Diane Ackerman

Response to 'Touch' Article

Touch is perhaps the first sense that provides the most valid information as a child. Through touch, an infant can immediately determine whether the object they are caressing causes pain or pleasure and they will then continue to explore the object or quickly retract their hand based on the information they have gathered. The sense of touch is key to keeping ourselves safe by helping us gather information about the world around us. After all, there is something to be said about, 'first hand experience.' When we touch an object we learn its structure, texture, temperature, and many other tiny bits of information that allow us to form an image in our mind. Whats more is we rarely forget the feeling associated with the objects we touch. This makes the sense of touch a very powerful and necessary reminder of the world around us. When we receive an injury our body notifies the brain via stimuli around the affected area. The brain takes note of this and sends out pain signals so we understand that what we are touching is causing us damage. It is trying to preserve us through these signals of pain. Touch acts as a rather primal but effective way of understanding the world. We can quickly discover if the ground we sit on would irritate our skin or if the sun is too hot for direct exposure. Without this sense of touch we would quickly endanger our lives as we would not understand what is harmful to us. We would also become partially separated from the world as we would be unable to feel our essence, our contact with our surroundings. We become a more concrete part of the world by interacting with it and touch allows us to accomplish this. It is through touch that we foster a closer relationship and appreciation with what we can feel. The delicate and subtle curves of a seashell or the gritty, compact feeling of stone; all such textures are analyzed through touch. Touch allows us to break down the world and see beyond what our eyes can analyze.