691 Senseless.

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I’m not sure if it’s just my net service or the site itself that’s giving me trouble today. I’ve been trying to get in for over an hour and finally broke through.

When I originally wrote this page the factoid I chose was current and a little more shocking than this replacement. Luckily I decided to see if anything had changed since then, seeing as the information was over two years old, and it turns out the information had been adjusted so the page didn’t work anymore. Or at least in so far as Wes being correct.

I switched to this scenario because when I asked random people I got Carol’s answer EVERY TIME. In a sense she is both right and wrong, but mostly wrong. Like most bullies she tends to crumble a little when confronted with confidence, and Wes is clearly growing weary of her.

52 Comments

Heh, i love that question, it one I really do know, and i am proud of Wes for it. Though i do feel real bad for Carol, as it seem like she may be losing her edge a little, at least she can still pick on Reggie.

On a side note, i to and having trouble with the site, it like a very slow load, and sometimes i have to refresh to make it work.

There’s as many as ten senses, actually,

balance, motion, pain, etc..

Good going Wes.

You’re getting quite pedantic there, as I suppose, is Wes. Balance, motion, pain, etc. can, and usually are (especially among laymen) considered SUB-senses of the sense of touch even if that’s a slight oversimplification of them. Common Sense would be a less arguable candidate for a ‘sixth’ sense, though one might argue that a lot of people don’t seem to have it, much less display it in their actions.

Actually, if you’re really going to get technical about it, the ‘sense’ of pain IS the sense of touch. Every single tactile sensation we have is recognized by our nerve endings as a degree of pain from the most minute and subconsciously ignorable to levels of pain that put people in shock or can kill from sensory overload. That’s one of the reasons why newborns cry so much (another part of that, of course, is that at that point they haven’t developed any additional method of communication, but that’s off-subject), they simply haven’t gotten used to the common everyday pains of most physical sensations.

Balance and motion are again among the tactile sub-sensations, and can be argued to be the same thing depending on where you draw the line. Walking, for example, is simply a matter of losing and regaining balance repeatedly in a particular direction. You also can’t have a sense of balance without a sense of motion to tell you when you’re off-balance.

The sense of pain (Nociception) is completely different from the sense of touch. After all, you can’t touch the inside of your spine and yet you can still feel pain.
There’s also balance (Equilibrioception), temperature (Thermoception) and ‘body awareness’ (Propriocepion). For that last one, close your eyes and touch your nose. You can’t see, touch, smell (Hopefully), taste or hear your finger, but you still know where it is (Unless drunk).
I also am tempted to add Bariception (Pressure) and Magnetoception (Magnetism). Although that’s so weak as to barely be able to tell where North is. And these are hotly debated anyway.

Then there’s Echo-location and Electroception, but these aren’t present in humans. (Okay, some blind people have taught themselves Echo-location, but still).

If you really want to get technical about it, there are really only five different classes of sensory receptors anyhow. Mechanoreceptors, Chemoreceptors, Thermoreceptors, Electromagnetic receptors, and nociceptors. All senses that we argue as specifically separate from each other are really just different utilizations of these different classes of receptors. In addition, classifying nociception as completely separate from mechanoreceptors is somewhat of a mistake, as these phenomenon are closely related. Trying to argue that certain functions of these various forms of interpreting energy to create a perception of the world are somehow unique and separate from each other really is based in personal preference (in general, the ‘personal’ preference-read: general consensus-of the scientific community at large).

If you give a good definition of sense (and that varies nearly as much as the number), I can probably make reasonable arguments for at least two or three different numbers.

umm i noticed that it says “go ahead on” shouldn’t it be “go on ahead”

Actually, she’s quoting another husky hero. Joe Don Baker, in “Final Justice”. Given the earlier MST3k References in the strip, I think she’s fine in saying “Go ahead on.”

I am interested in finding out the ‘answer’, regardless of what Wes or Carol thinks it is.

Me, I’d have asked: “Aren’t we all idiots, really?”

If I am asked a ridiculously simple question in a situation like that I would be like “Well I thought it was 5, but I guess I’m probably wrong huh?”

Listen to the Animaniacs Senses song, there are many many senses including a sense of timing, a sense of danger, and a sense of fear when you meet a stranger

well the first google’d site said 10 – Sight, Smell, Taste, Hearing, Touch (which is 4 – Heat, Cold, Pressure, Pain) and then Motion (kinesthetic), and finally Balance (vestibular)

But also considering all the other answers there are i’d say there is no real number. but i’d have to go with at least 7

I think what he really just proved is that he is an ass, and I like the ass we already have. Reggie is at least harmless and partially useful.

We have a significant question here, however. Is Carol actually wrong? When I was in school, when my parents were in school, and everyone else before them, the number was 5. Therfore, 5 is a valid answer. Apparently scientists have redefined some things as senses that were not previously defined as senses. So her answer may be outdated, perhaps, but not invalid. Most quiz shows would probably accept 5 as a valid answer. It’s not like we newly discovered balance and motion, which no human had ever known about before. We just reclassified them.

Personally, I’d quibble with classifying balance and motion as senses. They’re more an analysis of existing sensory inputs.

But then, this is probably an argument of similar uneding nature to astronomers reclassifying Pluto as not a planet.

Personally, I think some of this comes from scientists with nothing to do who invent things to publish an article about in order to keep their tenure and grants flowing, without considering whether it has any practical benefit to science or society.

This isn’t some recent reclassification: balance, motion and heat have been recognized scientifically as senses for quite a while, and they aren’t re-evaluations of existing sensory input either, they are very specific senses that very specific parts of our body, brain and nervous system are designed to recognize. While it’s true what he asks is a loaded (potentially trick) question, from a scientific standpoint she’s wrong, regardless of whether or not she’s wrong because her parents were wrong or her teachers were wrong, etc.

Three senses. Balance is a modified version of touch, scent is a more sensitive version of the same, and taste is scent via the mouth (Balance feels the changes in a fluid filled canal located in the ears. Scent and taste feel the shaped of molecules before sending the information to the brain for interpretation. Sight is the interpretation of Electromagnetic waves accessible in the visible spectrum. Hearing is another feel based sense (vibrations). Balance, motion, and thermal sense are all just a touch sense. As for the third sense… Non-visible electromagnetic detection (re: oh, that’s north/strange vibes/empathy/etc…)

So, really, it depends on how you classify the senses, how technical and specific you want to get, and whether you want to include such things as E.S.P., good taste (aesthetics), “common” sense, and how much change you have in your pocket (I currently have twenty-eight cents at the time of this response)

Well teachers always simplify things in lower levels. You CAN take the square root of a negative number (but you need to deal with “imaginary” numbers). There are 5 states of matter, not 3 (they never tell you about plasma or bose-einstein condesates).

Of course I annoyed my teachers to no end when I brought this up in class.

But remember, Carrol’s test isn’t about such technicalities. It is about thinking on your feet. New-guy just parried Carrol Grave’s attack, knocked her off balance and put her on the defensive. He passed.

Way back in episode 87, ‘Broken Strings’, Mike tells Thomas that Wes’ full name is Wesley Asel, and Thomas tells him in 88, ‘Books Covers’ that the guy is a known thief.

FYI, all the folks calling Wes an ass, guess what the homophone esel means in German?

–Perfesser

And for all those too lazy to look it up on leo.org or elsewhere: Esel is the German word for donkey. It is however also used as an insult, meaning blockhead, jackass or… well I guess you’ll be catching Perfesser’s drift now.

Touch, smell, hearing, sight, taste, balance, pain, temperature and body awareness. Possibly pressure and direction (3/4 of men can tell where North is and so can 1/5 of women).

It’s probably not true, but it’d be hilarious if the 1/4 of men that can’t tell and the 1/5 of women that can are the homosexual ones.

Of course that’s true. How the heck do you think we know where North is? That’s where the Goddess lives! (Just kidding; she’s in Colorado. It has sufficient snow, better skiing, and much better Internet.)

…Ten. He’s counting both their five senses. The question wasn’t “we” as in “human beings”, but “we” as in “us two”
iseewhathedidthar

This discussion reminds me of one of Dr. Spear’s lectures in Biology. That was a long time. I believe the last ice age was just ending then. The answer is, “That depends.” he was fond of teaching us to be cogent and thorough in both question and answer.

My bet is, this isn’t about her answer. It’s about making her DOUBT her answer, and make her think she needs to look it up to confirm that she is, in fact, correct.

Still wondering why nobody question what a sense is. And the answer is more philosophical than scientifical. Then it is here just a sociological test, which accuracy is to respond to another sociological test: deuce.

Doesn’t matter what the answer is. Carol lost the moment she agreed to play his game rather than her own.

And Wes lost anyway because when challenged to prove his worth, he instead revealed that he’s the kind of dickhole that thinks that asking gotcha questions proves you’re smart.

stupid question. I was asked that once to which my reply was : That depends on what type of dick you are. If you actually looking for an answer then you would be asking medical professionals who would tell you anyway from 10-21 but you are asking me, soooo I’m guessing you are the type that is looking to humiliate someone while trying to uplift yourself.

Just reading over the comments during my 2020 reread.

I have to say, everybody pretty much misses that Wesley *failed* the test.

He got to come off as clever and snarky, but at the expense of making his immediate superior look foolish. The one who can make his life at Megatainment easier or a living Hell on Earth.
The one who only a few comics ago was talking about Insubordination and termination paperwork.

He’s proved definitively that he’s an Idiot.

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