- Sensing refers to the thinking processes agents use to detect changing states of their environment.
- As a human, I have external senses and internal senses which gather data about the state of my local environment.
- External sensing gathers state data about the environment “outside” of my body.
- Seeing: sensing the change in light/color levels around me, perceived as sight.
- Hearing: sensing the change in air pressure around me, perceived as sound.
- Smelling/Tasting: sensing the change in biological molecules around me, perceived as smell and taste.
- Touching: sensing the change in pressure on my skin, perceived as touch.
- Balancing: sensing the change in center of mass of my body, perceived as balance.
- Internal sensing gathers state data about the environment “inside” of my body.
- Tired: sensations about the bodily need for sleeping
- Hunger: sensations about the bodily need for drinking
- Thirst: sensations about the bodily need for eating
- Emotions: are bodily sensations about complex bodily needs
- Unconscious: sensing unconscious parts of our mind/body
- Our brain is not a perfect information detection machine, it’s heavily biased to help us survive, e.g. we don’t see sticks in the grass, we see snakes first.