Another serious thread

[#1]

This is something which I have often thought about...
How does one explain what the sense of sight is to someone who has been blind since birth?
I know blind people's other senses are often more heightened than a sighted person's and they can even feel objects but my dilemma is how can one explain what it is to actual 'see' objects.
There is a very good scene in the film Mask where a blind girl is given, I think, cotton wool, to try to understand what a cloud is like but it doesn't really address my question.
Throughout my life I have never known any blind people personally so this subject has never actually come up in conversation.
I'd appreciate any views or insights anyone may have on this.

[#2]

Perhaps this will answer your question. Btw, the rest of his videos are great.

[#3]

Boy you could tie your brain in knots trying to work out a way to do that.
That video is a real thought provoker.

[#4]

Interesting videos and very thought-provoking, thanks.

[#5]

yes, excellent video, thanks !

[#6]

on the same theme... how do you describe any "colour" or shade of coulour to someone who has never seen anyting in colour?
Yes... you say to people.. it is red, like a post box.... but then you have to describe a post box, which they have never seen, and the colour red is superfluous....

[#7]

you  got me  thinking  of  PC  Rathbone... ...  who was  shot in the  face...  ..
  and  he  later  commited  suicide!!!!

[#8]

Of all the physical disabilities you can be born with or succumb to later in life, the one that fills me with absolute horror is blindness. Mrs P when working as a switchboard operator many years ago she worked with a blind girl whom I met once or twice. She was jolly and cheerful and brilliant at her job, never getting a connection wrong. She was said to be never bothered by her lack of sight. I don't know if she was blind from birth. 

[#9]

I saw an interview once with David Blunkett.  He said that when he was at home he had to have the light on in the winter. he said it felt right.

[#10]

Quote from: artmo

I saw an interview once with David Blunkett.  He said that when he was at home he had to have the light on in the winter. he said it felt right.

This would be for his third eye. Where the Cyclops would have his.
A good way to see this 'third eye' is to take a small torch and put the light against your forehead , so no light escapes. You will see your 'view 'brighten' even with your eyes closed.
It is this third eye, that is believed to be the trigger for SAD, seasonal adjustment deficiency ( I think it stands for). 

[#11]

Quote from: artmo

He said that when he was at home he had to have the light on

That was really so Kimberly would know he was in.

[#12]

and if you are blind and deaf like Helen Keller what do your thoughts and dreams consist of? images or words?

[#13]

I had blind friend (blind from birth) and he asked me to describe clouds - and I gave him some cotton wool to hold  (I‘ve never seen the film ‘Mask’).  Whether this helped or not, I don’t know!  Another blind friend (blind from birth) told me that it wasn’t until she was an adult that she found out that birds have two legs - she’d assumed that, like cats and dogs, they had four legs.  Nobody had told her otherwise.

[#14]

Of course Blunkett had an extra eye with his seeing-eye dog

[#15]

Quote from: doris

This would be for his third eye. Where the Cyclops would have his. A good way to see this 'third eye' is to take a small torch and put the light against your forehead , so no light escapes. You will see your 'view 'brighten' even with your eyes closed. It is this third eye, that is believed to be the trigger for ...

I don't know who puts these ideas out there, but I can only blame fringe, "new age" believers. If you put a torch to your forehead the light is going to shine through your forehead and will be detected by your eyes - your normal two eyes, not any mythical, third eye.

Quote from: doris

... SAD, seasonal adjustment deficiency ( I think it stands for).

Seasonal affective disorder.