A Senseless World

A writer on the subject has said: "Psychologists have pointed out to us

the fact that if a human being were born without sense organs, no matter

how perfect a brain he might have, his life would be little more than

that of a plant. Such a person would exist merely in a dreamlike state,

with only the very faintest manifestations of consciousness. His

consciousness would not be able to react in response to the impact of

ensations from the outside world, for there would be no such impact.

And as consciousness depends almost entirely upon the impact of, or

resistance to, outside impressions, his consciousness would be almost

entirely inactive. He would be conscious of his own existence, but would

probably never realize the fact fully, for he would have nothing else

with which to compare himself, and his self-consciousness would never be

aroused by contact with things outside of himself. Such a person would

not have even the memories of previous sensations or experiences to

arouse or heighten his consciousness or thought, and consequently he

would have no imagination to use. He would be, to all intents and

purposes, a living corpse. Helen Keller has only two doors of sensation

closed to her--the sense of sight and the sense of hearing. Touch,

taste, and smell, however were left to her; and each was quickened and

heightened in order to help so far as possible to perform the world of

the defective senses. The reaching of the consciousness of this girl is

considered by science to be akin to a miracle--yet only two senses were

missing. To appreciate the full meaning of the importance of the senses,

one has but to think of Helen Keller as having been also deprived of the

sense of touch."