Man the slave & master / by Mark Graubard.

  • Graubard, Mark, 1904-1992.
Date:
1939
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Man the slave & master / by Mark Graubard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    34/388 (page 18)
    we term facts. Thus, the moon, sun, stars, wind, rocks, wood, trees, animals, chemicals, metals, and the like are facts. Our bodies, however, provide us with only a limited number of sense organs. Moreover, their ranges of sensitivity are circumscribed. The eye intercepts certain energy waves, the ear certain air waves, the tongue certain chemical solutions, the nasal passage certain substances in a gaseous state. Our skins are supplied with cells which record pressure, temperature, and pain. The inner ear has a delicate structure filled with fluid resembling a mason's level which serves to notify the brain of distur bances in bodily equilibrium. In addition, our internal organs are provided with sense receptors which record physiological changes. All sense organs are connected with the brain. External stimuli send impulses along the nerve to the centres of the brain. These are relayed to the region of consciousness and make the animal aware of external events. Thus, we cannot see with eyes closed because light does not reach the retina which shields the nerve, nor hear with ears shut because air waves cannot penetrate the ear drum and convey their oscillations to the auditory nerve. So long as his sense organs remain unchanged, man will intercept the same forces in the environment. The human eye is not sensitive to all energy waves, but only to those between 400 millionths and 800 millionths of a millimetre long. The ear intercepts only a limited range of air waves. Similarly with the other senses. We all know that some substances have no taste. This means that our tongue is devoid of taste buds which react to their properties. We cannot detect X-rays because we have no receptors for them. Obviously our limited sensual apparatus prevents us from directly intercepting many events in nature.