Four out of our five basic senses are being made redundant – and we may have the smartphone to blame, according to an expert.
Susan Denham Wade, 55, the UK-based author of A History of Seeing in Eleven Inventions, spent four years researching and writing her book, which is a pioneering study of the history of human sight through the ages, and believes our over-reliance on smartphones is steadily diminishing our sense of smell, touch, hearing and taste.
The devices may also be to blame, at least in part she claims, for higher levels of stress, anxiety, loneliness, and depression within society, especially among younger people.
The former television executive, who was born in Australia but has lived in the UK since 1994, explained this is because our five basic senses evolved with the purpose of interacting with the natural environment, and with each other, in person.
In other words, we are designed to utilise all our senses simultaneously in the real world. When we don’t, our other senses – and our mental health – may suffer.
Mother-of-four Denham Wade, a graduate of Harvard Business School, told FEMAIL: ‘The seeds of our dominant visual culture were sown long before smartphones, television or electricity.
