If you had to choose one sense to give up, which would it be?

Taste. I seriously need all the others to keep me happy and safe.

Smell.
I mean, my sense of smell is already pretty horrible anyway,but it seems like the least vital.
I mean, sure I can’t smell carbon monoxide (?), or enjoy the scent of fresh laundry, but the rest seem more important.
If not smell, taste. If not either of those, touch

I’d give up smell. As long as I didn’t feel congested…I hate when I can’t smell because of congestion!

Why I wouldn’t want to give up the other senses:
Touch: I don’t think I would want to go on living if I couldn’t have that sensation.
Sight: Never seeing my child smile, or grow or his face…never seeing my husband, or family or all the beautiful sights..I would be very very depressed.
Hearing: Almost the same as sight. I would hate not ever being able to hear my son laugh, or what his voice develops into as he becomes a man. Also, I mean, would I even be able to drive? I don’t know how that’d work.
Taste: I love food too much.

Food won’t taste too hot without your sense of smell.

Taste. Which could actually be a good thing, since I love food (some, anyway) and try hard to keep a diet.

@pdworkin Well, then I’d be losing two senses at once. I was thinking this was imaginary and we weren’t going that deep into it.

I get it about it impacting taste but I would still give up smell as the most disposable sense. I am often stuffed up from allergies and can’t smell too well anyway – the other senses are just too important to me.

I’ve spent half my life stuffed up from allergies too, so it wouldn’t be too hard for me to give up smell. Plus, the things that smell the most wonderful to me are the things that I can no longer eat since I discovered my gluten-intolerance (freshly baked bread, cinnamon rolls, pizza, etc.), so it might even make me happier. I would definitely miss the smell of my mom’s rose garden, but not as much as I’d miss the rest of my senses…

Taste.

Taste.
I could lose some weight, maybe.

Taste, as well. Foods, etc., would still have some flavor thanks to sense of smell but you would be losing ability to taste sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, which would be a bummer since I enjoy them all. See ya….Gary aka wtf

I enjoy food, sex, reading and music way too much. So what if I’m giving up the smell of flowers, home-cooked meals and babies? I also get to miss out on farts, body odor and bad breath. Sign me up!

Smell. There are some full, wonderful aromas, but it is my least used sense.

There’s a lot of unanimity here about smell, including me. I’m scared about losing a prime sense. But what if we make it tougher and force you to choose between sight and hearing? I’m just curious.

Taste or smell. But this is all hypothetical, hopefully, because I’d miss all the sensations of eating cheese.

Losing my sense of sight is my greatest fear. Everything important and dear to me in life (all my hobbies) rely on my sense of sight. I’d be crippled as far as reading, writing, & design goes. I can’t give that stuff up.

Sight.

Probably smell, but I could also function quite well without hearing. The world is a very loud place, and I often wish it weren’t.

If I had to choose between sight and hearing, I guess I’d have to go with losing my hearing. I would desperately miss being able to listen to music, but I don’t think I could manage without my sight. Besides, I’ve always wanted to learn sign language…

I posed this as a separate question so as not to hijack this thread.

Taste—no. Food is one of the few things I like about life.
Smell—no. Need that for taste.
Sight—no. Too scary.
Touch—my 1st choice. I’m not sure how this would play out, though.
Hearing—my 2nd choice. I enjoy silence, but I’d miss music.

Smell! work with 15 yo boys who wear puffy jackets winter and summer. Now THAT smells like teen spirit.

Smell. I’d need touch in case my hand fell on a burning stove. But then I could get beaten up and not feel a thing.

@bugabear welcome to fluther. Lurve.

My sense of timing.

Taste. I’m convinced that the future of successful dieting will involve disabling the taste buds.

Smell. I hardly have one already, and I wouldn’t mind too much to lose the rest of it.

i guess taste.
i mean. i guess i’d eat more healthily. no more tempting ice cream.
i want smell because i love perfume and lilies and the smell of coffee (what a bummer i can’t drink the last one anymore though!) and it’s good in the case of a chemical leak…if the chemical has a tell-tale smell anyway.

Taste.

Smell.

Smell. Although, you know how when your nose is stuffed up, food seems to taste funny? So I guess it’d come with sacrificing part of your taste, too. I could live with that, though, if it meant keeping all of my more vital senses.