@Shuttle128: I am not sure it’s fair to think of classification as its own function. Classification of sensory stimuli is a byproduct of discrimination, which is a necessary component of perception. Classification of more abstract concepts is a function of learning—so I think what you’re really asking, then is two separate questions:
1. What would become of us if we couldn’t perceive?
2. What would become of us if we couldn’t learn?
The answer to (1) is, it depends on what you’re not perceiving, but there’s a whole garden of agnosias that address those possible deficits.
The answer to (2) is, in my opinion, much more interesting. For a case study about the most famous man to ever lose his memory, see HM(patient). He did, in fact, identify each experience as a new one, no matter how many times he had done it before.
Could he associate anything? Well, yeah. Your brain has multiple memory systems, and you can destroy one (in his case, declarative memory [in the medial temporal lobe]) while leaving others intact (procedural memory [in the cerebellum and amygdala]). So he could still learn some associations, but he never became aware of them.
@girlofscience: You are a fucking bitch and I love you.