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Seriously? I am blind, and I find this article pretty pathetic. If you dont attempt to interact with your environment, this is no challenge. I know people who

Seriously? I am blind, and I find this article pretty pathetic. If you dont attempt to interact with your environment, this is no challenge. I know people who have done a similar thing for 24 hours, however, they went to the uni cafeteria and even tried to prepare food at home. And guess what, they didn't write a "rich kid is having fun" article about it. This is a clear case of aiming far too low. Next time, try for real.

mlang23 6y ago
You could, for instance, try to get your daily dose of reddit with your iPhone. Switch on VoiceOver, and enjoy the wonderful world of accessible mainstream media. And definitely try crossing a few streets. Grab a cane, and off you go. But never ever try to sell staying at home with a blindfold on as a challenge.
- gostsamo 6y ago
  You are taking it too seriously. The fact that you and me feel the bad parts of it, does not mean that we have to be sour about it. The guy doesn't do it for money or fame, so there is no reason to bring his experiment down. Next time they might challenge themselves some more, or maybe not. Not our issue.
Ensorceled 6y ago
This was my disappointment, they guy never did anything to try to replicate the experience of living without sight. He just sat in the dark, bored.
newbie789 6y ago
This is tangential, but a friend of mine did a kind-of (but not really, obviously) similar exercise with her classmates in her MFA program. I think they called it an empathy exercise or whatever. I don't recall but it seemed like they had good intentions. My friend suggested people try a schoolday as simulated type 1 diabetics. The prompt was pretty simple: Simulate blood glucose checks, generate a random blood glucose number (within reasonable range and adjusted for food intake), make a note of it, keep track of nutritional facts of the foods they intended to eat, pretend to take some insulin by just making a note about their "dose" and base their food intake decisions based on BG value and timing concerns. Literally, just limit what you eat and when based on a number that you can't directly and instantly control. The whole exercise was designed (by a diabetic!) to be as incredibly easy and approachable as possible. It was the absolutely training-wheels version of an experiment that intentionally left out a lot of the more difficult problems when it comes to managing T1D. Their program did all of their work in one classroom all day, and my friend was there to help with number generation and to help in general, the whole time. The whole thing fell apart by lunch for literally every student other than the only other T1D in class. I think 1. People probably aren't great at designing these things for themselves. And 2. Even when somebody else can give them a tiny actual approximation of constraints, it tends to break down because people don't actually want to stray too far from their baseline state of comfort, no matter what.
precisioncoder 6y ago
It's always better to start your experiments at a low intensity in a controlled environment before ramping them up. As we've seen with the bird box challenge, a ton of people have been injured for attempting to live ordinary days with blindfolds on. Also the isolation and sensory deprivation aspects are actually more intense with reduced activity. Each person has different limits and each experience outside of your comfort zone pushes their own personal limits further. I think it's good that people want to learn about what their limits are as well as challenging those limits.
- mlang23 6y ago
  Guess what? A ton of blind people is being injured daily while trying to life alongside a bunch of mostly ignorant spoiled brats. Nobody writes a newspaper articles when I trip over a badly placed bicycle and ramm a part of it into my gut. But CEOs with a blindfold on sitting on their couches get to write about their experiences like it was something.
  - precisioncoder 6y ago
    That's true, and also unfair, however if believe if we are supportive rather than dismissive or aggressive towards these experiments regardless of who they come from then we can create a culture of encouraging people to try things. Many people may read his article and be inspired to try their own experiments, and even if they're low level they will increase empathy and consideration for blind people. We can't go from ignorant to perfect in a day, I believe we need to create a culture that leads in the direction that we want to go.
- wombatmobile 6y ago
  > Each person has different limits and each experience outside of your comfort zone pushes their own personal limits further. I think it's good that people want to learn about what their limits are as well as challenging those limits. That's not what the OP said he was doing. He said he was wanting to find out what it was like to experience blindness.
  - 6y ago
aaron695 6y ago
I don't think you understood the experiment as I saw it. Why go to a cafeteria or cook food? They are hard challenges. Should you solve a Rubik's Cube when in a sensory deprivation tank? That opposes their objective as I saw it. They never stated they are trying to intersect with a blind person life.
- mlang23 6y ago
  You call going to a cafeteria a hard challenge? Wow, that is really aiming low. Lets list a few hard challenges: * Read a book with your fingers. At least 300 paperback pages. That will be about 2000 braille pages. * Cross a road which lacks pedestrian lights. Use your ears to find out if you are going to die. * Write a 2k+ lines program, pick a language of your choice. For extra points, use a speech synthesizer only, no braille. * Go to the groceries store and buy the food for a week. Go with whoever you get assigned as assistant. If their IQ is likely not above 80, continue and try to explain to them what you need.

mlang23 6y ago

You could, for instance, try to get your daily dose of reddit with your iPhone. Switch on VoiceOver, and enjoy the wonderful world of accessible mainstream media. And definitely try crossing a few streets. Grab a cane, and off you go. But never ever try to sell staying at home with a blindfold on as a challenge.

gostsamo 6y ago
You are taking it too seriously. The fact that you and me feel the bad parts of it, does not mean that we have to be sour about it. The guy doesn't do it for money or fame, so there is no reason to bring his experiment down. Next time they might challenge themselves some more, or maybe not. Not our issue.

Ensorceled 6y ago

This was my disappointment, they guy never did anything to try to replicate the experience of living without sight. He just sat in the dark, bored.

newbie789 6y ago

This is tangential, but a friend of mine did a kind-of (but not really, obviously) similar exercise with her classmates in her MFA program. I think they called it an empathy exercise or whatever. I don't recall but it seemed like they had good intentions. My friend suggested people try a schoolday as simulated type 1 diabetics. The prompt was pretty simple: Simulate blood glucose checks, generate a random blood glucose number (within reasonable range and adjusted for food intake), make a note of it, keep track of nutritional facts of the foods they intended to eat, pretend to take some insulin by just making a note about their "dose" and base their food intake decisions based on BG value and timing concerns. Literally, just limit what you eat and when based on a number that you can't directly and instantly control. The whole exercise was designed (by a diabetic!) to be as incredibly easy and approachable as possible. It was the absolutely training-wheels version of an experiment that intentionally left out a lot of the more difficult problems when it comes to managing T1D. Their program did all of their work in one classroom all day, and my friend was there to help with number generation and to help in general, the whole time. The whole thing fell apart by lunch for literally every student other than the only other T1D in class. I think 1. People probably aren't great at designing these things for themselves. And 2. Even when somebody else can give them a tiny actual approximation of constraints, it tends to break down because people don't actually want to stray too far from their baseline state of comfort, no matter what.

precisioncoder 6y ago

It's always better to start your experiments at a low intensity in a controlled environment before ramping them up. As we've seen with the bird box challenge, a ton of people have been injured for attempting to live ordinary days with blindfolds on. Also the isolation and sensory deprivation aspects are actually more intense with reduced activity. Each person has different limits and each experience outside of your comfort zone pushes their own personal limits further. I think it's good that people want to learn about what their limits are as well as challenging those limits.

mlang23 6y ago
Guess what? A ton of blind people is being injured daily while trying to life alongside a bunch of mostly ignorant spoiled brats. Nobody writes a newspaper articles when I trip over a badly placed bicycle and ramm a part of it into my gut. But CEOs with a blindfold on sitting on their couches get to write about their experiences like it was something.
- precisioncoder 6y ago
  That's true, and also unfair, however if believe if we are supportive rather than dismissive or aggressive towards these experiments regardless of who they come from then we can create a culture of encouraging people to try things. Many people may read his article and be inspired to try their own experiments, and even if they're low level they will increase empathy and consideration for blind people. We can't go from ignorant to perfect in a day, I believe we need to create a culture that leads in the direction that we want to go.
wombatmobile 6y ago
> Each person has different limits and each experience outside of your comfort zone pushes their own personal limits further. I think it's good that people want to learn about what their limits are as well as challenging those limits. That's not what the OP said he was doing. He said he was wanting to find out what it was like to experience blindness.
- 6y ago

aaron695 6y ago

I don't think you understood the experiment as I saw it. Why go to a cafeteria or cook food? They are hard challenges. Should you solve a Rubik's Cube when in a sensory deprivation tank? That opposes their objective as I saw it. They never stated they are trying to intersect with a blind person life.

mlang23 6y ago
You call going to a cafeteria a hard challenge? Wow, that is really aiming low. Lets list a few hard challenges: * Read a book with your fingers. At least 300 paperback pages. That will be about 2000 braille pages. * Cross a road which lacks pedestrian lights. Use your ears to find out if you are going to die. * Write a 2k+ lines program, pick a language of your choice. For extra points, use a speech synthesizer only, no braille. * Go to the groceries store and buy the food for a week. Go with whoever you get assigned as assistant. If their IQ is likely not above 80, continue and try to explain to them what you need.