Do blind people see their dreams?

[nomar04]

Do you think that when blind people dream, they actually see their dreams, or since they don't know what objects actually look like, and they don't know what colors are, they don't even see their dreams. Do they not dream, and just wake up in the morning? This has really got me thinking.

[wakka102]

that is a good question :-k

 

 

 

You've got me thinking too :lol:

[Nadril]

From what I read in an ask and tell thread on SA (poster was blind) he said he 'sees' them like what its like in real life. He mostly just hears stuff.

[wakka102]

From what I read in an ask and tell thread on SA (poster was blind) he said he 'sees' them like what its like in real life. He mostly just hears stuff.

I don't understand what you're saying. He just hears things like he does in real life in his dreams?

[Lionheart_0]

:| I can see, and i barely ever dream. I kinda just wake up in the morning and go about their day.

 

 

 

I think..... Even if someone is blind, their mind can perceive colour still, its just a problem with the eyes right? Well they probably wont have fully defined objects in their mind, or they might have what they perceive the object to be, and use that image.

[Nadril]

From what I read in an ask and tell thread on SA (poster was blind) he said he 'sees' them like what its like in real life. He mostly just hears stuff.

I don't understand what you're saying. He just hears things like he does in real life in his dreams?

 

 

 

Yeah. Its just like he is blind in his dreams as well.

[wakka102]

From what I read in an ask and tell thread on SA (poster was blind) he said he 'sees' them like what its like in real life. He mostly just hears stuff.

I don't understand what you're saying. He just hears things like he does in real life in his dreams?

 

 

 

Yeah. Its just like he is blind in his dreams as well.

I cant imagine being blind. I think that would be the scariest sensation to have to live with. Not knowing whats real and what isn't and what the thing's you're experiencing around you are like. I dont think I could live like that :uhh: .

 

The next worse would have to be loss of hearing completely, since I'm very big into music.

[bartoron]

My guess would be that if you were born blind you don't see things in your dreams, but if you used to be able to see and then later on became blind you see in your dreams.

[Achilleus]

This question has inspired volumes of medical research dating back to the 19th century. People who are visually impaired from birth appear to lack visual imagery in their dreams. It's believed that the parts of their brains that register visual information remain dormant.

 

According to this fascinating article by Diego Kaski in the International Medical Students' Journal, even people who lose their sight early in childhood retain visual imagery in their dreams well into adulthood. However, this imagery fades over time.

 

 

 

Nevertheless, blind people do dream and often describe their dreams in terms of places and surroundings. An article from the University of Santa Cruz notes that blind dreams feature a "very high percentage of gustatory, olfactory, and tactual sensory references," something very unusual for sighted dreamers to experience.

 

 

 

For some intriguing and descriptive quotes on the subject, read Richard Catlett Wilkerson's article "Dreams of the Blind."

[Smapla]

Animals have tails yet we're perfectly happy without them.

 

 

 

Being born blind isn't scary since you've never experienced it and missed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd imagine that perhaps vague colors and things might present themselves in one's dreams, but if they were born blind they'd have no idea what they were. Dreams are sort of random stimulations in your brain, and unless being blind removes the synapses and things for sight over time, they could still be stimulated.

[Itsjustagame]

:| I can see, and i barely ever dream. I kinda just wake up in the morning and go about their day.

 

 

 

I think..... Even if someone is blind, their mind can perceive colour still, its just a problem with the eyes right? Well they probably wont have fully defined objects in their mind, or they might have what they perceive the object to be, and use that image.

 

you dream all the time.

 

you just don't remember them all.

[Lenin64]

:| I can see, and i barely ever dream. I kinda just wake up in the morning and go about their day.

 

 

 

I think..... Even if someone is blind, their mind can perceive colour still, its just a problem with the eyes right? Well they probably wont have fully defined objects in their mind, or they might have what they perceive the object to be, and use that image.

 

you dream all the time.

 

you just don't remember them all.

 

 

 

Took the words right out my mouth. I also heard somewhere that if you don;t dream, since your brain has nothing to do (or soemthing like that) you will go mad, so blind people must have some sort of dream, even if it has no visuals.

[The Dark Lord]

:| I can see, and i barely ever dream. I kinda just wake up in the morning and go about their day.

 

 

 

I think..... Even if someone is blind, their mind can perceive colour still, its just a problem with the eyes right? Well they probably wont have fully defined objects in their mind, or they might have what they perceive the object to be, and use that image.

 

 

 

Funny. When I meditate, I remember my dreams. However, when I don't, I very, very, very rarely remember them.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

A blind person wouldn't see images in his dream because [if he was blind from birth] he wouldn't know what objects looked like and his sub-conscious wouldn't be able to reproduce the images. That's my opinion anyway.

[1_man_army]

I would think it would depend on whether the person was born blind or had lost their sight after being able to see.

 

 

 

Presumably, if your born blind you have no concept of sight and are unable to imagine sight as you've never experiences it. However, if you lost your sight after being able to see then at least you have memories of what it was once like to be able to see and hence have the experience to draw upon.

 

 

 

edit - just realised that I basically repeated the post above mine (I didn't see it) #-o

[thefoo1000]

That's a good question! I wouls think they wouldent have dreams, because if they can't see anything to begin with what will they think up in their dreams. I donno ery hard to explain :shock:

[Rcty]

I would say mainly hear, and not so much see things. For one, they really don't know what anything looks like, and here's a story that made me think about that:

 

 

 

My mom and I were walking through Wal-Mart (favorite place to be ), and a little girl with a metal stick came walking by, moving it back and forth on the ground to make sure the space in front of her was clear. We immediately knew she was blind. "That would be different." my Mom said. "Yeah," I replied, "she might think that everything is blue!". "Well, she wouldn't know what blue looks like!" replied my mom.

 

 

 

That really got me...

 

 

 

~Rcty

[Lenin64]

I would say mainly hear, and not so much see things. For one, they really don't know what anything looks like, and here's a story that made me think about that:

 

 

 

My mom and I were walking through Wal-Mart (favorite place to be ), and a little girl with a metal stick came walking by, moving it back and forth on the ground to make sure the space in front of her was clear. We immediately knew she was blind. "That would be different." my Mom said. "Yeah," I replied, "she might think that everything is blue!". "Well, she wouldn't know what blue looks like!" replied my mom.

 

 

 

That really got me...

 

 

 

~Rcty

 

Wait, what? What would be different, and why would she think everything is blue? Would being blind be different?

[Rcty]

I would say mainly hear, and not so much see things. For one, they really don't know what anything looks like, and here's a story that made me think about that:

 

 

 

My mom and I were walking through Wal-Mart (favorite place to be ), and a little girl with a metal stick came walking by, moving it back and forth on the ground to make sure the space in front of her was clear. We immediately knew she was blind. "That would be different." my Mom said. "Yeah," I replied, "she might think that everything is blue!". "Well, she wouldn't know what blue looks like!" replied my mom.

 

 

 

That really got me...

 

 

 

~Rcty

 

Wait, what? What would be different, and why would she think everything is blue? Would being blind be different?

 

 

 

They don't know what colors look like, or really anything, because they've never seen them. That was the point. Imagine a life without colors and not being able to see people and so many other things blind people are deprived of. :ohnoes:

 

 

 

~Rcty

[Myridden]

Well just because hes blind doesn't mean he doesn't have a imagination. He could hear something and imagine what it would be. And his dreams would be full of the things he imagines.

 

 

 

thats just what I think, maybe you should just ask a blind person if they see their dreams.

[tomdavies90]

Wow interesting question there, do deaf people hear in their sleep? seen as they don't know what voices are, I'd say the only sure one would be that dumb people talk in their dreams, I mean they know what talking sounds like, they just can't do it.

[Tigra00]

I'm sure blind people "see" their dreams. They can "see" things in their head just like you and I can. I mean, why couldn't they? We can close our eyes and imagine things, and I don't believe they lack that quality. They do it differently, though...They have to imagine what they THINK things look like...So if they've touched a car enough to know what a car kind of looks like, they'd be able to imagine it. Or they'd be able to just insert what they think it looks like by having it described to them in the past or just by going from the sound of the engines and horns...So, it's not likely to look much like a car, but it's a car to them.

 

 

 

And someone said blind people can perceive colors, I ask you this - How? How do you explain the color red to a blind person?

 

 

 

Also, a quote from a blind person to kinda' prove they can't perceive colors:

 

 

 

"People are always like, 'You're blind? What do you see all day? Darkness? Black?' and I'm like 'No, idiots. I'm blind. I don't SEE anything.'"

 

 

 

I would imagine that the lack of seeing anything at all is indeed darkness - at first. But the odd thing is, they really can't SEE anything at all, so how could they even perceive that it is darkness? It's not like closing your eyes and walking around, it's like REMOVING your eyes and walking around. Even when your eyes are closed, you can see black and darkness, but they can't...see...at all...

 

 

 

...Odd to think of, really. They can't perceive color, but we also can't perceive how they can't see the color black/darkness, it seems. ;)

[warri0r45]

This is interesting. Tigra, your post actually made me think about this a little. I was originally going to say no, but seeing as they do have some sort of stimulus, thier brains may be triggered into forming images like the brain of someone who has sight does. It's just we know our picture is accurate because we've actually experienced sight.

 

 

 

The question would be much easier if the person in question had no senses whatsoever. If that were the case, then I'd speculate dreaming would be impossible. This is all conjecture because testing this kind of stuff would be really unethical but I can't see how someone with no senses whatsoever could ever form images, behaviours, language or anything. There would be no stimulus to recieve and thus nothing to trigger the images, behaviours or language etc. With a person just without sight, however, there is stimulus, therefore, I'd say there could possibly be some kind of bizzare imagry formed in thier brain. Again, all speculation.

[Kill_Thomas9]

Think of it this way:

 

 

 

A blind person (who has been blind since birth) can't imagine what things look like, any more than we can imagine what the 4th dimention looks like.

[warri0r45]

Think of it this way:

 

 

 

A blind person (who has been blind since birth) can't imagine what things look like, any more than we can imagine what the 4th dimention looks like.

 

 

 

No senses can contemplate the nature of dimensions in which we do not exist empirically. The sense of touch may be able to allow a blind person to know what shape is, at least, and possibly form an image in the brain from that. Again, I'll confess this is speculation. Whether or not a person who has been blind thier whole life can see imagery in thier brain or know how to identify said imagery as genuine images or not is very difficult to come to terms with.

[Evrae]

Slightly connected to this is something I've always wondered - do colours look the same to everyone. It might be that what everyone calls blue looks to someone else the same as what i see red as. We both call it blue, but it might look different. Unfortunately I cannot think of any way to tell.