Reason versus Our Senses

 

                         Photo by Efrem Efre 

 Why Your Nose Might Be Lying to You

Have you ever confidently walked into a room and said, “It smells like grandma’s cooking in here!”—only to realize there is no food nearby, no grandma, and you’re actually in a post office? That, my friend, is your senses which sometimes plays tricks on you. They’re cute, yes. Useful? Often. But trustworthy? Not always.

Let’s talk about the eternal, philosophical, brain-tingling debate: Reason vs. the Senses. Or, more simply, thinking vs. feeling (and seeing, and smelling, and hearing, and tasting—if you’re really into tasty snacks).

This topic has roots older than your grandma’s heartfelt recipes. It’s been a point of contention for thousands of years, stretching back to ancient philosophers who wore cool togas, asked inconvenient questions, and wouldn’t stop talking about The Truth.

Your Senses: The Gossip Queens of Reality

Let’s start with the senses—the dramatic divas of your perceptual world. Your five senses are like your high school friends: they give you a version of the truth, but it’s usually through the lens of gossip, poor memory, and personal bias.

Sight? Beautiful, but biased. Just ask any magician who’s pulled a rabbit out of his hat.

Smell? Nostalgic, but unreliable. A whiff of sand can take you back to summer at the beach—or to that one time your cousin tracked sand in the house. Totally different vibes.

Touch? Ever put your hand in lukewarm water after touching ice? Suddenly it feels like a spa treatment. Touch doesn’t always tell the full story—it just reacts based on context.

Taste and hearing have their quirks too, especially when you have a bad cold with no taste buds or are near someone chewing loudly. Then all bets are off.

Our senses are powerful—they help us survive, navigate, enjoy life, and find the delicious ice cream in the freezer. But when it comes to understanding the deeper truths of the universe (or even whether your shirt is blue or gold), they can lead us astray.

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Enter: Reason, the Party Crasher (But Also the Real MVP)

While your senses are out there living their best lives—dancing through colors and sounds—reason is sitting quietly in the corner with a journal, taking notes and trying to make sense of it all. Reason is the friend who double-checks the GPS before taking a detour. The one who says, “I know it feels like we’re going in the right direction, but maybe we should look over an actual map?”

Reason is about patterns, logic, deduction. It’s not impressed by your goosebumps or that uncanny feeling you’re being watched. It wants evidence. It wants proof. It wants to know why you think the earth is flat just because “the horizon looks straight.”

Take the classic example: the sun. Your senses tell you it is moving across the sky. It rises in the east, and sets in the west. Looks like it’s doing circles around us, right?

But reason steps in and says, “Hold up. Let’s consider the math, astronomy, and physics. In actuality, we’re the ones spinning. The sun’s just relaxing.” And just like that, your senses are exposed as drama queens, and reason earns its place.

A Match Made in Cognitive Heaven 

The thing is, it’s not really the idea of Reason vs. the Senses—it’s more of a chaotic partnership, like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Or Marty Mcfly and the Doc. Depends which movie your watching. Your senses bring in all the raw data. Reason then analyzes it. Sometimes they blend well together.  Other times, it’s a total mess.

Here’s an example: optical illusions.

You’ve probably seen those drawings where a staircase seems to go in an endless loop or a picture looks like both a young woman and evil witch. Your eyes scream, “This is vividly real!” but reason whispers, “It’s a trick. Settle down.”

Or how about déjà vu? Your senses say, “We’ve definitely been here before.” Reason scours your memories and may come up empty. Who do you believe?

We go between believing what we think and believing what we perceive all the time. The senses are emotional and instantaneous. Reason is rational and intentional. When something flies at your face, you instantly duck (thanks to your senses!) but later determine whether it was a bee, a drone, or your roommate throwing a sock at you (thanks to reason!).

Thinking Beyond the Tangible: What Our Senses Can’t Tell Us

This is where things start to get very amazing. Some of the most important facts about our universe, which influence philosophy, physics, and even how we see ourselves, are completely outside the realm of our senses.

Gravity cannot be seen. Yes, its effects are visible to you, but the force itself? invisible.

Time cannot be touched. During meetings that should have been conducted via email, you feel it sliding through your fingers, but you are unable to prod it.

Dark matter? Most of the cosmos is composed of substances that are completely imperceptible to us. However, logic, calculations, and scientific deduction all suggest that it exists.

Even identity, morality, and love are not objects you can sniff or bite into. They are notions, ideas, and patterns. They lack sensory perception. They have cognitive abilities. They inhabit the realm of reason, contemplation, and thought. 

So... Which Should We Trust?

Here’s the twist: you need both.

If you rely solely on your senses, you become an instinctual being who is susceptible to delusions and instinctive responses. You become a cold, calculating machine that is cut off from the depth of the human experience if you simply trust reason.

Picture yourself at sunset atop a mountain. You are in awe of the hues, the breeze, and the distant birdsong. However, your logic reveals how old that mountain is, how it takes eight minutes for light to reach you from the sun, and how your sense of insignificance relates to something cosmic and ancient.

The real magic occurs when they are woven together rather than when one is chosen over the other. 

Final Thoughts (and a Little Philosophy for the Road)

Philosophers from Plato to Descartes wrestled with this question. Plato favored reason—he thought the senses were shadows on the wall of a cave. Descartes literally doubted everything until he hit upon “I think, therefore I am.”

But in our modern lives, we can embrace the relationship between sensing and thinking. We can feel the warmth of the sun, but reason out that it’s 93 million miles away. Smell the cookies, but check the oven before you accuse someone of hoarding baked goods.

Trust your instincts—but question them, too.

After all, our senses do wonders for us and logic helps us along the way.

Stay curious. Stay thoughtful. And maybe keep some cookies on hand—just in case.

Thanks for reading. Please leave a comment below so we can engage in positive conversation and if you have not done so already Please Subscribe. If you love listening to podcasts then you can follow me by clicking here 👉Wise Mindset Guy Podcast