Let's discuss one instance of human sensitivity with abstract chemistry.
When a person orders a pieces of meat in a restaurant and tells the waiter the temperature, rare or medium, they are not specifying a subjective state of the meat at serving time, they are specifying the max internal temperature of a piece of meat during the cooking process. For the rare piece of meat, the max internal temperature is between 125 and 130 F for beef or lamb. For the medium piece of meat, the max internal temperature is between 140 and 150 F for beef or lamb. There is a relationship between the color and texture of the meat and the max internal temperature. [0]
One way to tell if the meat is at a certain temperature is to cut it open and look at the color. In this case visual perception can determine and make an association to the max internal temperature of a piece of meat. This is discouraged like sticking a thermometer into the piece of meat as the contracted proteins in the hot meat will push out liquid. Ideally, after the piece of meat reaches the max internal temperature it should rest at a warm temperature so that proteins have a chance to relax. In order to prevent puncturing the meat to determine the max internal temperature, chefs will use a light thumb or finger press making the association between tactile pressure and the internal max temperature. Moreover, there have been several chefs who can simultaneously roast several pieces of meat in an oven and determine the max internal temperature by sound of the roasting juices sizzle on the roasting pan.
This isn't extra sensory or any such thing. It is deterministic. It is simply the human mind is capable with practice to associate color with a temperature, tactical touch with a temperature, and the cadence of roasting juices hitting a pan with a temperature.
All I'm saying is that the motivating force for a chef to learn these associations between color, pressure, and sound is to not piss off the patron with an incorrect cooked piece of meat. The power relationship is important to the learning process.
When a person orders a pieces of meat in a restaurant and tells the waiter the temperature, rare or medium, they are not specifying a subjective state of the meat at serving time, they are specifying the max internal temperature of a piece of meat during the cooking process. For the rare piece of meat, the max internal temperature is between 125 and 130 F for beef or lamb. For the medium piece of meat, the max internal temperature is between 140 and 150 F for beef or lamb. There is a relationship between the color and texture of the meat and the max internal temperature. [0]
One way to tell if the meat is at a certain temperature is to cut it open and look at the color. In this case visual perception can determine and make an association to the max internal temperature of a piece of meat. This is discouraged like sticking a thermometer into the piece of meat as the contracted proteins in the hot meat will push out liquid. Ideally, after the piece of meat reaches the max internal temperature it should rest at a warm temperature so that proteins have a chance to relax. In order to prevent puncturing the meat to determine the max internal temperature, chefs will use a light thumb or finger press making the association between tactile pressure and the internal max temperature. Moreover, there have been several chefs who can simultaneously roast several pieces of meat in an oven and determine the max internal temperature by sound of the roasting juices sizzle on the roasting pan.
This isn't extra sensory or any such thing. It is deterministic. It is simply the human mind is capable with practice to associate color with a temperature, tactical touch with a temperature, and the cadence of roasting juices hitting a pan with a temperature.
All I'm saying is that the motivating force for a chef to learn these associations between color, pressure, and sound is to not piss off the patron with an incorrect cooked piece of meat. The power relationship is important to the learning process.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoglobin#Role_in_cuisine