The nerves in my back are farther apart than the nerves in my fingers.
My friend touches my back with two unsharpened pencils. Both pencils
touch my back at the same time. But I can feel only one until the two
pencils are quite far apart.
My sense of touch
A pin feels sharp. An apple feels smooth. Ice feels cold. A pillow feels
soft. I know what all these things feel like because of nerves in my
skin.
The nerves in my fingers are very close together. That’s why my fingers
are good feelers. Suppose I ring a bicycle bell on a hot day. Some of my
nerves tell me that the bell is very hot. Other nerves tell me that it
is smooth. Still other nerves tell me how hard I’m pushing. And perhaps
some of my nerves tell me that my finger is sore.
I see only with my eyes. I hear only with my ears. I smell only with my
nose. I taste only with my mouth. But I feel things all over my body.
