity to it. Since the 6th sense is a very weak sense, many people go through life without realizing their extra capabilities. Want to learn how to strengthen your sixth sense? Check out more from the School of Champions web site here.

Senses Working Over Time
Often times, we like to focus on songs and videos that are “left of the dial.” Mainstream music references are just too easy. So, we sincerely hope that our dedicated readers enjoy viewing more off-beat music videos (that of course, tie into our weekly theme). So, today we decided to feature the classic alternative band XTC and their most excellent song, “Senses Working Over Time.”

Happy Friday!

Tags: Five Senses, Friday's Food for Thought, GEOINT 2010, geospatial intelligence, got geoint? and Friday's Food for Thought, School of Champions, Seventh Sense Biosystems, Sixth Sense, Sixth Sense Movie, XTC, XTC Sense Working Over Time