A Thunk is a beguilingly simple-looking question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you start to look at the world in a whole new light.
Thunk 8:
What do people born blind see when they dream?
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Everything! Just because they are blind doesn't mean that they can't dream. I am pretty sure that blind people have a much better imagination and better creativity than able people.
I think that they must dream about what everything looks like. They must dream about what the world is really like. What grass, flowers, and the sky looks like. They must even dream about seeing themeselves as not blind anymore.
It is really sad that some people can't enjoy we take for granted. Sight! We are able to see and appreciate eveything we see, but those poor cannot enjoy that luxury.
Maybe they even dream about what the faces of the people they know look like!
But in some ways they are actually lucky. They don't see the horrific side of this world. They cannot see the atrocities of war, the number of poor people that are slaughtered for no reason, the crimes that take place around the world. Blind people are able to live in this world without being affected by these events. (Unless of course they are directly involved).
Maybe they even dream about these events when they hear about it. Who knows?
I don't think so, in order to see images in your dreams you have to have something to base them on. They probably dream in feelings and sounds only. But then again if they feel and object they have a vague idea of its shape, which will result as an image in your head, even if it's in black and white...
Um... I honestly don't have a concrete opinion in this situation. But is this really a thunk, I mean, people could just ask people who are born blind if they see images when they dream and then the question will have an answer.
Well, people who are born blind are accustomed to a world in darkness, making up for their lack of sight with sharp senses of hearing, smell and taste instead. They live in a world full of sounds and smells, and they view the world through these things.
I think that when people who are born blind dream, they see their dreams like they see real life - sounds, smells and feelings. They havent actually SEEN anything, so there would be no visual information stored in their minds of what objects look like. Though they may not see, these dreams affect them as they affect us, just as real life is the same for all beings (whether sightless or not)
:]
Every seen that bollywood movie "Black" ?
The one about the Blind and deaf girl ?
How she went through life ?
How it one loads of awards ?
How it answered questions and opened peoples eyes ?
How it was a great movie because it did not have one single un needed reptitive song ?
Yup that movie should be able to answer this question.
My view though.. What exactly is a dream in the first place ?
I think that people born blind can see what other people of the world cant!Because people born blind have no clue of what things look like and they think of stuff in a way that no one else might be able to.They can only imagine it all and add detailing to their imagination by the descriptions given by others, the sounds and smells, and ofcourse the texture and taste of it too.
We know a printer is a printer because We've seen it as a rectangular box that has buttons on it and is connected with wires to the pc and main switch.But who knows what they might think about a printer?It could be a giant cupboard, thats firing papers out every second in a disorderly manner,and is enveloped by a jungle of wires.It could be anything else, varies from ones imagination to the others.Some of you might ask how do they know of cupboards and papers and jungles of wires?Well,these are the basic things that they might have to touch everyday or use everyday so they have a fair idea of what these things are because of their size and texture.. Surely it will be hard for them to imagine the colours of all these as thats one of the toughest things to do, and that increases the gap between our sight and theirs.
Im not even sure if they might know about colours, since they've never seen any.But these people can be very smart and sharp, they can learn alphabets by touching them if arranged properly.Thats how some read books and songs.I think thats what they'd be dreaming of..the world around them, how it looked?. Is it just like they imagine it is? Or is it completely opposite. Besides when one dreams they dont 'See' a dream, they 'Imagine' it.They just use the images stored in their brains as part of their imagination.So even if one hasnt ever seen a thing, he/she can always imagine what it looks like. Not that it has to or will be exactly the same, but yeah, they can dream of anything and everything.
Everyones dreams are different, so are theirs. Instead of using images of things, they use a bit more of their imagination and there it is, their very own dream that they can actually see!
They probably dream, and remember, more frequently than people who are not blind, simple due to the fact that blind people have enhanced senses, so what is there to stop them from limiting their dreams? Actually, what is there to stop them from dreaming even more?
By logic, they see the same dreams that go through our heads everyday, but, with a more advanced sight than normal. Instead of blurred vision, I am assuming, I think that they would see everything in colour, sight fully restored, because, that is the dream-like state, where reality becomes virtuality, where the utmost desires can come true, and where the most strangest things occurr, like riddles being seen instead of spoken.
By being blind, they are no different from people who are not blind, because with the sight gone, imagine the increase in their other senses, such as feel and taste, which, inevitably, would increase.
To elaborate further, imagine a person who has had 4 senses removed, leaving only 1, for example, sight, would that person able to see things as far and clear as a hawk? That is the most mesmerising part, in my opinion.
Being blind in reality, does not neccessarily mean that in the virtual world (dream-like state) you are also blind, mainly because it is an unreal place, so, logically, it would not make sense to say that a blind person dreams blindly, in my opinion.
Kris,
You're right - we could just ask a person born blind what they dream. But it's not easy to come across them - I still haven't met a person blind from birth.
The broader aspect of the question is whether it's possible to imagine an object if one has never seen it visually. Can a person born blind imagine colour? When they dream of their loved ones do they see a human form?
The thunk is meant for us to reflect on our wonderful sense of sight - we sometimes don't realise how marvellous it is for us to see. :)
Think of it this way: People who are blessed with perfectly functional eyes can still envision something with them closed, right? It's all to do with your MIND'S eye. Anyone can dream. Dreaming isn't something limited to those who can see. It's what you want to see.
A person's mind has no bounds, and neither does their subconscious.
( :/ Oh man, I should really comment on this when I'm not so sleepy. )
i feel they would be imagining things the way they are. I feel really sorry for blind people because they cannot see the beautiful colors and cannot really know how things look like. So i guess a number of wild images must be flying around in their dreams which they imagine things to be.
A dream is part of your imagination - most dreams relate to your daily events, and come off usually in a more exaggerated way. According to me, it's something thats at the back of your mind which lets itself show when you fall asleep.
Being born blind wouldn't ever have allowed the person to see the world as it is. His/her sense of sight doesn't work, obviously, and hence his/her senses of touch taste and smell are very strong. However, ofcourse blind people long for sight - even though they might be blind at the back of their mind im sure they envision some sort of blurred pictures - maybe just colours. Even though that's all they'd probably be able to see, i think they dream the same way - except, with more voices and scents. To me, blind people wake up one morning remembering the sounds they heard in their sleep, not the images they saw.
Dreams are a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.
Generally your dreams take place on earth. Blind people unfortunately havn't been exposed to what's on earth by site, therefore their dreams still may take place on earth, but the images that pass through their mind could be different to the images that pass through our minds.
Blind people lack sight but not dreams.
A dream is what you envisage. And blind people live through imagination.
I believe that blind people dream about their sentiments, their thoughts, what they hear, smell and taste. It’s how they see the world.
I think they see things that other people would never be able to see, because the images of earth have no effect on the people born blind, their inaginations might not have any limits. So they could be seeing undescribable things in their dreams.
Well, if someone were to be blind from birth, their other senses of smell, touch, sound would be more advanced than a person who can see from birth. This person would not know what colours, people, places look like. But they would remember their feel, sound, smell etc.
I think that these few people would not SEE dreams but FEEL them. Supposing a man with sight were to dream about a cool day in autumn, If this same man were put into a situation in which he were blind from birth, i think that in his dream, he would hear the rustling of leaves, the shape of the dry maple leaves,the feel of the air on his skin, and the smells around him.
Well, I definitely believe that they do not see the same images that we see in our dreams. Dreams are subconscious concoctions on which our minds rely to resolve the conscious issues that we experience in our day to day lives. These emotions can be based on what we have seen, heard (which is where the blind people come in)and felt throughout our day.
As they have had the misfortune of being born with blindness, they may have been able to learn to associate self-constructed images with what they hear, feel and smell, which is how they will be able to experience a much higher level of phenomenal imaginative and vivid flashes we ''insightful'' beings have labelled as dreams.
Although as Kris has mentioned that we could just ask them, where's the fun in that? Aren't you curious to find out what your mind is capable of coming up with? When confronted with the unknown?
Isn't this a bit like wondering how they identify colours if they've been born blind? The answer I generally got was that they imagine colours, they somehow associate them to certain sounds or textures. SO depending on how they identify shapes and colours, I guess, their dreams are formed as well. I agree with Kris the most on this one: You have to have something to base your dreams upon. Hence, since their basic images, shapes and colours are completely different than ours, their dreams are definitely beyond our imagination.
aha... seems everyone here has a different view. i would love to agree with sonal on this that just because they are blind doesn't mean they can't dream, and it is true that blind people are blessed with their other senses and are people of extra ordinary intelligence!! but i just had to research and find out for myself and unfortunately i found out the total opposite!!! if a person was not born blind they still dream vaguely about what they remember seeing, but its all a blur whereas those who are born blind dream with their other senses eg they have auditory dreams, or they feel a sense of love or threat in their dreams or they taste and smell in their dreams but unfortunately they do not see anything!!! i guess like Nadine said their dreams ARE beyond our imagination!!
Well, I personally think that people who are born blind probably have much more elaborate and imaginative dreams than people who can see. I feel so because since we can see, we have a definate image for almost everything, but for someone who is blind, a mere voice could trigger many images and many thoughts, so why not dreams? Afterall, people that are born blind have atleast one sense that is sharp to make up for the blindness, whether it's smell,touch,hearing or taste, any of these is enough to trigger dozens of images, and those images can make dozens of dreams. Luckily for us, anything is possible in a dream :)
Well, I think they dream of what the world is like, using the help of their other senses like smell and touch.
True, it would be hard for them to have one concrete vision since they've been born blind. They'll have only their thoughts to base their ideas on.
I also think they have a broad variety of ideas, making them what others may say as more creative than us gifted ones.
I dont think people born blind can visualize dreams as visual stimulus is needed to wire the brain's centre to interpret vision. However they could hear and feel in they dreams.. A dream doesnt necessarily have to be visual. Ive had dreams where its only pitch black and yet hear and feel things. People who are blind have really good hearing and sense of motion. They can also describe objects and scenes extremely well.
Shweta, I've had those type of dreams as well. In fact, I have a recurring nightmare where I wake up tense and scared because I haven't prepared for my year 12 Physics exam (something that happened 16 years ago!)
In the dream I have no visuals - just a horrid, sinking, hollow feeling that tomorrow's the exam and I'm going to fail - even though in reality I had studied very hard for it. (It's one reason why I'm against formal exams - no one should have to go through that kind of stress).
Haha.. Yes Mr Roberts. We shouldn't have formal exams as we go through an immense amount of pressure. Moreover its the studying that stresses us out than actually doing the test. It does give you nightmares. Hope that recurrent nightmare fades away.
Well, a dream represents mostly what we desire, that reality is too cruel to provide for.
But then again there are those fragmentated images that represent a whole new degree of weird as well.
Now a blind man would have MUCH keener senses than most people (like hearing and touch) to fill in the gap of his handicap, but ultimately his deepest desire would be to see himself/herself I guess.
He would be so busy exploring his inner self in reality, so I think his dreams would consist of analysing his outer shell.
Like Sonal said, perhaps they have a wide imagination, and try to think up in their heads what everything looks like. I always wondered what it was like to be born blind, i heard that they have a stronger sense of hearing though, not sure if that is true but maybe the sounds they hear are the inspiration.
I have the idea that the people who are born blind would dream about how the world would look if they could see. For example they hear several things in a day, like the cars on the road, the ringing of phones. They may imagine what these things would look like. They would use their other senses to help them put together a mental image but i am not sure how accurate it would be or whether it would just be a dream where they imagine themselves not blind and what all they would see.
It may also be possible that they have dreams where its just black but they hear and sense things around them.
I guess we would only know for sure when we ask someone who is born blind.
ESREF ARMAGAN
, this man has a genetic mutation that caused him to be born without eyes
he is a painter , he paints better than most sighted people .
he has never seen light
but yet he paints , images , landscapes
the use of color shadow and texture and even composition is amazing
he does not need eyes to see the world around him
he imagines shapes and inco-orportates them in his paintings which eventually turn out to be masterpieces or art
TO PAINT , WE NEED TO HAVE IMAGES ON OUR HEAD PUT ONTO PAPER
in the same way , we need to already have images and situations in our minds in order to dream of them .
but i don't think so ( as stated in the above example)
well , this is a question for science to answer . i personally don't have a justified opinion on this topic
but all i can say is , that we still have a lot to know about the human mind and its reaches .
When God takes away something, he gives back in return.
I know someone who was born deaf; but he is a wonderful artist.
Those individuals who are unfortunately unable to see, are much stronger in their other senses. They thrive on touch, feelings, and of course, have a very powerful sense of sound. They may not be able to see you, but they would know exactly where are you are standing. Has anyone watched the movie Daredevil? [hm but he wasn't born blind :/ ]
Sound is a really important aspect of our lives; sounds create images. For example, what does a sonogram do?
People unable to see have their own vivid imaginations, and even if they do not have visual dreams, they hear sounds, they feel intense emotions.
I can only imagine how their dreams might appear. Maybe a swirl of colours, or a deep darkness, where they hear the voices and sounds that they listen to throughout the day? Birds chirping, whistling of the wind, voices of their loved ones or any person whom they have encountered.
Everyone keeps repeating that people without sight can 'create' their own images and 'imagine' what the world looks like. But that's the question right here, WHAT do they imagine, how do their minds visualize what the world might look like? I have no straight answer to this thunk; what I believe in strongly is their sense of hearing, feeling, etc. A dream is usually the result of whatever ordeals we have gone through during the day, our thoughts, our feelings in response to the happenings in our day. So the blind may respond with strong emotions in their dreams.
Personally, I feel we will never know, all we are doing is speculation. The easiest thing to do would be to ask a person born blind, but as Payam said, where's the fun in that?
This thunk is by far the most intriguing one that has been posted till now (IMO), and it makes me grateful that all my senses are intact.
If we, being perfectly able to see, close our eyes, we can still visualize things. In our minds. And so I guess, blind people would also be able to think in pictures. But here, the question is about people who are born blind, who have never ever seen anything with their eyes. I guess these people would imagine. If they hear a sweet voice, they would somehow be able to imagine a face. They could still touch and figure out the structure of a human face, so they could put a face to that melodious voice. And I believe that when you dream, you simply imagine. But on a higher level. So people who are blind, dream of almost the same things as we, normal people do.
A dream doesnt neccessarily have to be something that we have seen.Its just our subconcious minds.Dreams are left to the imagination.
Im sure blind people imagine everything.
The colours,what the world looks like,The sky..
Imagination has no limits :)
Well when your blind you can still hear things so when a blind person dreams, they hear things but they have to guess what that thing is.
ofcouse they can dream
dreaming doesnt neccessarily need your sight.. dreaming is just imagining.. also people who are born blind might not know how a objects look but will surely remember the way they feel, the way the smell, and the way the sound.. their lack of sight doesnt mean their subconscience isnt functioning properly.. dreams are a succesion of thoughts, emotions passing through the mind while sleeping.. im pretty sure they'll be dreaming better things than us :P !!
Well I dont think that eyesight has anything to do with dreaming. I think it just depends on your imagination, i think that blind people can actually have better imagination since they have to pretty much picture everything in their head.
Nikol 10 g2
People who are born blind see everything when they dream but in a different conception than us. Their dreams and perceptions are based on what they feel, smell, hear or taste. For example-They could have an impression of the color red from the taste of a red chili, the burning sensation of fire, the sweet fragrance of a rose or the softness of the rose petal.
In their dreams they are the only ones who can see the world and we would be the ones who are blind as we cannot see the world through their point of view. It would be quiet creative and fascinating if we could see the world through their eyes.
Dreams aren't necessarily images or objects for that matter. Blind people would have more of an imagination then us who can actually see. This is my opinion ofcourse.
Now back to the question. Blind people can feel things such as emotions and hear things such as sounds. These sounds they hear contribute to their emotions, working together. When they dream it might just be dark, as their whole life has been that way they are not aware of what colors are. They can feel textures and other sufaces but that is as far as they go.
They dream emotions. They dream what we can't. Their dreams might consist of a song or the sound of a bird chirping which brings them happiness or joy. When they dream of something that bothers them it would most probably be the sound of a gunshot or a disturbing song which haunts them.
Blind people would most probably have dreams that are more spectacular and more ineteresting then we ever will. :)
just the same as what we do! in my opinion, dreams dont require sight in particular(i could be wrong thought!). in fact i think that blind people imagine much much more than what we do because we are quite often restricted to what we see. blind people can come up with their own images, ideas and so on
At first I thought that blind people can dream, but not like us.
I always thought that their dreams were empty with just sound and emotions that they felt. But after reading Wayne’s comment about Esref Armagan, I now agree that blind people can imagine and can also have a better imagination than us.
I also feel that a blind persons dream is also a way he/she sees this world and their perception varies for person to person.
Zaid Ahsan " I Have Watched The Movie ! And Yeah It Is A Prefect Answer For This Thunk !
Well Blind People Having Nothing But Some Other Pupils Eyes !! Thats The Only Way They Could Use Their Imagination To "See" Things :(
Yes they do have dreams but because they cant see they have to rely on their other senses to imagine the way things look.Everybody has imagination but people blind from birth imagine things completly different then the way we do.
Knowing that babies cannot entirely see when they are born, most children are told that when a baby smiles in their sleep, they are dreaming about angels. Which is very adorable but which is (in my opinion) untrue. They could possibly be dreaming of sounds or emotions (if babies are old enough to feel anything except pain and hunger. Dreams are a succession of images, thoughts, sounds, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep. So blind people will obviously be dreaming of sounds and emotions and thoughts. Or, as Kris says, you could just ask a blind person what they dream about.
they probably dont see images from the everyday world, but instead they may see other things, that we do not know of. Their other senses however will dominate their sleep, but not in a stronger manner compared to a normal human being.
People who are blind have auditory dreams, dreams where their other senses like touch, smell, feel are dominant.
So it simply shows that, blind people do have dreams =]
They dream about how they might imagine the world around them to be, what ever they feel and hear about all day. In their dream they may picture things they hear about all day and what the world around them may look like.
O wow! That's a hard one! I guess they see the world differently, a black and white world, where nothing looks like the way we see it, people don't look the way we see people!
I really wonder how they must be imagining things... Wow they must really be facing a difficult world. Thank God I'm not blind!
As blind people have to imagine how things or people look using their other senses then I think their dreams would show them how they imagine certain things or people e.g if they imagine their mother as tall, slim, fair,etc then when they dream of their mother they will see her as they imagine her.
So that means in their dreams they see what they imagine.
Aisha Bashir
10G2
WOW!!!!!!!!
this is definately my favourite thunk so far,
i know they say that they saw things in their dreams,but theyve never seen anything before,they dont know wat colours look like,nor do they even know what human beings look like,not even themselves....
what would their imagination make them dream of things.....what wud human and animals look like to them...
Mr. Roberts if you thought of this yourself i aplaud you
and Mr.Roberts i agree, no one should go through main formal exams...
Stop Exams!! ;p
I'm going to agree with Kris on this one, it's only possible to see something while dreaming when you have some kind of image as a foundation and sadly,that's not viable for a person born obscure of sight.
In my opinion, blind people dream just like us, minus the fancy imagery. =/
I think that people who are blind have a far more better imagination than people who can see.
my opinion is that when blind people dream, they dream of things that we have never imagined. Because they cant see what every one sees so they creat their own world when they dream.
yes they can other wise no body would be able to dream.
even though they havent actually seen the world they can still dream of what it looks like.
in my opion a dream is a figure of your imagination so just because your blind doesnt mean you cant dream.
Yes, blind people do have dreams. However, those blind since birth or very early childhood have no visual imagery in their dreams. Instead, they experience a very high percentage of taste, smell, and touch sensations in their dreams.
The breakdown is as follows:
There are no visual images in the dreams of those born without any ability to experience visual imagery in waking life.
Individuals who become blind before the age of five seldom experience visual imagery in their dreams.
Those who become sightless between the ages of five and seven may or may not retain some visual imagery.
Most people who lost their vision after age seven continue to experience at least some visual imagery, although its frequency and clarity often fade with time.
I got that from google..
I think their dreams would be more interesting to be honest,
obviously what they dreaam of depends on their degree of blind ness.
But , it would be nicer to have to create paint your own dreams as opposed to having those books where you add water to the lines and colors show up.Blind people have that advantage , they can see the world how they want it to be.
Could also be a disadvantage cause they may not be able to create some of the beauty that exists in the world ,but.. it also means they get to miss out on all the ugly things in the world , and see it as what is beautiful to them.
Although what sucks is that they are constantly told how much there missing out on ..
really are they ?
I think they dream just like normal people do. Just because they are born blind doesnt mean they are not able to dream. However, they may not be able to describe their dreams as well as a person who can see because they would obviously lack the ability of describing the colours and objects to other people.
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