G'Day - First Post But..........

Here is a question that I have never been able to answer and I figure this is the perfect forum for some abstract thought.

If you were born completely deaf and blind - what language would you talk to yourself in - inside your own mind?.
How would you mentally address issues of your day and would you dream in colour?

[Mod Edit to remove all Caps in title]

[edit on 12/5/2006 by Umbrax]

Wow.

That just boggles the mind a bit doesnt it.

I dont think you would really talk to yourself or "see" anything - you would just be reacting by instict like a baby, ie. touch, smell taste.

INteresting thought though.

G`day Slaine welcome aboard,Aussie i presume? Perth here

Originally posted by Slaine01
If you were born completely deaf and blind - what language would you talk to yourself in - inside your own mind?.
How would you mentally address issues of your day and would you dream in colour?

Interesting question,one would`nt talk to ones self in any language as we know it.

I could only assume one would mentally address issues through experience of human contact.

Do we already dream in colour? i guess we do,but for someone never knowing colour i doubt they would dream like we do,more like dreams of things they have to daily mentally address.

Good questions Slaine01,though it disturbs me a bit to have to place myself in their shoes though i think it is very healthy if one does to try and understand anyone with disabilities.I`ve worked with the severley disable before and learned a lot of life lessons from them.

Excellent thought Slaine.
I actually asked a friend of mine,who is czech,if he thinks in his native language or English and his reply was,"when I speak English I think English unless there is a concept that cannot be thought in English", so I would imagine the people that are born both blind and deaf would have a language all their own to identify their surroundings,and I do believe they dream in colour as blindness and deafness is a physical handicap not a mental one.

Welcome to ATS, Slaine01!

I hope that you enjoy your stay here.

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Mechanic 32.

Welcome Slaine01

As far as I know there is a HUGE difference to beeing born completely deaf and blind, and to have perceived anything during the early years. Have a look at the Helen Keller story
At the age of nineteen months she came down with an illness leaving her blind and deaf. She died in 1968, able to read English, French, German, Greek, and Latin. She wrote books, gave lectures and was a political activist.

On the other hand, and to address your question: if you are born deaf and blind you are pretty much "lost in space". Your brain will not develop any kind of language. Even memory is not developed normally.

What a exelent question, I'd love to hear peoples views on it.

Welcome to ATS

Blue x x x x x x

I love these questions as they can really cause you you stare off into space for a while!!!
Heres another one -
"Could God create a stone that was so heavy that He couldn't lift it"

Obviously "God" could create AND do anything, but if he wasn't able to lift the stone the he wouldn't be "God" then would he?

i can answer part of that. when you think you dont think in a language.... if you touch something thats hot immediatly remove your hand, you dont think "im going to remove my hand now" you just do because you know it's not pleasent.

That was a great intro question, I know you'll have a great time around ATS.
I'll be banging my head if you post more puzzlers like that.

My answer to your question is, "I just don't know, I can't imagine not having all my faculties".


Edit: syntax

[edit on 12/5/2006 by anxietydisorder]

Hello and Welcome Slaine01.

Language is built upon the senses we most use.

For dogs, it is smell. Their scent is their name, their mood, their very state of being. They can hear sounds really well, but their thought is based is their sense of smell.

The human brain is our most advanced feature, our capacity for logical thought, rationalization, and creativity will allow nearly any sense of ours to take over the job of interpreting the world.

I expect that someone who was born deaf and blind would use scent first, as it does not require contact, then it would use touch second. They would most likely have a far improved sense of taste, but obviously would use their nose more often than their tongue to interpret the world.

Thus, they would still have a concept of a lemon every bit as much as someone with sight and hearing would have a concept of a lemon. But words don't really exist, so it would be limited to concepts and abstract thought. The mind, left with nothing more to analyze than scent, taste, and touch, could more accurately conceive of what a lemon is truly like in terms of taste, smell, or touch, than someone with sight and/or hearing, but would lack the capacity to relay it to someone who had not developed that level of refinement in that one sense, even with telepathy or some other method of "clear" communication with one so impaired. In the same token, one with sight hearing could understand a lemon on a level the blind and deaf person never could.

I'm not sure if that made sense, it's friday, after work, and I'm a bit impaired myself at the moment...






[edit on 5/12/2006 by thelibra]

OK. I am colour blind. I have been since birth. I have no recollection of colours except what i have been taught. IE blue, red etc.

I understand colours, if that makes any sense, but i cannot describe blue, red ,green etc. I see colours in my own mind, but they might not be what you see. My blue might be green to you, or my red could be blue etc.

I know trees are green and their trunks are brown. I was taught that. But i cannot see that.

What i am trying to say is this, I see colours as i want to see them, as i imagine those who have never seen colours imagine them.

It is a very hard situation to be in. When you say 'i see green, what do you see?' i have to answer Grey. I see no colours what so ever. i don't know what colours look like, or what they mean.

Who's to say that the green you see is the same as the next person? We may all be colour blind eh?

Glad you could find us here at the great ATS, enjoy your long stay!
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