[nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blind people to detect objects'

[Mike Bullis]

Allow me to Engage in a bit of speculation for a moment.  Let's change the
issue.
Suppose that tomorrow somebody developed a new augmentation for hearing.
Suppose it allowed you to hear in an expanded range--say 5 hertz to 40,000
hertz.  Let's further suppose that it allowed you a very increased ability
to locate objects with your hearing.  Say that you could locate an object at
a half mile within a foot or two if it was making the noise of a buzzing fly
or thereabouts.
Ok, ok, so, there are complications.  But, suppose you could adequately
filter what you hear, removing, or at least attenuating, sounds that you
didn't want to hear and hearing the ones you did want to hear.  For example.
There's a large semi tractor and trailor right next to you and you're at an
intersection.  With this new discriminating hearing, you could completely
attenuate the sound of the truck and hear what's going on for blocks around,
smoothly creating a sound picture of the landscape.  

I believe you would accept the device without hesitation if there were no
risks or major disruptions to your normal life.  Actually, I believe you
would most likely accept it even if it disrupted your life, so long as you
saw a long term benefit to your ability to travel.  And, let's be honest.
The learning of the long cane or guide dog has caused it's own set of
disruptions to our lives--causing us to have to take time away from school
or work to learn.  So, the techniques we now have are not without
complexity, risk, or a lack of disruption.  And, the techniques we now have
still don't protect us from overheads and still can't detect quiet cars.
So, there is room for improvement.

Having posed this situation, I speculate that the reason for so much
discussion about the chip that provides sight is that it is sight.  If it
were hearing we wouldn't have nearly the controversy.    

I agree with Dave.  As I said earlier.  Having vision would be a hoot.
Should the opportunity to see come my way, I'd take it, if the benefits
outweighed the potential risks or side effects.  I also learned much from
the real life story of Marsha Drenth.  She truly faced the choice and sounds
like she learned hard lessons.

No, I don't live my life mourning the lack of sight.  On the other hand,
what fun it might be.
And, who knows, with my alternative techniques I might be able to use sight
in ways other sighted folks don't.  It might actually make me a "better than
sighted person."  Ok, Ok, maybe not.
But, again, what an experience.
Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of David Andrews
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2010 7:27 PM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blind people to detect
objects'

I agree with John and Mike.  All things being equal, I think most of 
us would see if we could.

Dave

At 02:41 PM 11/4/2010, you wrote:
>Well, I seldom agree with John about anything but....
>I'd take the chip just because it would be an interesting and probably
>exciting thing to try.
>My life is quite full and I'm comfortable with my blindness but that
doesn't
>mean I would turn down sight.
>In any case, the sight provided in this article is pretty minimal and
>probably not usable by people who have never seen.
>In most cases the reason I would turn down opportunities to see are that
>they would be a major disruption of my life, probably involving numerous
>operations or major amounts of time off work.  In other words, although I
>would find sight an interesting and new option in my life, I wouldn't take
>risks of what I currently have to get it.  And, I always envisioned any
such
>treatment as having percentages of success.  They'd say, "This process has
a
>20 percent chance of working and if it doesn't work you could be in major
>pain for the rest of your life."  You get the picture.  I'd love to see so
>long as I didn't have to risk anything serious for it.
>Now, offer me new eyes with no risk to the rest of my life and the
>reasonable cewrtainty that I'd end up with good vision, I'd take that.

                         David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
Follow me on Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920


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