[Ct-nfb] Device Helps Blind See with Tongue

[Trevor Attenberg]

Hey,
Just for the record--as a guitarist--playing a solo at a million mps isn't
that hard per se. It's more a question of doing it with some soul. 
There is really nothing to stop the march of technology and innovation, save
perhaps the collapse of humankind, which is not about to happen. I would say
that technology is best done with popular critique and insight, rather than
inventers telling people what they want.
Best,
Trev

-----Original Message-----
From: ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Hamit Campos
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 9:11 AM
To: 'NFB of Connecticut Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] Device Helps Blind See with Tongue

I'ed forgotten about that. I've heard that about how people get confused. I
guess I for some odd reason didn't think the brain totally changed. So I
never understood how they got confused. Come to think of it, I always
thought that for an adult it would be some what easyer since all that was
happening was that now instead of just touching things, you are now actually
looking at them if you get my drift. Very interesting.

-----Original Message-----
From: ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Chris Kuell
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 8:45 AM
To: NFB of Connecticut Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] Device Helps Blind See with Tongue

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
 


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