Insight: Oct 13

This week Insight explores how we see the world and interpret the sensations around us and whether we really know if our experiences are the same as anyone else.

Are our senses limited when we are born, or can we train and improve our sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell?

Host Jenny Brockie talks to a fighter pilot who conquers optical illusions in the sky, a master sommelier who can pick a wine’s vintage and origin from taste and smell alone, and a congenitally blind woman who uses echolocation (detecting objects in the environment by interpreting echoes from those objects) to navigate the world.

The viewing audience will also be able to put its sight, hearing and multi-tasking abilities to the test during the episode with several activities to try at home.

Guests include:

Julee-anne Bell
A congenitally blind woman who uses echoes to navigate her way around objects.

Tom Hawthorne
Severely colour blind man who says the condition impacts his daily life.

Catherine Strutt
Catherine and her twin sister Jennifer have synaesthesia, where they see colours when they hear letters or numbers.

Prof Jason Mattingley, University of Queensland
Sense expert: “We can’t tell … whether we’re seeing the world in the same way.”

David Alais, University of Sydney
Sense expert: “There’s a lot of brain space dedicated just to seeing. For most of us, it turns out to be our most dominant sense.”

Sebastian Crowther
Master Sommelier: “I think with wine tasting it’s something that over time, you just become more confident in your own senses and your own ability to taste and perceive things.”

Tuesday at 8.30pm on SBS.