Smell (chemical environment) was probably the "original" sense, followed quickly by touch (slow macro pressure) and hearing (fast micro pressure). Pretty much every animal has those, even if they lack the brains to do much sophisticated with them.
Sight came way, way, way, way, way, way, way later. Encoding language in sounds is an even more recent innovation, in the grand scheme.
This may also be why we have such trouble assigning words to smells, and you can't write a poem to replace a hug, for instance. They're processed by entirely different, and far more primal, parts of the brain than language.
Sight came way, way, way, way, way, way, way later. Encoding language in sounds is an even more recent innovation, in the grand scheme.
This may also be why we have such trouble assigning words to smells, and you can't write a poem to replace a hug, for instance. They're processed by entirely different, and far more primal, parts of the brain than language.