Choosing Blindness Over Sight
April 7th, 2007 by janetIf you lost your eye sight through an accident or disease and you were offered the chance to get it back, would you take it?
And if you were born totally blind and had the chance to experience sight, would you take it?
The answer to both these questions might seem obvious, but they’re not.
In a two part series called ‘The Blind Brain’ on ABC Radio National’s ‘All in the Mind’ program, these questions are explored. A man who lost his sight many years ago as a young person through an accident said emphatically that he would not want his sight restored through the use of computer technology, such as chips and bionic eyes. On the other side of the coin, a man born without sight said he would jump at the chance.
What is the difference?
Having lost my sight later in life, I can see the issue very clearly. The first gentleman interviewed spoke about how his brain or mind’s eye has taken over the function of his sight. He ’sees’ everything around him three-dimensionally and in colour. If he is pouring a cup of coffee, he has to look at it, or he will spill it. To ’see’ what is behind him, he has to turn around. He spoke of his world as once being rich with true vision, but now being even richer and sharper with the images he sees around him constantly. And, of course like me, he dreams in full vision.
Before I go into the second man’s case, let me explain this further. Scientists have discovered something critical about our brains. We have an area called the visual cortex which takes up thirty percent of the brain. This area, as it sounds, is responsible for vision. The recent findings by scientists is that when someone loses their sight, the visual cortex does not stop working, but becomes involved in creating images through the use of the other senses. It has shown that the brain is adaptable to changed circumstances, and this is very exciting.
All this makes perfect sense to me, because I still feel that I can see. In fact, I feel my sight has improved and become sharper. For example, I have vivid images of photographs that I know were taken after I’d lost my sight, but I feel that I’ve seen them. My brain has taken over, recreating those photos for me.
Now for the second case - the man born totally blind. It makes sense that he would want to experience vision of any kind, as he has never had the chance. The type of artificial vision the scientists say they will be able to produce will be patchy and distorted. The reason for this is that the eye is an incredible structure that has so many functioning parts, it is impossible to reproduce it. They say that someone with this kind of artificial vision may not be able to distinguish between a cup and an orange.
When I was losing my sight, it was patchy and very limited. But I still tried to use it. Because I was struggling to see, my other senses couldn’t kick in, as they have now, because I see nothing at all. Now I can sense things around me such as trees, walls and people, and my hearing has become acuter. If I was given this distorted artificial vision, I would lose the clarity of vision that I have now.
If you would like to hear these fascinating podcasts, click here
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April 7th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
[...] If you’d like to read it, click here [...]
April 8th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Hi Janet,
Thank you for this extremely lucid discussion about the
loss of sight and future options for limited artificial
vision, as also discussed in the recent and fascinating
Australian broadcasts. Your blog entry was a great read
that I have passed on to others.
Best regards,
Peter Meijer
Seeing with Sound - The vOICe
http://www.seeingwithsound.com
April 9th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Hi Janet,
Fascinating material. I remember a conversaton with two ophthalmologists about the possibility of artificial vision, and was amazed to learn that everyone’s eyeball uses the same language to communicate (via the optic nerve) with the brain. But understanding this doesn’t mean its easy to collect the information and package it up so that the same information is delivered.
A related insight into how the brain works can be found in the story of the gentleman who has a brain implant that enables him to control a mouse pointer using thoughts. The article is can be read here: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.03/brain.html?pg=1&topic=brain&topic_set=
Glenn.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
[...] my post Choosing Blindness Over Sight I raised the issue of the brain’s ability to continue “seeing” both when vision [...]
July 28th, 2007 at 7:41 am
Great article! My 3 year old daughter lost both eyes to bilateral retinoblastoma, left at 17 months old, right at 22 months old, and had systemic chemo, subtenon chemo, laser & cryo done to the right eye before enucleated. As sad as it made me at first to realize my daughter will never get to see again, that sadness did not last long, she is a very bright independant child and can see things, just differently. I do not wish she could see. The only thing I wish is for her health and happiness. There is no reason at all she cannot live a full happy life without sight. I have had many people ask me about why she hasn’t had an eye transplant and well you know the answer to that, they have also said oh the poor thing and I don’t look at it that way at all, I do not feel pity for her, she enjoys life just as much as her 4 year old brother. I really can’t see her wanting vision later on even if they could figure out a way to make it possible, she would have to learn everything over by sight. It is amazing how well she gets around, everyone that meets her thinks she can see!
Take care.
-Danielle (mom of Ava)
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/avaries
August 10th, 2007 at 11:44 am
HI Danielle,
Many apologies for not responding earlier, but I’ve changed my setup here and now I don’t get an instant notification when comments come through.
How wonderful to hear about how Ava is adapting to her new world. It’s great you have managed to “see” the situation through her eyes. She sounds like an energetic and fun-loving little girl, and you’re right, nothing will stand in her way, particularly with your great attitude. It is interesting how people think she should be pitied. I suppose it’s natural, but for those of us with no vision, we don’t feel cut off from the visual world at all. Sure, there’ll be some frustrating times, but doesn’t everyone suffer from frustrations in life?
I’m going to check out your website. I’ve got another site devoted to retinoblastoma issues. You can check it out at http://www.beyondthereddoor.com.
All the best,
Janet