Discussion To be born blind or deaf and which is worse for you? Why?

Remobz

Platinum Member
Jun 9, 2005
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Like the topic says. To be born deaf or blind and which is worst fate for you to have if you were born with one?

I am still not decided which one would be worse for me.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
63,036
11,405
136
Like the topic says. To be born deaf or blind and which is worst fate for you to have if you were born with one?

I am still not decided which one would be worse for me.

And you'll never really know for sure.

Both have their down sides...each one is slightly better than the other in one way or another. Personally, I think I'd rather be able to see and not hear than the other way around.
 

RPD

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2009
5,029
530
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And you'll never really know for sure.

Both have their down sides...each one is slightly better than the other in one way or another. Personally, I think I'd rather be able to see and not hear than the other way around.
God damn it I agree with boomer! I'd rather see vs. not hear as well. But man, that means you'd never enjoy music :(
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
63,036
11,405
136
God damn it I agree with boomer! I'd rather see vs. not hear as well. But man, that means you'd never enjoy music :(

Lots of things you'd never hear...children laughing, your kids' first words, all the assorted "sex" sounds, the train (or truck) about to run you over from behind...
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
95,293
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Being deaf at least insulates you from the incessant yapping of <insert irritant animal> . You can avert or close your eyes if you don't want to see something.
 

pete6032

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2010
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If I was blind I wouldn't have to read threads like this, but the obvious answer is its better to be born deaf. This is a visual world.
 

NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
27,034
546
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Being deaf at least insulates you from the incessant yapping of <insert irritant animal> . You can avert or close your eyes if you don't want to see something.
It would be great for flying. No engine noise, etc.

Anyway, as much as I love music...I guess being deaf from birth means I wouldn't know what I am missing.
 

Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
11,695
2,661
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I do love music. Mozart, Mariah Carey, Hotel California, Beethoven.
Sight is pretty damn important to me though....driving...or monitoring property for trespass.

Sight is thus more crippling pragmatically.

Loss of hearing can be more mentally draining.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,287
10,789
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Blind and it's not even close.... provided you learn how to read young enough or go deaf when older, being deaf would be 1000x easier.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,926
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Humans get something like 80% of their environmental info through sight.

The obvious answer is to be born deaf and maintain your vision.

Additionally the auditory system is technically "less complex" than our sight, so there is a better chance of coming across a "cure" or aide to overcome deafness than something like sight.
 

Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
11,531
5,047
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Are you allowed to consider things like cochlear implants in the decision? They can work while there are not a lot of equivalents for vision...no Georgi glasses/implants yet.
 
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Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,546
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www.anyf.ca
Blind would definitely be worse. Though, not being able to hear would not be a cup of tea either. You would never hear your parent's voice, teachers, conversations, or music, or sounds in the woods, traffic in the streets etc. Learning basic life skills as a kid like alphabet, colours and math etc would be very hard too. Then again learning those things while blind would be even harder.