An old Chinese saying goes "Seeing is believing." But it seems that many people want to touch the things they see, even art works in the museums. So, why do we trust our finger tips more than our eyes？
According to a study published in Nature Scientific Reports, touching "provides" a sense of reality" and puts us in contact with the outside world" when we are faced with confusing information, Science Daily reported.
In the study, volunteers were given many upside down T-shaped sets, with two matchsticks of different lengths. They were asked to say which of the matchsticks was longer(垂直的) one or the horizontal (水平的) one.
According to the researchers, people quickly found the answer with their eyes when one matchstick was obviously longer than the other. But when the two matchsticks were similar in length, volunteers used to touch to judge which matchstick was the longer one.
This suggests that sight is a useful and fast means to get a general impression but when the context is not clear, people turn to their sense of touch. This is because touch does something more than providing us with true information- it gives us a sense of certainty- a control of reality.
"Touch is still like other senses: It is good sometimes, bad at others, and it all depends on the context and task", then vision(视觉) will be more efficient(高效的)
The researchers believe that human beings evolved (演变) to use their senses flexibly for fact checking in everyday life. They add that although the five senses seem to operate independently of each other, in reality "they work together closely to enable the mind to better understand its surroundings
