what would happen if you were born blind, and after maturity you got you could see again?
11 replies, posted
it doesn't matter that it isn't possible now, but I'd like to see some people that are a tons smarter than me "theorize" on what would happen. I'm really interested in these things. Just like being deaf and hearing for the first time 20+ years into your life.
imagine how amazing it would be to see for the first time in your entire life and understand enough about communication to know it's a truly amazing happening that everyone takes for granted
It would probably go like this
[video=youtube;CjCxyruU8NI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjCxyruU8NI[/video]
Youre brain would shit itself. Probably forever.
[QUOTE=endorphinsam;42236367]Just like being deaf and hearing for the first time 20+ years into your life[/QUOTE]
It's shitty, coming from a person who's hard of hearing.
Something like this probably.
[url]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/31/montreal-man-sees-for-first-time_n_3682602.html[/url]
I think I would cry at the first sight. Even the littlest things are taken for granted...such as sight.
Your brain would have no idea what these things called images are so you would most likely suffer something similar to motion sickness as the information from your eyes overwhelm you. Not to mention everything your brain picks up from sight, stuff like body language, depth perception, color, etc. Basically what I'm saying is sight is completely due to the brain, and since you haven't had a lifetime of learning by your eyes, it would be a horrifyingly daunting experience to say the least.
I've always wondered this myself. I would assume they would be VERY overwhelmed and would have to take breaks in between seeing, like closing their eyes for a while and then opening them to help ease their mind into visualizing. I would also imagine a huge rush of visual thoughts would flood their minds with non stop images of what they first saw, all the colors, peoples faces, ect.
So I would imagine it would be a lot of work and strain on their part. I hardly think it would turn out like "oh wow now i can see, lets go to the circus"
Do note such simple notions as recognising faces and objects are totally built in you brain over a lifetime so everything you see will literally mean jack shit to your brain.
Neural pathways wouldn't have developed fully (or much at all) during the critical window in the occipital lobe, therefore your brain won't really know how to deal with any of the new information. Some of it might be lost, your depth perception and spatial awareness would be totally fucked, you wouldn't really be able to use the information at all. You'd also have issues dealing with relative positioning, it'd likely impact your balance a tiny bit (other parts deal with balance more than sight) and you'd probably have huge issues distinguishing faces, objects and the like, and remembering them.
I'm not certain on this bit, but I believe that a brain actually re-purposes some parts of the brain if they are relatively unused. If you're deaf, it might spread some other functions from the rest of the brain into the temporal lobe, if you're blind the occipital lobe will take up some more functions from the rest of the brain. Brains are remarkably adaptable.
I think I would break into song.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jsw_r0hILQ[/media]
Or scream and collapse from confusion and sensory overload.
Possibly both simultaneously.
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