# Can Geordi see?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 20, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452 "2016-07-20T22:10:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/21 "2016-07-21T11:20:09Z")
The canon is that his visor provides a broader range of wavelengths and sends that information to his brain. He has learned to mentally filter out extraneous information, but can see it if he focuses on it.
He seems to habitually focus on something around the visual spectrum, but it doesn’t actually process the same way as actual vision would. Hence he see
He considered regular vision a downgrade, and held out for the bionic implants he finally gets in First Contact. These appear to provide him with the adjust what they can “see.”
That was from memory–Checking [memory alpha](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/VISOR) says he can see from 1Hz to 100,000Thz, and that he actually gets the information in a delta compressed form. Given the range, I assume it is not linear, with some ranges being more detailed than others.
Also, given he can look at playing cards and not “peek”, I presume his mental filtering capabilities are quite good. Maybe he can do something equivalent to closing his eyes.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/22 "2016-07-21T13:37:14Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Quoth **Skald** :
>
> I don’t recall him ever making that complaint. I recall him complaining that he can’t see the way others do, which I took to mean his realization that he was not having the same aesthetic experience of Tasha Yar’s fineness that Will Riker was getting,
Yeah, they tried that rationalization, too, but that makes even less sense. Aesthetics lies in the brain, not in the eyes. If anything, he should always be prattling on about kinds of beauty that his crewmates are oblivious to.
As to cards, I distinctly remember a poker scene where he says “Hey, it’s not my fault you chose a brand of playing cards that are transparent in the infrared”. Which suggests that he’s not so good at filtering, or that he doesn’t consider himself to have an obligation to do so.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/23 "2016-07-21T13:49:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Yeah, they tried that rationalization, too, but that makes even less sense. Aesthetics lies in the brain, not in the eyes. If anything, he should always be prattling on about kinds of beauty that his crewmates are oblivious to.
>
> As to cards, I distinctly remember a poker scene where he says “Hey, it’s not my fault you chose a brand of playing cards that are transparent in the infrared”. Which suggests that he’s not so good at filtering, or that he doesn’t consider himself to have an obligation to do so.
That scene was in the teaser of the episode in which Worf was crippled by Starfleet’s complete ignorance of OSHA regs; Worf is bitching about being successfully bluffed by Deanna Troi. Geordi reveals that knows exactly what Worf’s hand was and hten makes the remark, then claims he never peeks until after the hand is over. As the others continue to play poker with him – and as I cannot recall Geordi ever actually winning at poker, despite the dual advantages his visor gives him-- I think we’re meant to believe Geordi.
ETA: As for the aesthetics issue, it doesn’t hve to be true that Geordi is getting a lesser exerpience than norms; it’s that he THOUGHT he was. The few moments he complained were generally under emotional stress and may not reflect his usual feelings anyway.
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### Author:  [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/24 "2016-07-21T13:52:42Z")
In a season two episode Geordi has a conversation with Dr. Pulaski about getting implants that look like normal eyes, but with a reduction in ability, or just regenerating some normal eyes for him. So canonically in the TNG universe there are additional technological/medical options, but Geordi chooses to keep the visor even though it is less like normal vision.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/25 "2016-07-21T13:54:56Z")
> [@leahcim](#):
>
> In a season two episode Geordi has a conversation with Dr. Pulaski about getting implants that look like normal eyes, but with a reduction in ability, or just regenerating some normal eyes for him. So canonically in the TNG universe there are additional technological/medical options, but Geordi chooses to keep the visor even though it is less like normal vision.
I doubt Geordi or anyone else cares how the visor looks. Pulaski was pushing the cloned implants because it would alleviate the pain the visor causes.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/26 "2016-07-21T13:54:57Z")
Hm… If he _never_ wins, that probably actually indicates the reverse: He does always sees the cards, but considers it unethical to benefit from that, and so he always deliberately loses. After all, even the rankest of amateurs will still win occasionally.
Of course, he also routinely plays against an android with a perfect poker face and perfect calculation of all of the odds, a mind-reader, and a habitual cheater (c’mon, you can’t tell me Riker plays fair).
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/27 "2016-07-21T13:54:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> As to cards, I distinctly remember a poker scene where he says “Hey, it’s not my fault you chose a brand of playing cards that are transparent in the infrared”. Which suggests that he’s not so good at filtering, or that he doesn’t consider himself to have an obligation to do so.
It’s even worse than that. In “Up the Long Ladder,” Geordi claimed that he could see changes in things like perspiration and pupil dilation, and thus detect when someone was lying. As I recall it, he went so far as to claim that no human being could fool him. Is that a man you would want to play poker against?
Of course, this super power to detect lies never came into play in any other episode, even when it would have been jolly useful. :smack:
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### Author:  [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/28 "2016-07-21T14:11:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Of course, he also routinely plays against an android with a perfect poker face and perfect calculation of all of the odds, a mind-reader, and a habitual cheater (c’mon, you can’t tell me Riker plays fair).
Not to derail the thread, but this always bothered me:
Deanna - Mind reader (basically). Can’t be bluffed.
Geordi - Human lie detector. Has stated that he can always tell when a human is lying through perspiration and pupil contraction. Can’t be bluffed.
Data - Optical abilities as good or better than Geordi. Can hear different heart rates. Can probably tell the cards apart by the different weight of the ink. Can’t be bluffed.
Riker - Normal human. Best poker player on the ship.
Bullshit.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/29 "2016-07-21T14:13:22Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#):
>
> Yes, Geordi can see visible light as well as x-rays, gamma, and so forth. It’s just that unlike, say Superman, he doesn’t have an off switch for any given part of hte spectrum, but gets everything all at once
Plus all of those ads for “The Game” that keep getting past the VISOR’s blocking software.
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### Author:  [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/30 "2016-07-21T14:16:17Z")
> [@Smitty](#):
>
> Riker - Normal human. Best poker player on the ship.
In the Star Trek universe, humans have some ineffable “human” quality that just makes them better than other beings that would just use logic or experience or something.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/31 "2016-07-21T14:25:19Z")
Pupil dilation and perspiration are things anyone can see. It’s interpreting them that’s hard. They should have gone with changes in patterns of skin temperature, like Scorpius on _Farscape_.
Gah, when _Farscape_ is doing a better job than you with the science, that’s sad.
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### Author:  [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/32 "2016-07-21T14:34:49Z")
> [@leahcim](#):
>
> In the Star Trek universe, humans have some ineffable “human” quality that just makes them better than other beings that would just use logic or experience or something.
Yeah I just watched the episode “booby trap” where given the choice of trusting the computer to navigate and a Picard doing it himself by the seat of his pants with almost everything turned off they decided the human was the better choice, which is insane.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/33 "2016-07-21T14:42:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Hm… If he _never_ wins, that probably actually indicates the reverse: He does always sees the cards, but considers it unethical to benefit from that, and so he always deliberately loses. After all, even the rankest of amateurs will still win occasionally.
>
> Of course, he also routinely plays against an android with a perfect poker face and perfect calculation of all of the odds, a mind-reader, and a habitual cheater (c’mon, you can’t tell me Riker plays fair).
Consider why they play. It’s obviously not for money; it might as well be Scrabble.
More than any of them, Geordi is playing to have th opportunity to hang out with his buddies in a non-work context. Data is studying human behavior and is delibertely holding himself back (remember how he effortlessly wiped out the 19th-century ard sharps when his mission required it). Worf probably views it as a socially-acceptable way to get his violence on. Riker is keeping in training for visits to places like DS9. Troi is just there to make fun of people. Beverly is just quietly lusting after Worf. O’Brien quits after he has a cutie to warm his bed each night.
Geordi just wants to relax. They’re playing for matchsticks. He doesn’t cheat for the same reason I don’t use the word VRAIC when playing Scrbble with my stepdaughter and nieces; winning is not the point.
(Also, he may be looking at Crusher’s naked body thorugh her uniform.)
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/34 "2016-07-21T14:44:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Pupil dilation and perspiration are things anyone can see. It’s interpreting them that’s hard. They should have gone with changes in patterns of skin temperature, like Scorpius on _Farscape_.
>
> Gah, when _Farscape_ is doing a better job than you with the science, that’s sad.
Well, here’s the exact dialogue (as found on [this page](http://www.st-minutiae.com/resources/scripts/144.txt)):
[QUOTE=Geordi LaForge]
Commander, with this I can see a lot more than your average person. When people lie there are certain physical manifestations; variations in blush response, pupil dilation, pulse and breath rate. I can’t use the VISOR on aliens, but humans – I’ve got them nailed.
[/QUOTE]
So it is a bit more than just perspiration and pupils. “Blush response” might, in fact, be the same thing as “patterns of skin temperature.”
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/35 "2016-07-21T15:16:40Z")
Notice too how he totally misread Leah Brahms when he had only computer simulation to go by (“she’s totally into me!”).
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/36 "2016-07-21T15:17:38Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#):
>
> Of course, this super power to detect lies never came into play in any other episode, even when it would have been jolly useful. :smack:
That’s ultimately it - the VISOR has whatever abilities or limitations are needed for a specific episode or a specific scene. The same was true for the ship itself, Data, _Voyager_’s 7 of 9 and Doctor characters, and to some degree Deanna Troi and even Spock. When something’s nature is ill-defined, the writers are free to make up some MacGuffinish aspect to it and consistency goes out the window.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/37 "2016-07-21T15:19:12Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#):
>
> Notice too how he totally misread Leah Brahms when he had only computer simulation to go by (“she’s totally into me!”).
He was thinking with the one-eye visor that time.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/38 "2016-07-21T15:41:21Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> That’s ultimately it - the VISOR has whatever abilities or limitations are needed for a specific episode or a specific scene. The same was true for the ship itself, Data, _Voyager_’s 7 of 9 and Doctor characters, and to some degree Deanna Troi and even Spock. When something’s nature is ill-defined, the writers are free to make up some MacGuffinish aspect to it and consistency goes out the window.
To SOME degree? Spock is a huge offender when it comes to his physical strengthl Someties, as in “This Side of Paradise” and the gladiator epsiode, he’s so much stronger than a comparably-sized human that any fight is a foregone concusion; but in “Amok Time” when Spock has supposedly been driven by ancient drives into a relentless killing rage, Kirk is still able to hold his own for several minutes of battle–even though Kirk is explicitly not trying to kill Spock.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/39 "2016-07-21T17:17:18Z")
I misspelled “Troi.” I’m so ashamed. [This is me](http://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-photo-english-bulldog-stretched-out-sleeping-wearing-funny-dunce-cap-26018347.jpg):
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### Author:  [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-geordi-see/760452/40 "2016-07-21T17:36:39Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#):
>
> … but in “Amok Time” when Spock has supposedly been driven by ancient drives into a relentless killing rage, Kirk is still able to hold his own for several minutes of battle–even though Kirk is explicitly not trying to kill Spock.
I’ve always thought that Spock wasn’t anywhere near up to par at that point. Kirk asks McCoy whether Spock could take on Stonn. “I doubt it. Not in his present condition.” Of course one could argue that there is still room downward from 3 times the strength of a comparable human.
The real hole is, as you mentioned, that it would be quite a challenge to hold off someone bent on killing you, while making sure you don’t kill him.
Maybe Spock was different enough, because of his human half, to partially resist those “ancient drives” to kill. Although it was sure hard to see any holding back on his part.
Nevermind. I give up!
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