Essay on Sensitivity For Grade 9 | Sense and Sensitivity

What is sensitivity? The word sensitivity is derived from the English word sensitive which according to the Oxford English Dictionary means quick to detect or respond to slight changes, signals or influences.

That is, something or someone who is quick in reflexes to changing conditions is sensitive. To define sensitivity much better let’s take an example. Imagine you and your friend take a stroll on the streets and see a beggar begging for alms. You turn a blind eye to him but your friend sympathizes. This kind of difference of opinions between you and your friend is not just because you are two different people; it is precisely because your friend is more sensitive to human suffering than you. This does not imply that you are inhuman or insensitive but probably it takes a little more for you to feel the human pain.

The word sensitivity apart from its emotional connotation has a lot of types and forms. You must have heard of terms like case sensitive, culture sensitive or insulin sensitive. Let us look at these terms one by one.

Case sensitive, a term used in the tech savvy world. It is a computer program or a function differentiating capital and lower-case. This must have happened when you fill your passwords. If the set password is in lowercase, the next time you fill it the case has to be followed otherwise an error pops up saying that the password is case sensitive.

Cultural sensitivity has numerous definitions to it, but this one gets the idea across the best. Cultural sensitivity is being aware that cultural similarities and differences exist in the world, but not allocating them a worth – positive or negative, better or worse, right or wrong. This means that culture and sensitivity are two concepts that have to be followed by the human mind and all cultures and races need to be treated the same.

Insulin sensitivity on the other hand is a general occurrence in a human body that can be measured through scientific studies. Insulin sensitivity depends upon how sensitive the body of an individual is to the effects of insulin. To be insulin sensitive means that the body will require smaller doses of insulin to control blood glucose levels than someone who has low sensitivity. Insulin sensitivity varies from person to person. Doctors can perform sensitivity tests to understand how sensitive an individual is to insulin and provide dosage accordingly.

Think about your Sense and sensitivity!