Sensuality

we are confined by the constraints of our own sensors. Other animals operate under different constraints and so perceive a very different world than what we are familiar with.

umwelt (a term coined by the zoologist Jakob von Uexkull): the [particular ways in which an] animal perceives the immense world.

Just to be clear

I don’t want to get out

without a broken heart.

I intend to leave this life

so shattered

there better be a thousand separate heavens

for all of my separate parts

And none of those parts are going to be wearing the romance from the overpriced vintage rack

That is to say I am not going to get a single speed bike if I can’t make it up the... See more

Nothing can sense everything, and nothing needs to. So humans, we have a very good sense of touch, but it only operates on close contact; we don’t have the distance touch that a fish or a manatee or a spider has. We have very sharp eyes, almost unparalleled in their sharpness; but because of that, we trade in sensitivity. Our ears are pretty good,... See more

I’ve read a lot of writing on the senses, both about humans and other animals, and it’s really striking to me that people gravitate towards big, sweeping statements about humans as a species that clearly don’t apply to all members of the species. One of the most common things you’ll read on this topic, from almost any source, is that humans are a... See more