Are there things that we can see/touch/smell/hear/taste that we cannot describe or explain

in words?

We are bombarded by things that we take in through our senses every moment of every day.

Everything we process in the world must be taken in through our senses and most of this information is

only relevant and useful if we are able to communicate it to ourselves and to others and express it in

thought. There are a few things though; that we never are able to communicate to anyone but

ourselves, and even then, it is nearly impossible to put these things into words that make sense.

Usually, the first thing that comes to mind when considering this concept is colors. It is very

hard, possibly even impossible to accurately express in words to another human being. However, this

example has some room for explanation, because you can use other well-known colors to describe

specific colors to someone. You cannot, however, describe what color is, or what it generically looks like.

Another example similar to color is the sense of smell as a whole. How can you explain a smell

to someone without just telling someone what you think it is you smell? There are some words that can

be used to describe the general qualities of the smell, but you cannot accurately describe what

something smells like to someone if they’ve never smelled it before. For instance, I’ve described what I

remember Furby toys to smell like, but if someone doesn’t remember the smell I’m referring to, there is

no way for me to describe it.

I think the best example of a sense that cannot be described in words is taste. We are very

limited in how we describe the taste of things, and as every flavor is extremely unique, we are forced to

classify many different unique tastes under the five basic categories: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and

savory. All of this uniqueness grouped into such simple categories makes it very hard to describe the

taste of something, even to someone who has experienced the taste.

I left out touch and hearing because I believe they are, while difficult, the easiest of the senses

to describe to people who can experience those senses. For touch, there are plenty of words and
examples to describe what feeling you’re trying to express. For hearing, it is easy to replicate a sound, as

well as there are also a lot of words to describe sounds.

The only time I think describing any of these senses to someone is ultimately impossible is when

the person you are trying to explain it to is incapable of experiencing the sense you are trying to explain,

as in trying to explain hearing to a deaf person, or color/sight to a blind person, especially if they were

born with that condition.

So yes, there are actually a myriad of things that cannot be described in words, especially to

others and often even to us ourselves. Language is flawed with regard to perception for this reason, and

it also suggests that there must be some common way in which people experience senses and make

them make sense to themselves.