Do blind people see their dreams?

[warri0r45]

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.

 

 

 

Biochemistry, perhaps? I'm not aware of the specifics but seeing as human beings all have human being eyes, we all interpret different EM wavlengths in the same way, right?

[Evrae]

True, true. And I suppose that when we see a wide range of wavelengths the colours gradually change.

 

 

 

Okay, question answered, i think. Thank you.

[megakiller32]

Its like Deaf people must all have their own languages when they think :shock:

[scn64]

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. ;)

 

 

 

I would think they "see" darkness. Darkness is just the absence of light. Their eyes cannot "process" light, so I would think the result would be darkness. That's just my guess though.

[goldphishies]

This one phrase has just got my mind working for the first time in about fourteen years....

 

 

 

But I'd assume they'd see what they imagine things look like, you know? Like they may not know the color of a book case, but the rough shape, and go from there?

 

 

 

I'd ask my cousin... but... well... that would be a bit akward.

[Andy]

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.

 

 

 

Mmh, yeah, there's alot of things like this, i.e, can you cry underwater?, it's really just a matter of opinion in most of them, well, im off to bed, too much harry pothead.

[DragonFirenze]

Thats incredibly interesting.

 

 

 

If i had to guess, id say that blind people DO see in their dreams. Apparently dreaming is your brain being stimulated (and i assume this includes your visual part so it has nothing to do with optic nerves and whatnot). However, a blind person wouldnt know how to interpret it, so i dont think they'd have any recollection of a visual aspect of a dream. They'd have a dream (to us it would just be colours and shapes i suppose), but they wouldnt remember it. Just a hypothesis, but i think it would make sense.

 

 

 

Id love to ask a blind person about this now lol.

[remoteman]

I recently got a book for my b'day entitled "Do Sheep shrink in the rain? Over 500 of the most outrageous questions ever asked." And this was one of the questions:

 

 

 

Q: If you were born blind, do you dream in pictures or sound alone?

 

 

 

A: Expert Cecil Adams: "Dreams of the congenitally blind contain no visual elements & consist predominantly of sound plus smell, touch & sense of movement."

 

 

 

God knows how you would ever figure that out...

 

It's such a weird concept, not knowing what colours and such are.

[fgfuyfyuiuy0]

Well, if you guys wait for an answer, when I have my first kid, I'll pop out his/her's eyes, then ask them when they're older. Then, I'll pop out my own, and see what this "nothingness" is. Then have my eyes put back in.

[scn64]

I recently got a book for my b'day entitled "Do Sheep shrink in the rain? Over 500 of the most outrageous questions ever asked." And this was one of the questions:

 

 

 

Q: If you were born blind, do you dream in pictures or sound alone?

 

 

 

A: Expert Cecil Adams: "Dreams of the congenitally blind contain no visual elements & consist predominantly of sound plus smell, touch & sense of movement."

 

 

 

God knows how you would ever figure that out...

 

It's such a weird concept, not knowing what colours and such are.

 

 

 

I can't even remember ever having a dream where I could sense smell or touch. My dreams are mainly visual with light sounds. I don't know if I can even call it sound. It's more like a person will move their lips to talk to me and I comprehend what they said without actually hearing it.

[forsaken]

I recently got a book for my b'day entitled "Do Sheep shrink in the rain? Over 500 of the most outrageous questions ever asked." And this was one of the questions:

 

 

 

Q: If you were born blind, do you dream in pictures or sound alone?

 

 

 

A: Expert Cecil Adams: "Dreams of the congenitally blind contain no visual elements & consist predominantly of sound plus smell, touch & sense of movement."

 

 

 

God knows how you would ever figure that out...

 

It's such a weird concept, not knowing what colours and such are.

 

 

 

My belief corresponds closely with the response given by Cecil Adams. Vision is the brain's representation of the amount of "light" reflected off objects and the relative distance between the light and person; what we refer to as dimensions.

 

 

 

Many people have commented on what blind people see. Do they see a darkness? Because darkness is a lack of a light, right? But then, a lack of light is acutely different from a lack of perception of light. In my opinion, they do not see, because they do not perceive.

[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. ;)

 

 

 

I would think they "see" darkness. Darkness is just the absence of light. Their eyes cannot "process" light, so I would think the result would be darkness. That's just my guess though.

 

 

 

One would assume immediately that blind people sit in darkness in their mind all day everyday, but you have to really, really think about it to realize they don't. Blind people (retinal detatchment, not "legally blind" people who can see, but can't see for crap) have no visual capabilities at all. They really CAN'T see anything at all. Not even darkness, I'd imagine. Their brain can't register that it's darkness, you'd think. But then it's a matter of...What the hell is it like to not see anything at all? It's not like closing your eyes, it's like taking your eyes OUT. When you close your eyes, you see darkness because the socket of your eye is dark and the lids being closed doesn't allow light in...Your eye is still registering light...errr, the lack of it. But blind people can't even do that. So, they can't see anything...But what does "nothing" look like? :P Or rather, what does it not look like, since you can't see "nothing"?

 

 

 

Confused.

[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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They may be able to define general shapes, but they can not (just a guess here) imagine what they look like. I'm sure that would be true for colors though.

[Ledusskapis]

i think they see even if they are blind from birth cuz they still have imagination, so they see dreams even if they are blind from birth...but they might only see things that dont exist...

[Try]

 

 

 

One would assume immediately that blind people sit in darkness in their mind all day everyday, but you have to really, really think about it to realize they don't. Blind people (retinal detatchment, not "legally blind" people who can see, but can't see for crap) have no visual capabilities at all. They really CAN'T see anything at all. Not even darkness, I'd imagine. Their brain can't register that it's darkness, you'd think. But then it's a matter of...What the hell is it like to not see anything at all? It's not like closing your eyes, it's like taking your eyes OUT. When you close your eyes, you see darkness because the socket of your eye is dark and the lids being closed doesn't allow light in...Your eye is still registering light...errr, the lack of it. But blind people can't even do that. So, they can't see anything...But what does "nothing" look like? :P Or rather, what does it not look like, since you can't see "nothing"?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Confused.

 

 

 

Yeah it's really hard to imagine. We'd have to ask someone who has recently become blind, I think they might be able to explain it better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know which would be worse, being born blind or becoming blind later on.