Blind or deaf?

bobsmith833 · 31-03-2003 10:38am #1

Tough one this - I always thought it was clear cut that sight was more important than hearing since you lose your independence, but a mate of mine reckons hearing is more important as you can lose social interaction, ability to listen to music etc.

I think I'd still rather be deaf than blind though...

Lemming · 31-03-2003 10:55am

I'm deaf already (in one ear) and it's a pain in the absolute a*se

Background noise causes problems whilst trying to hear conversations, headphones pump into two channels when I can only hear one, etc, etc.

I've found that my one 'good' ear is more sensisitive than most other people's appear to be in that it overcompensates for the deaf ear. But nonetheless it's a pain the a*se as I already stated.

What is funny though is that I'm (among other things) a rather competent musician ...

A deaf musician ... now there's something amusing for ye

bobsmith833 · 31-03-2003 10:59am

Originally posted by Lemming
A deaf musician ... now there's something amusing for ye

Well you're in good company there - Beethoven was completely deaf by the end of his life but still managed to compose some of his greatest works like the 9th symphony etc.

I suppose he could still imagine the sound of the music in his head, but it's still an amazing feat...

b3t4 · 31-03-2003 11:09am

afair, Beethoven cut the legs off the piano so that it would lie on the wooden floor. He would then put his head to the ground and feel the vibrations when he played a note.

A.

Sposs · 31-03-2003 11:42am

I'd rather be blind then i could turn into a super hero like DareDevil

the fnj · 31-03-2003 11:53am

I'd rather be blind, things like music and conversation would be gone forever if I was deaf, I don't think I could handle that.

Nemici · 31-03-2003 12:46pm

really tough one this,

I got an ear infection and went completely deaf over christmas for two weeks, its so frustrating, I started to lip read but that is super hard.

Even though it was sh*t i would probably choose it over blindness.

bug · 31-03-2003 12:47pm

Deaf, I'm much more visual anyways,

the only important thing i'd miss is music but you'd feel it, the bass that is.

cournioni · 31-03-2003 1:22pm

I love music so blind.

Snowball · 31-03-2003 1:38pm

there r better odds for them being able to cure blind ppl than deaf. At the mo they can cure a lot of that but deaf... dunno.

I chose blind anyways

bobsmith833 · 31-03-2003 1:39pm

Originally posted by The FANJ
I'd rather be blind, things like music and conversation would be gone forever if I was deaf, I don't think I could handle that.

True, but I think it'd be possible to cope with the conversation aspect - one could pick up lip-reading even though it is difficult, and persuade friends to learn sign language or whatever. And the social consequences of blindness would be bad as well as all the visual stimuli which usually fuel a group dynamic, such as "good looking girl at 4 o'clock" would be lost to you.

Rnger · 31-03-2003 1:41pm

Deaf. If u disagree you are just wrong in my eyes.

hells angels · 31-03-2003 1:58pm

i voted deaf but after readin all those replies im not so sure... but i dont really want to be either....:D

simon_partridge · 31-03-2003 2:25pm

Originally posted by Rnger
Deaf. If u disagree you are just wrong in my eyes.

Hear hear.

Tusky · 31-03-2003 3:49pm

deaf but neither if i had a choice :rolleyes:

simon_partridge · 31-03-2003 4:02pm

And just imagine if you ended up blind AND deaf... then you'd be really fècked, because your only means of input would be touch, taste and smell. Like a computer with no keyboard or mouse.

Panda · 31-03-2003 4:39pm

neither obviously,
but if i didnt have any choice, i'd choose deafness.

you can do a lot more when your deaf than when you're blind.
losing my independance would kill me.
being able to create something and then not be able to see it? hell.

the fnj · 31-03-2003 5:10pm

Originally posted by bobsmith833
such as "good looking girl at 4 o'clock" would be lost to you.

It already is

.

CombatCow · 31-03-2003 5:45pm

A lot of you are choosing deaf but have you really thought it through.....,i mean dosent deaf and mute usually go togeather?, hard(unable) to talk cause you cant hear your own voice ??? A deaf-mute .That would totally suck ass.And if you were blind you probably wouldant be able to use boards.ie :eek:

( just something to think about )
COMBATCOW

BabyEater · 31-03-2003 5:54pm

If you could speak and then went deaf would you not still be able to talk you might be shouting or wispering and you wouldn't know , you would probably get good at lip reading if you were deaf aswell.So i choose deaf.

The Gopher · 31-03-2003 6:08pm

Deffo deaf if I had the choice.Well,given the choice Id keep my normal hearing and vision but still:)
If you are deaf......
You can at least read
Can learn sign language
Can see,obviously enough
Can watch most of your fave tv programmes with subtitles(though watching the news would get tiresome on the eyes as the subtitles come in live)
Beautiful women and porn still has relevance(although sex chatlines dont:D )

I would miss music alright.It would be strange watching videos by your favourite artists and wondering if the track they are doing is their greatest ever or if they have gone into a bit of a creative slump.At least I would never hear anything by the Louis Walsh creations again.........

exiztone · 31-03-2003 7:26pm

I'd rather be deaf than blind... I think....
It's safer
although it's easier to act with the world if you can hear...
oh I can't choose

Rnger · 31-03-2003 7:46pm

Deaf. If u disagree you are just wrong in my eyes.

I posted that with no pun intended. Oops. I was about to press submit, but realised maybe too narrow minded. You can never be wrong if its your opinion!

ferdi · 31-03-2003 8:20pm

Originally posted by PORNAPSTER
I love music so blind.

ditto

CuLT · 31-03-2003 8:35pm

I thoughgt deaf originally, I love my music however....

BLIND = NO MORE COMPUTER

that kinda swayed me

However I have been a muppet and selected blind instead of deaf, it appears I can't click proplerly.

memphis · 31-03-2003 8:46pm

Interesting topic. I'm not sure what I'd choice (I go undecided)

I'm already deaf in a way, well I have a hearing defect. I am supposed to wear Hearing aids, but am just too damn stubborn to do that. My hearing isn't that bad, I mean I'm grand on a one to one basis, and over the years I've found myself lip reading.

Watching TV can be somewhat annoying at times, I tend to turn it up loud, them somone will come in and turn it down. I love to go to pubs and socialise, but at times, particularly in Discos (where there is loud music) I fail to have a conversation with people.

Another thing is, I can seldom hear the phone (and bells, and such sounds), so to overcome that I bought myself one of the Nokia's with vibracall.

I guess, overall deafness isn't the worst thing, ya learn to get by.

Blind people can get by too to an extent I'm sure but, i'd say its tougher on them, i donno.

monument · 31-03-2003 8:56pm

Originally I was thinking and clicked on Blind because I'm listing to music, I don’t want to pick!

Blind
- No GAMES!
- No TV!
- No Internet!
- No Newspaper!
- No Looking at other things!

Deaf
- No MUSIC!
- No talking, is this such a bad thing sense you could still read, write and lip read if you could get good?

I think out of the two deaf would be better for many reasons, but is no music just two much or will feeling the base be ok? Deaf would effect my life less.

Pigman II · 01-04-2003 4:12am

Most people are choosing deaf. It appears the eyes have it.

pickarooney · 01-04-2003 7:53am

Why is it that people, when they go deaf, or wear headphones, start shouting? How come we don't learn to regulate the volume of our voices instinctively over time, the way we do other things?
I mean, you can physically feel the difference in effort between whispering, talking normally and shouting, so why does this go out the window when our ears are blocked?

simon_partridge · 01-04-2003 8:41am

Originally posted by Combatcow
I mean dosent deaf and mute usually go togeather?, hard(unable) to talk cause you cant hear your own voice ???

No, I don't think so - once you can talk you can always talk. However, if you'd been deaf since birth that would be another matter entirely - I gather it is possible to learn to talk in a way, but you will always sound very weird and half of life's experiences will be alien to you - not only would you lose music, you'd have no idea what it was at all.

Mossy Monk · 02-04-2003 12:01am

Originally posted by memphis
I'm already deaf in a way, well I have a hearing defect. I am supposed to wear Hearing aids, but am just too damn stubborn to do that. My hearing isn't that bad, I mean I'm grand on a one to one basis, and over the years I've found myself lip reading.

Watching TV can be somewhat annoying at times, I tend to turn it up loud, them somone will come in and turn it down. I love to go to pubs and socialise, but at times, particularly in Discos (where there is loud music) I fail to have a conversation with people

could you be a lost twin of mine. i too got a hearing aid when i was younger but i ditched it at the age of 12. i constantly have people turning the telly down although they may have a valid point seeing as my hearing has improved in a massive way

i can hear the phone and stuff before everyone else. i'm special

i will choose blind in a moment because i love my music and i think they will cure blindness before deafness.

OT question: if you had your ear cut off would you lose your hearing on that side. i saw Reservoir Dogs on Sunday night and it has been bugging me since

gogo · 02-04-2003 12:32pm

Defintley deaf, have to be. Don't think I could live in a world of darkness after getting a taste of colour. Never being able to see again would kill me.
I think that you can hear even after your ear is cut off, the ear itself is just a receptor/amplifer to sound- like deaf people using a grammaphone thingy in the olden day. The actually hearing part is inside. I think.

gogo

Sangre · 02-04-2003 1:54pm

Originally posted by pickarooney
Why is it that people, when they go deaf, or wear headphones, start shouting? How come we don't learn to regulate the volume of our voices instinctively over time, the way we do other things?
I mean, you can physically feel the difference in effort between whispering, talking normally and shouting, so why does this go out the window when our ears are blocked?

Yes, but you dont know when to whisper/talk normally or shout.
You can never be sure of the appropiate volume, so I assume thats why they talk too loud.

Blind or deaf?

If you had to go either blind or deaf, which would you choose? 11 votes

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