Would You Rather Be Blind Or Deaf?

[The Spartan (Returns)]

id rather be deaf as seeing is believing. and seeing has many benifets. (such as the babe thread) while hearing..meh.

[UltraWar]

Gah!

[Louis VI the Fat]

Neither really, but I think being deaf is less of a burden.

How the visually impaired manage despite their handicap is utterly beyond me. Amazing and hats off to them.

[Csargo]

Gah

[yesdachi]

Living without sight would be difficult for me.

[Drisos]

blind.. I need to hear music. (serious!)

[Craterus]

Well, I really can't choose.

I can't imagine being blind, never seeing the special people and the special places ever again.

But a life without music would be hell too.

I'll keep thinking about it.

[Kralizec]

I'd rather be deaf. Deaf people still can learn to read lips, and deafness seems easier to live with generally.

Having to live without sight seems terrible, and I'd rather not think of it.

[Kekvit Irae]

Deaf. My spouse is deaf, so it's the obvious answer.

Deaf people can... drive a car, watch a movie or TV with subtitles/CC, have l33t skillz at games, read a book without the assistance of braille, walk across a busy street at a crosswalk without needing a specially trained dog.

None of which a blind person can do, which is why SSI Disability (in the US) pays special attention to those who are blind, as it is far more debilitating to every day life than one who cannot hear.

[Beirut]

A common question but it can be thought provoking.

My best friend's parents were both deaf. You could not believe the speed they would attain in their conversations while using sign langauge. Remarkable that that level of versatility in communication exists.

My mother was a volunteer at a major school and center for the blind for about twenty-five years. She translated hundreds of textbooks into braille for the center. If there was a mistake, she had to redo the whole page, white out doesn't work. She read braille by sight, not touch. We always had huge stacks of braille paper in the house. Best paper to draw on you'll ever find. She also read textbooks to two blind students in our house. One was getting a bachelors in something, never knew, but the other fellow got his doctorate in literature. Very impressive.

She also read novels onto tape for the school library. It was interesting hearing my mother say "***!" every time I walked into the house for years because of this. I'd walk in, slam the door, and she'd say "****!" while hitting rewind on the tape machine so she could re-record the sentence without SLAM! Hey ma." interjected into the story. I'm sure I got in a few good books though.

My right ear hasn't worked at all since I was born and my left has had it's moments because of too much saw noise, so I have a small idea of deafness. In the end, I would rather be deaf.

In the end, I would rather be just fine.

[Avicenna]

Deaf.

Not much of a music fan, and I really don't know how I'd get on without sight.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Deaf.

No sight equals no computer, no hot women to appreciate (not in that order).

Just seems like seeing would be more important than hearing. Maybe I'm wrong.

[Papewaio]

We always had huge stacks of braille paper in the house. Best paper to draw on you'll ever find.

Now that has to go on a list for irony.

[Big_John]

eyes allow you see and appreciate beautiful things. but beauty isn't confined to sight. i think i'd rather be able to hear music than see stuff. a beautiful woman feels as beautiful as she looks, and a breathtaking mountain is as breathtaking to climb, as it is to regard.

[Beirut]

Forgot to add something in my post. My mother's opinion was that she would have preferred being blind to deaf. She thought deaf people were inherently more isolated, lacked casual interaction (so often based on talking), and had more difficulty being involved in social groups.

When I was a rent-a-cop in Montreal, we had a bunch of construction guys sitting in the lobby taking break one night. One was deaf. Everyone was bantering back and forth except the guy who couldn't hear. He sat and ate and just looked around. I guess this was the kind of situation she was referring too.

[DemonArchangel]

As an artist, I could NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER go blind.

So if I had to choose, I'd probably go deaf.

[Divinus Arma]

Forgot to add something in my post. My mother's opinion was that she would have preferred being blind to deaf. She thought deaf people were inherently more isolated, lacked casual interaction (so often based on talking), and had more difficulty being involved in social groups.

When I was a rent-a-cop in Montreal, we had a bunch of construction guys sitting in the lobby taking break one night. One was deaf. Everyone was bantering back and forth except the guy who couldn't hear. He sat and ate and just looked around. I guess this was the kind of situation she was referring too.

Good point. However, the blind are still more reliant on others than the deaf. So I guess your choice may also be affected by your family-social situation. Of course, if you had very close ties to a large family, everyone would learn sign language.

I know that I would, and I make damn sure that everyone else learned it, no matter who was the disabled in our circle.

My vote still goes to "blindeth sucketh moreth".

[Papewaio]

At least a deaf person could still use the Org with no issues...

[Samurai Waki]

I'd Prefer to go Deaf. Then I could crank up the volume as loud as I wanted to just to piss off my neighbors and I wouldn't be able to tell that it was loud except for that I'd be able to feel the vibrations. and when the neighbor calls the cops over to turn down the music I would just scratch my head and shrug like I didn't really know what was going on

[Fragony]

Deaf. My spouse is deaf, so it's the obvious answer.

How do you communicate, you can do that hand gesture talking? It always amazes me that it goes just as fast as normal speech.

[edyzmedieval]

Neither.

You cannot live properly and enjoy the life if you were blind OR deaf. All these things(seeing, hearing, feeling...) have been created to construct a natural balance of the human body. The dissapearance of one of these important features of the body makes you totally inapt, even if you could go on with life as normal as it can be.

So, GAH because I don't want to choose. If I were in a situation like this, I'd probably choose death because I can't imagine myself being blind OR deaf. It would be something I wouldn't accept or believe.

[The Spartan (Returns)]

anyway, if i was deaf, people can always write signs so i know what they were saying.

[Beirut]

Neither.

You cannot live properly and enjoy the life if you were blind OR deaf. All these things(seeing, hearing, feeling...) have been created to construct a natural balance of the human body. The dissapearance of one of these important features of the body makes you totally inapt, even if you could go on with life as normal as it can be.

If I were you I'd duck. Because when that moment of enlightenment hits you and you realize how far off the truth you really are, it may knock you clean out.

[Husar]

If I were you I'd duck. Because when that moment of enlightenment hits you and you realize how far off the truth you really are, it may knock you clean out.

I agree.
I was trying to reply to this several times, but the matter seems too complicated to answer in short and my position is hard to put into words.
I´d also say this may belong into the backroom.

[Kekvit Irae]

How do you communicate, you can do that hand gesture talking? It always amazes me that it goes just as fast as normal speech.

That "hand gesture talking" is called sign language.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I think I'd have to go with deaf. One of my High School's guidance counselors is blind and he gets around really well (and can even use a computer because of a program that speaks to him), but I just don't think I'd be able to trust other people to help me get around that much, and I really like my independence, which I think would be easier to keep if I was deaf than if I was blind.

[Zalmoxis]

Gah.

[edyzmedieval]

If I were you I'd duck. Because when that moment of enlightenment hits you and you realize how far off the truth you really are, it may knock you clean out.

Huh? How come?

[Beirut]

Huh? How come?

Because enlightenment, like a sledgehammer, often changes ones mindset with a disconcerting blow that requires the thinkee to accept fundamental changes to his point of view.

[edyzmedieval]

I still don't get it.
You commented about my post, and I asked what was the problem? Was something wrong that I said?