As a gamer that's is pretty easy for me. When I have a hard to imagine problem, I love to make associations with games, as the world we live in is hard to distinguish from complex simulated reality even for the scientific society.
Some of the most enjoyable games I have played put me in the skin of a character that communicates pretty well with other players or non-player characters. That character can experience and manipulate his world pretty well. He can see, he can hear ànd except for some experimental games, he is missing his sense of touch. Expiriencing the tactile (a word I know and have never used, before I saw it in @manoldochev 'reply) property of the material world is in fact not only pleasurable, but also life-saving ability. We can really miss important sensory signals until, as Moni said, it is too late. Luckily, games have resolved this problem with something as simple as health/life bar. I can easily imagine having sensors that transfer heat, humidity, sharpness or other properties via augmented reality device to my hearing and vision.
Having said that I instantly thought: Can we also transfer vision and hearing signals to our sense of touch. It is actually done. People with impaired hearing experience music and even dance by feeling amplified vibrations. I have also read a book where they described an amusing experiment. They used cameras and a device attached to a blind man's back. The device was making pressure with different intensity on a low resolution square map on his back skin, that represents the light and dark object's in front him. After months of training the man aquaired a sense similar of low resolution b/w vision which let him "see" walls, doors, stairs and big objects.
And if we take "touch" in a broader definition like being a ghost... That would change one's life and definition of life completely. Still, maybe we all have dreamed to walk through walls 😁. Here I really can't imagine how I would feel...
After all said I will definitely conclude I would sacrifice the sence of touch and rely on technology to survive.
Ah! The use of technology to solve all our problems! We are definitely moving into the future.
But really, can technology truly replace the sense of touch? Yes, in the world of games, there are sensors that transfer heat, humidity, and other things through augmented reality device. Can this also work in tune with our bodies? I doubt it. 😁
Very interesting point of view. Science supported by technology has great advances and what you say is simply fantastic!
Remember that Smurfs-inspired movie where a man lost his ability to walk and they gave him an avatar? That kind of survival and sensory experience is not that impossible anymore, is it?
You said you liked sci-fi. And something in this conversation...I think it's the virtual life topic...reminded me of one of my most favorite series of written fiction — A Requiem for Homo Sapiens by David Zindell. A trilogy sequel to his Neverness. You will enjoy a lot of the concepts in there, I am pretty sure. There was even this practice of generating heat to warm one's body by mental control over the processes in one's body — the thing you wrote about yesterday. And a lot of real Earth mythology and philosophy translated many thousands or was it millions of years into the future.
Danlo had three items with him only — his father's pilot ring now his own, his spaceship capable of reaching the farthest places in the universe, and a flute of sorts.
It's an interesting question I htink as no matter what sense one gives up there will be loss of some kind. I can see you've thought it through and who knows, maybe technology will advance to the point where touch is replaceable.
A good thing you don't have to lose any though, it's hypothetical.
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.I think of all the senses to lose hearing would be the easiest to replace via technology. Touch/feeling involves far to much and covers a far wider range than either seeing or hearing, just my opinion. Hearing would be the simplest to replace even if it is with notes and paper only and you needed an escort with you at all time to be your warning ears. You wear a heads up display, your escort talks and his words appear on your HUD.
That's a good notion here and one that I didn't think of. It makes sense to use technology to augment what we have in order to achieve what is missing. I too chose touch as the sacrifice here!
I know what you mean by gaming and relating it to things haha. I've come across many a situation where I think that something is familiar about it from a gaming perspective like an object on the ground being in a particular spot and it might be important or something. Fun things to reminisce about!