According to Russell's philosophical reasoning regarding the reality of matter, if we closely analyze a pencil, what can our senses immediately tell us about the pencil?

Answer: What the pencil seems to signify in relation to us

Explanation: Bertrand Russell

was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, essayist, social critic, political activist, and Nobel laureate. He was deeply interested in the logic of psychology and how events are related and work together.

His philosophical reasoning regarding matter is that we tend to view objects around us a function of what they mean in relation to us, which means the same object can be perceived to be different things to different people. Most of the functionalities of objects are in the individual subconscious and the senses interpret these in relation to what it can do for or mean to us.