Temperature is the amount of kinetic energy in a system. Are we feeling the force of the molecules hitting our skin when we detect something as being hot? Do we feel the kinetic energy in our skin decreasing when something feels cold? What do we actually feel when we detect temperature differences between our bodies and the objects with which we come into contact?
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The questions “what is “temperature” and how do we measure it” and “how do humans feel temperature” are two different issues, one is physics, the other biology.
Since you appear to be asking about human sense – we don’t feel temperature we feel *changes in temperature* and sometimes our senses are cheated by the presence of chemicals that interact with our nerve endings.
This is why being in 70F air feels so different from being in 70F water. Both are the same temperature but what we are feeling is the flow of heat outwards from our skin into our surroundings. Air is a great thermal insulator so it pulls heat out slowly, so we feel ‘comfortable’ in 70F air. But water sucks up heat like Greta Van Sustern goes through hotdogs so we feel a huge outflow of heat into 70F and it’s chilly to be in.
Now human thermal comfort is also tied to our ability to sweat, so 80F air on a dry fall day feels nice where as 80F in 100% humidity could very well be life threateningly hot (a “wet bulb” event)
Finally, some of our temperature sensors can be fooled by chemicals. Capsaicin (from hot peppers) and menthol (from mint-family plants) both trick our hot and cold nerve ends respectively. That’s why ‘hot’ peppers feel ‘hot’ (even though they might actually be cold) and why mint gum or soothing chest rubs might feel cold, even though you are actually hot.
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