[nfb-talk] Proposal and predictions

[David Andrews]

John:

You make an interesting point about people wishing they were dead if 
they went blind in the face of our successes.  I think the reason is 
that they see each successful blind person as an exception to their 
pre-conceived notions.  That way, if you are the exception it doesn't 
challenge how they really feel;.

Also, when I talked about artificial vision, I said "useful 
artificial vision."  We have it of sorts today, but I mean vision 
that is the same as or similar to that experienced by a fully sighted 
person.  Today the resolution is so bad that it has to be regarded as 
an experiment.

Dave

At 10:44 AM 3/1/2009, you wrote:
>We're getting off the topic of the original proposal so it's a good 
>thing somebody changed the subject line. But I would like to point 
>out that it's not particularly relevant that people think blindness 
>is horrible when it comes to the proposal that the NFB start 
>providing adaptive equipment. The idea that blindness is horrible 
>and that we're helpless are related but not identical. And while 
>supplying adaptive equipment may not help dispel the idea that being 
>blind is horrible, it might help dispel the idea that we're helpless.
>
>Anyway, back to what you're saying...
>
>I probably have told the story about how several of my friends 
>insist that if they went blind, they'd kill themselves. I ask them 
>how they can think that when they see me clearly happy and 
>successful. But they say I can handle it. To some degree they are 
>complimenting my toughness but it's also partially that they see me 
>as a total nerd. It's not so bad for a nerd to be blind but if 
>you're a normal human being, it's horrible.
>
>Anyway, in spite of all my efforts to convince them otherwise, they 
>insist that they'd kill themselves. And I'm talking about 2 groups 
>of friends. One group are people I work with and the other is people 
>I run with. They both know me really well and never the less think 
>that suicide would be a valid option if they go blind.
>
>I also would not dispute the idea that parents would probably abort 
>a fetus if they were warned in advance that it would be blind. I 
>suspect that probably has already happened. If it hasn't, it's 
>probably only because there's no way to detect it.
>
>The final point I'd like to make is that I think people are 
>underestimating how soon we'll have artificial vision.  It' funny I 
>got into an argument on this list about Ray Kurswail's predictions 
>which I think are unrealistically optimistic. But we already have 
>rudimentary artificial vision. It doesn't take a great deal of 
>imagination to picture improvements that would give people effective 
>artificial vision.
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "RyanO" <ryano218 at comcast.net>
>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 8:50 PM
>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Proposal and predictions
>
>
>>David, I fully agree with you on your prediction about synthetic 
>>vision. I've said before that society will come up with a "cure for 
>>blindness" long before it joins us in our belief that it is 
>>respectable to be blind. I heard a radio commercial the other day 
>>with a cheesy rendition of, "What a Wonderful World," in the 
>>background. The announcer asked parents to imagine how terrible it 
>>would be to raise a child without sight. The fact that a commercial 
>>like this can be aired in the mainstream today in a hypersensitive 
>>culture of political correctness speaks volumes.
>>
>>Of course, world events may take us down a much darker path than 
>>the one that leads to artificial vision. I firmly believe that 
>>circumstances could lead us to a point when it would be a common 
>>societal practice to abort embryos that are deemed "defective" by 
>>doctors. We may even hit a point where our countries cannot 
>>economically sustain programs for the disabled. Some have accused 
>>me of holding an extreme view on this futuristic vision, but I 
>>sincerely believe that it is possible. War and economic collapse 
>>often drive people into extreme behavior.
>>
>>
>>
>>RyanO
>>
>>
>>
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>
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