27 ms·

I did this years ago, in the 80's, because a classmate challenged me to after we were talking about all the challenges he had as a blind student. On his advice

I did this years ago, in the 80's, because a classmate challenged me to after we were talking about all the challenges he had as a blind student. On his advice, I never left my apartment :-). I went for more than 24 hours, closer to 40, from Friday night to Sunday around noon when my roommates returned. I had a basement apartment and my bedroom was totally dark without lights on, and the rest of the apartment very close to totally dark, so that really helped compared to the author as I only had to don a blindfold before leaving my room. I tried to replicate the experience of being blind and did a whole bunch of stuff; I cooked 4 simple meals (very, very, carefully) did the dishes and put everything away each time, tried to clean my place, showered and shaved, drank a few beers, played music on my roommates CD stereo system, practised karate. I reorganized the cupboard after the first breakfast. Maybe I have better balance than the author, but I had no trouble moving around my apartment and certainly never crawled anywhere. Heck, I became quite adept at simply walking to my roommates room, going through their CD collection and putting something on every hour (their collection was alphabetically sorted so I was sort of able to find what I was looking for with a few tries). Mostly, I was bored. I never became lethargic on anything like that, maybe because I was getting up and moving around all the time. Maybe the karate kata and other exercises helped. I lucid dreamed for the first time. I experienced the flashes he talked about as well. I learned to be careful where I put things as I spent the first morning constantly trying to figure out where I had set things down. I gained an appreciation for how it would be to totally blind (my classmate had zero vision). Mostly, I was surprised the author didn't DO anything. Didn't try to make meals (ants? wtf?). Basically just sat and listened to music. No wonder he got lethargic.

athriren 6y ago
i have extremely good object permanence for a sighted person. i often say i can “see in the dark” when my partner asks me how i found something in our pitch black bedroom, but it is really that i remember where exactly in physical space the end of the qtip is on my nightstand because i can’t actually see anything. my partner finds this incredibly perplexing and is not able to do this. the dark is impenetrable to her. if she cannot see it, it no longer exists, so she will not even attempt to reach out blindly for her glasses in the dark, for instance. i think we are on extreme ends of this spectrum, but you seem closer to me than my partner or the author. humans are so weird and cool.
- Ensorceled 6y ago
  I'm a coin flip. Either I have no clue where I left something or I'm like you and can walk over to it with my eyes closed and pick it up without having to fumble for the handle. Being blind folded just made me have to take the time to remember where I was putting something ... it didn't take long to become good at.
- tetris11 6y ago
  I have this to some degree -- my eyes are blurry in daytime by default, so I dont really notice the details of things even when my eyes are open. However I do have a good concept of the gist of objects learned through muscle memory, and I frequently reach for things without looking whilst not knowing what lies between me and it (e.g. I know that I can get to my sofa in a single jump, but I would never walk to it because I have only a rough idea that there is a coffee table somewhere in between) I do also frequently cycle back from work late at night through in starless/moonless countryside, so I have a reasonably developed sense of confidence and caution when manoeuvring without sight (i.e. 95% of the time there is nothing to worry about, you only have to surrender yourself to the notion that you might get injured in that 5%)

athriren 6y ago

i have extremely good object permanence for a sighted person. i often say i can “see in the dark” when my partner asks me how i found something in our pitch black bedroom, but it is really that i remember where exactly in physical space the end of the qtip is on my nightstand because i can’t actually see anything. my partner finds this incredibly perplexing and is not able to do this. the dark is impenetrable to her. if she cannot see it, it no longer exists, so she will not even attempt to reach out blindly for her glasses in the dark, for instance. i think we are on extreme ends of this spectrum, but you seem closer to me than my partner or the author. humans are so weird and cool.

Ensorceled 6y ago
I'm a coin flip. Either I have no clue where I left something or I'm like you and can walk over to it with my eyes closed and pick it up without having to fumble for the handle. Being blind folded just made me have to take the time to remember where I was putting something ... it didn't take long to become good at.
tetris11 6y ago
I have this to some degree -- my eyes are blurry in daytime by default, so I dont really notice the details of things even when my eyes are open. However I do have a good concept of the gist of objects learned through muscle memory, and I frequently reach for things without looking whilst not knowing what lies between me and it (e.g. I know that I can get to my sofa in a single jump, but I would never walk to it because I have only a rough idea that there is a coffee table somewhere in between) I do also frequently cycle back from work late at night through in starless/moonless countryside, so I have a reasonably developed sense of confidence and caution when manoeuvring without sight (i.e. 95% of the time there is nothing to worry about, you only have to surrender yourself to the notion that you might get injured in that 5%)