“One thing that humans have catastrophically overlooked is that intimate relationships extend our sensing capacities — radically. The forms are derived from the contexts and purposes in the relationships. Originally, humans acquired new senses all the time from direct relation with living places, animals, and microorganisms. Much of this has largely disappeared. But everyone understands, if unconsciously, that having a pet (such as a dog or cat) conveys at least the possibility of new senses upon the ‘owner’. A man in the forest with a dog is a >different animal than a man in the forest by himself. This is also true, however, in human relationships… even those imposed upon us by our societies or cultures. When you make a new friend, you get new senses as part of that relationship. I have been aware of this for a few decades now, but the most startling realizations have come from relationships with plants, animals, and living places… in part because the ‘bank of senses’ conserved in those relationships is almost infinitely deep.”

— an anonymous informant