The five senses - part five

My last observation - for now - on the topic has to do with a question.

Which of the five is the most refined?

I found this quote by Robert Delaunay, a French painter labeled as Orphist:

"The eye is the most refined of our senses, the one which communicates most directly with our mind, our consciousness."

I am not sure I agree here. His paintings, for example are almost musical. Interesting that his work was called "Orphic cubism", being Orpheus son of the god Apollo (in Greek mythology - a fascinating tale, btw) and a fantastic poet and musician, who perfected the lyre created by Hermes.

Rhythm, Joie de Vivre

Seeing Delaunay's work is as if he was perceiving visuals as sounds. Which makes me think of synaesthesia.

Synaesthesia is the ability for the senses to be mixed up in the brain, producing for example the perception of a sound as a smell, taste as touch, visuals as sound... or you name the combination. It is often present in artists and people that meditate a lot. Notice that I called it an ability and not something that's wrong with a person - modern psychology labels this phenomena as some sort of problem (sigh). It allows you to perceive your environment in a very deep and fascinating way, making it not just more alive, but also more rich and 'informational'.

So, in not agreeing with Delaunay, I would say that sound is the most refined of all senses. Why, because sound is one of those things that can become very, very abstract. Just think of the connection between music and mathematics...pretty abstract. The fact of not being completely aware of what is happening with the sense of hearing doesn't make it less refined than seeing.

A bit of a digression... Maybe the question here is what is my parameter to call something more refined? What makes something more or less refined? To me something refined has the ability for abstraction and a high level precision. So refined, in this context would equate with precision and abstraction.

Considering the above I'd say that a sound (coming from the external environment) could take someone deeper and higher into abstraction, out of their mind (ordinary mind: the gross block, the blahblahblah), closer to Reality than visuals (coming from the external environment). Since the five senses have to do with the information coming from the outside, I'd insist on saying that the sense of hearing is the most refined of them all.

But, that is just me... what do you think?