[Ct-nfb] Device Helps Blind See with Tongue

[Chris Kuell]

Hey Hamit,

No hurt feelings here, and I do understand what you are saying. The general 
consensus among NFB members is that blindness is not that big of a deal, and 
it's possible to lead a perfectly happy and healthy life without sight. I 
agree 100%. At the same time, having been sighted for 34 years, I have an 
appreciation for sight, it is truely an incredible thing, and of course I 
would love to be able to see again. Not because I think blindness is awful, 
but because the world is built for sighted people, and sight would add 
incredibly to the life experience. Simply put, sight is much more intense 
than any of the other senses. Again, it's not mandatory, but it sure would 
be sweet. To use an analogy, we all get around fine by walking, taking 
public transportation, bumming rides from friends, etc. But being able to 
get in the car and drive to the movies or to the Stop-n-Shop would be much 
easier. And if we happened to pass a flock of bikini clad beauties on the 
way--so much the better!

Having said that, and having a background in science, I know that I will 
never again be able to see in my lifetime. Even if a magic fairy came up and 
with a spell and a swish of the wand restored my sight, chances are the 
sensory input would be too great and I would find the world far too complex 
and confusing. And I know you would. In every case where vision has been 
restored to someone with long term sight loss, this is the case. The brain 
has rewired itself to deal with blindness, and sight simply throws it off. 
When a baby is born, it takes about 2 years for the brain to get a handle on 
sight, to learn to classify and label things. It's a full time job, and 
sight is simply far more complex than any other sense. As complicated a 
musical piece as you can imagine, it's simple in comparison to the 
complexities involved in 'seeing' a snow capped mountain, or a beautiful 
woman dancing a rhumba.

Which is why I'm not interested in tongue technology in the least. It 
couldn't possibly bring about a hundredth of the brain activity sight does, 
or braille does, for that matter. It's like tasting a piece of dry, white 
toast when sight is really a huge buffet smorgasboard full of every dish you 
can imagine.

I do understand how much you'd like to experience sight, I really do. I'd 
love to be able to throw a 100 mile per hour fastball, or play guitar like 
Carlos Santana, or fly. These things will never happen, but it's fun to 
dream about them.

chris