Washington, DC USA I think I'd prefer to do without sight. I'd never want to be deaf because audible communication and music are so important to me. To lose a sense of touch would just be devastating AND dangerous. I feel the same way about taste and smell. With my luck, I'd eat something really rotten and die if I had no taste; I'd get caught up in a fire somewhere without my sense of smell. If I couldn't see, I could still enjoy eating, enjoy talking and listening (to everything in the world around me), I could still stop to smell the flowers (sorry, had to say it) and I could still experience the thrill of touching and feeling a soft kitten or my daughter's face or anything else for that matter - anything that wakens all my other senses. I guess it's easy to say "sight" because it's the one sense we could actually "pretend" not to have - even for a brief time. Just close your eyes...sometimes, more people should do that anyway, to be able to realize just how vital the other five are. I think too many people rely way too much on their sense of sight - and pass a lot of quick judgement in that way. This is a tough question - but even after some thought, I'd have to stick with my answer. Besides, the mind's eye remembers. Fisch, 45
Preston, CT USA I would choose hearing, since I could probably get along in life easiest without it. I depend on my sight too much and I would have to make major life adjustments for that. Loosing smell and taste which are linked would create such a dull world for me, I'm not sure I could fight off a depression. Loosing touch, I can't even imagine that. If I could keep only one sense that would be the one. Felicia, 34
Lowell, MA USA I guess smell. It seems like the easiest one to give up and still have a normal life. Susan, 32
Chicago, IL USA That is a tough question. I don't think I would actually choose to live w/o one of these senses considering all are need for everything. You must have smell in order to taste. You must see to hear. And you must touch to see. I would never want to go w/o any of them. Stephanie, 25
TX USA I wouldn't choose to live without any of the senses, but if I had to live without one I would sacrifice taste. Hearing, vision and touch serve vital practical purposes and the lack of any of them would be isolating. Much of what we think of as taste is actually based on smell, so if I kept smell, my sacrifice would be the smallest possible. Jane, 60
West Linn, OR USA Smell--because not that many things smell good things anyway. Also, most of the time I have a stuffy nose so I can't smell anything. Melodi, 19
Hlliard, OH USA Probably taste, I suppose, because smell covers a lot of your tasting anyway. But still, it's not a decision I'd want to make. Karen, 21
Marshelltown/Ames, IA USA Thanks to carpal I've lost touch a while ago and kind of miss it. I'm too paranoid to live without sight. My hearing is slightly gone and that's annoying and I enjoy tasting things so it looks like smell drew the short straw. It just seems to be the least important plus it gets in the way a lot. Alias Irrelevante Probably touch because I would want to smell incase of gas leaks or fire andI would want to taste so I would not eat anything bad tasting for fear of poisoning or getting ill from bad food and sight I would want to see the beauty of God and to see family and friends and and hearing I would want so I would know if there was any danger around me and could hear as an example my dogs barking to warn me. Marci, 55
Diamond, OH USA Hearing, because my hearing is not too hot as it is. Sight is too important for me, because i love to write and read (which require sight too be able too do). Also, I could not give up tastte, because that means i could not test the legendary Taco Salad. The others, eh, I figure they're worth something. Bruno, 31
Denver, CO USA If I had to live without one of my senses I guess I would choose my sense of smell. I don't use it much and sometimes it doesn't seem to work anyway. My Dad is the same way. Our sense of smell seems almost dulled. So, I guess it would be that one. But doesn't that cancel out your sense of taste, too? I don't know, but the question is to pick ONE. Lisa J., 22
TN USA Id choose to live without sight, because my other senses could compensate. I could not live without hearing because music is an essential part of my life that I could never do without. Talia, 23
Wilton, CT USA I would give up sense of smell because sometimes stuff stinks! Heidi, 26
Fort Madison, IA USA Forget taste! All I eat is tofu anyway. A-Dog, 18
McMinnville, OR USA Definately taste. I could live with not tasting food,but i certainly need all of my other senses! Sarah S., 17
Ithaca, NY USA Smell, cuz some things really stink, and its probably the least deabilitating of them all. Dianne, 16
Oshawa, Ontario CANADA taste Savannah probably smell... i would never have to smell anything bad again... but it would be unfortunate that i couldn't smell guys, cologne, or food, etc... i just think smell seems like the least important Brooke, 16
Memphis, TN USA If I had to choose to live w/out one of my senses, I would choose----Oh gosh, this question is too hard. All of the sense make up a special part of my life. I'm not sure that there is just one I could live without. Just for saying, I would choose----sight. Even though the thought of being blind scares me to death, I could imagine what people, and things looked like. I couldn't do w/out smell because I love the smell of mens cologne, so much to where it's affixatiing, I love being touched, I love hearing the sounds of happy children and music, and I love tasting delicious foods. Maybe if everyone in the world was blind, there would no longer be racism. Anjel, 19 This is a relatively easy question for me. I'm a bird, wildflower, and butterfly watcher so I wouldn't want to part with my vision. In the spring and summer, I LOVE to walk through wetlands and listen to the frogs and owls so hearing is out. I have a Persian cat that I'm crazy about and I could sit and pet her for hours. (I've read that with every pat of a cat one's stress is lowered one point so I must be the calmest person on earth) I couldn't part with my sense of touch. The smell of the woods on a spring day is one of the most wonderful things I know. The only sense I could part with would be the sense of taste. Maybe if I couldn't taste food, I wouldn't eat so much. Reba, 51
Rockville, MD USA Touch I think. This is a really hard decision, but I'm sure touch would be my choice. I would never choose sight or hearing. You can't choose between taste or smell either because they are so closely related...the loss of one will impair the other. So it comes down to touch...as long as I didn't lose the feeling of what it's like to BE touched. That would be awful! Tracy, 24
Ocean City, NJ USA Probably taste, because I don't think it would affect my life as much as losing any of the others. Shanna, 15
Cardiff ENGLAND I think it would have to be touch. I couldn't stand not being able to see, I'm sure I wouldn't survive, and I think it would be horrible to not be able to hear people talking to you, or to listen to music. I also like tasting good food, and I think that taste partially relies on smell, so I guess that leaves touch, but really, I wouldn't want to lose any sense, they're all important to me.
Gavin, 15
Sydney AUSTRAILA
Well smell and taste go so closely together, I'd say neither of those. I can't stand pitch black so I must have sight. I love music so I need my hearing. Touch I suppose. Only as the lesser of the evils.
Amy, 24
New Orleans, LA USA
Brampton, Ontario CANADA I think smell. It's too tempting most of the time, anyway. Karen2, 15
Boston, MA USA I would choose to live without taste. . . then eating healthily would never be a problem. Eric, 18
Beverly Hills, CA USA I often thought I would give up the sense of hearing. But my mother lost her hearing for a period of a few months, and she said it was awful, that you felt so isolated, she thought she'd rather be blind. But I don't think I could be blind. So maybe I would give up the sense of smell. Janet, 42
E. Brunswick, NJ USA