Senses and Perception

Senses are what give people the ability to know what a certain item or object is, but without senses how can one even come to percieve what that object is. Is one still able to learn what a specific thing is, without having been able to smell, touch or see it? This brings into the question of emotions, how can one know what the true meaning of sadness is? It seems that all objects or emotions no matter what people call them can be percieved which ever way you want. We are all taught what these certain feelings are and why they occur, but how are we to know for certain that these teachings are right or even that other people get that same exact feeling from specific situations? This can also bring into question if what we call reality actually is what we think it is. Could it be possible that some of the things that happen in our life are all dreams? Or are we supposed to take life and embrace it without question? This causes plenty of skepticism on whether being in a dream or in reality are interconnected.