No brainer.
This is a fun one.
How come 70 degrees outside in January feels warm, but 70 degrees in July feels cool? After all, temperature is temperature.
70 degrees is 70 degrees - whether it's in December or August, March or October. It’s not as if we have different thermometers for each season. Now although there are many factors that make us feel warm or cool - such as humidity, how much fat we have, sweat, heat transfer, air movement, etc. – the real reason why 70 feels different at different times is actually in our head… that is to say, our brain. We don’t spend a lot of time in one specific temperature zone. We move around. In so doing our brains make temperature comparisons. 70 inside the house feels very warm compared to 40 outside. Then again, 70 in one room feels cooler compared to 80 in another room. It’s not the temperature that changed (70 is still 70), rather what we compared it to has changed. In January, our brains compare temperatures to what’s happening to us in January – not in July (and vice versa).
Oh, and if you want the science content – (I edited the following part out of the above comment)
What is temperature? Temperature is the measurement of the energy emitted by the movement of molecules. The faster they move the more energy they give off; the slower the less. We call this energy “heat”. So when you look at a thermometer to see how cold it is outside, you’re really seeing how much less heat there is. What we refer to as “cold” is simply the absence of heat.
A thermometer is only a measuring device, like a yardstick, a speedometer, or a scale. And yes, a person can "feel" warmer (or cooler) based on the temperature number they see on a thermometer. This "phantom feeling" is caused because we tell ourselves that a certain number on a thermometer will feel a certain way. Say a room is 72 degrees. A person sees that numenbr on a thermometer and feels comfortable. Now say that the temperature that the thermometer is artificially altered to read 67, but the actual temperature remains at 72. Some people, upon seeing 67 on the thermometre, will think they feel cooler. Likewise, if the thermometer were altered to read 78 (even though the actual temperature remained at 72), some people would feel warmer. This is especially true for thermostat settings.
Our sense of taste relies heavily on smell. {Test - Hold your nose and taste random foods. You'll be surprised at what you can't taste.} It also relies on sight. {Do the same test only this time close your eyes too (so you don't know what you're eating) and you'll find you'll have an even harder time tasting.} But wait... it gets weirder. Our sense of taste can be altered by our emotions as well. That chocolate cake tasted so good when you were happily eating it with friends. Yet somehow it doesn't taste quite the same when you're eating it alone. Our sense of taste can also be altered by circumstances. Say it's been such a hectic day that you couldn't even stop for a bite of lunch... and now you're super hungry! You have a craving for pizzas, so you stop in at a little pizza place on you way home. The pizza is so delicious! You've never tasted anything so good! A week later you're out shopping, and you decide to stop in at the same pizza place. Yet, for some reason the pizza isn't nearly as good as you remember it being before. You probably just tell yourself that it was a different cook. Truth is, the time before, you were hungry and had a craving... and the food "hit the spot". This time, circumstances are different. Same pizza, different circumstances, different "taste".
Shuhak 