# deaf-dumb-and-blindness and pinball wizardry **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675 "2000-10-27T23:45:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/1 "2000-10-27T23:45:57Z")
How would Tommy, “that deaf, dumb and blind kid” who could “sure [play] a mean pinball”, fare in real life? Is such a feat physiologically possible or was he just a super exceptionally gifted young man? And, if so, how would he manage with today’s electronic gizmos versus the bumpers, flashing lights, bells and whistles of the '70s machines? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/2 "2000-10-27T23:58:28Z")
Depends on what he was actually sniffing when he “played by sense of smell”, I suppose. “You know where to put the cork”. ---
**Author:** ![monkeylucifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@monkeylucifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monkeylucifer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/3 "2000-10-28T00:09:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by omni-not \* > \*\*How would Tommy, “that deaf, dumb and blind kid” who could “sure [play] a mean pinball”, fare in real life? Is such a feat physiologically possible or was he just a super exceptionally gifted young man? And, if so, how would he manage with today’s electronic gizmos versus the bumpers, flashing lights, bells and whistles of the '70s machines? \*\* You’re looking for reason in a rock opera by the Who?!?!?!? Uhm, just enjoy the tunes man…I hope you don’t stay up at night worrying about “Boris The Spider” sneaking into your room! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/4 "2000-10-28T00:14:09Z")
FYI, I recently reviewed a book about a deaf, mute, and blind guy (you can see the review at [http://www.sj-r.com/news/00/10/15/m.htm](http://www.sj-r.com/news/00/10/15/m.htm) ). While the review doesn’t mention it, the author did note that the guy liked to play pinball, just like Tommy. He also liked it when he would go to “see” bands play. He apparently felt the vibration and could dance along to some extent. He probably could also feel the vibration of the pinball table, though I doubt he could do very well. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/5 "2000-10-28T00:54:41Z")
I don’t remember Tommy being dumb… Other than that, it’s just an opera, its not based on reality. sigh. ---
**Author:** ![mellonhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@mellonhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mellonhead)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/6 "2000-10-28T02:25:39Z")
She seemed to do fine as a “deaf-dumb-blind” kid, and then she started speaking (which threw out the “dumb” part). It seems that she did ok. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/7 "2000-10-28T02:33:55Z")
That’s a moving story, David. You can’t but feel deeply sorry for the man: a life wasted due to the system. I _assumed_ that vibrations had something to do with it, but, still, the fundamental mechanics of this escape me. Those people are to be admired, in my opinion. It must take tremendous force of character to get through life in that condition. As an aside, one of our local newspapers ran a few years ago the photo of a deaf, mute and blind man in his sixties being told a story/joke by one of the health workers that took care of him. The photographer caught the precise moment where the health worker, using her fingers on the palm of one of the man’s hands as a communication device, was delivering the “punch line”: the result was priceless. I believe the photo received an award. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/8 "2000-10-28T03:21:15Z")
IIRC, Tommy was deaf, dumb, and blind because he witnessed a family murder. That would make it purely psychological, and might be selective. (See how easy it is to rationalize these things?) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/9 "2000-10-28T03:35:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjk \* > \*\*IIRC, Tommy was deaf, dumb, and blind because he witnessed a family murder. That would make it purely psychological, and might be selective. > > (See how easy it is to rationalize these things?) > > \*\* rjk is right. He wasn’t _really_ deaf, dumb, and blind. He was just psychologically retreated, meaning his sensory organs worked just fine, he just wasn’t paying attention. Remember the song about when they go to the doctor? He seems to be completely unreceptive The tests I gave him show no sense at all His eyes react to light, the dials detect it He hears but cannot answer to your call… Damn, I love that show. Pisses me off that they took it off broadway. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/10 "2000-10-28T03:47:23Z")
Get a dictionary. Look up the words “fiction”, “fantasy”, “allegory” and “symbolic”. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/11 "2000-10-28T15:27:56Z")
I’m deaf, I play pinball. I always play a table until I have the highest possible score. It really doesn’t take me that long. Other than that, referring to someone as ‘deaf & dumb’ is a really major offensive thing to say about a deaf person. It’s equal to that ‘N’ word. Also David B, ‘mute’ is no longer used. Few, if any deaf people are mute. I have met far more hearing people who were true mutes than deaf people. Some deaf people do not talk clearly, that does not make them ‘mute.’ Mute is not being able to talk at all. Like my hearing aunt. I would suggest taking the word ‘dumb’ out of any commentary referring to a deaf person, thx. ---
**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/12 "2000-10-28T15:58:05Z")
Handy, I don’t think that anyone is trying to be offensive, and certainly I understand that saying someone is “dumb” just because they are deaf is dumb. Er, stupid. You have to remember the lyrics: > [@](#): > > That deaf, dumb, and blind kid > _sure plays a mean pinball_ In Tommy’s case, he was deaf, mute, and blind though it turned out it was psychological. The people here are using the word ‘dumb’ because it is part of the original lyrics. The ‘mute’ part seems irrelevant to pinball wizardtry, though, so perhaps we can focus on how Helen Keller could play pinball. ---
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/13 "2000-10-28T17:39:58Z")
or Stevie Wonder for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/14 "2000-10-28T18:00:02Z")
> [@](#): > > The ‘mute’ part seems irrelevant to pinball wizardtry, though, so perhaps we can focus on how Helen Keller could play pinball. Couldn’t agree more. I took “Tommy” as a base, being fully aware that his problems were psychological. But I have to agree that my OP (the intent being to raise the question strictly from a physiological angle) is somewhat bizarrely formulated. I couldn’t really tell if handy was PO’d by the use of the word “dumb”; in the '70s, political correctness wasn’t as prevalent. Although, checking in my Collins Dictionary (British, just like The Who:)), I find that “dumb” in the sense of “slow to understand, dim-witted” comes in in **seventh** position, and given as _informal_. First meaning: “lacking the power to speak because of defects in the vocal organs or because of hereditary deafness; mute”. It is sad to note that, in real life and in certain minds, the seventh position has taken first place and I can certainly understand handy’s feeling on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/15 "2000-10-28T22:40:41Z")
Well, omni, you did say: “How would Tommy, “that deaf, dumb and blind kid” who could “sure [play] a mean pinball”, fare in real life? Is such a feat physiologically possible or was he just a super exceptionally gifted young man?” Can you explain how the guy could be ‘dumb’ & yet ‘gifted?’ It doesn’t compute to me. There is a nice site about Tommy & the music at: [http://people.netscape.com/pinkerton/who/Tommy/tommy.html](http://people.netscape.com/pinkerton/who/Tommy/tommy.html) As to how I think Tommy would fare today, I think he would probably be using a braille computer & be all over everyone’s ass for the ‘dumb’ reference…and no, I don’t think he could play pinball that well, if he can’t see the table. I tried it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/16 "2000-10-28T22:59:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > **Can you explain how the guy could be ‘dumb’ & yet ‘gifted?’ > It doesn’t compute to me.** [Dictionary.com’s definition of “dumb”.](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=dumb) > [@](#): > > dumb (dm) 1.b. _Offensive._ Incapable of using speech; mute. Used of human beings. It’s archaic and offensive in modern use, but have you never heard of “dumb” being used in this way, handy? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/17 "2000-10-29T00:00:58Z")
He could use a trained dog to help him out. The dog, with its keen use of senses, could nuzzle Tommy whenever the ball got close to the flippers. Of course, that would only last for a little while. The dog would probably run away soon after Tommy received him. You would too if your name was “AAAAFRHHARKGLLAAA” [sub] oh lord, I am SO going to hell…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/18 "2000-10-29T01:36:46Z")
I frankly don’t know where this “discussion” is leading. When I said > [@](#): > > I couldn’t really tell if handy was PO’d by the use of the word “dumb” I hadn’t noticed your second post, which clarified things a bit in that respect:). As you can surmise from my last two posts, I certainly do not condone the use of the word “dumb” in the sense of “slow to understand” or “dim-witted”. All I did in the OP was to take a quote from the rock opera as a basis for my question. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/19 "2000-10-29T16:11:48Z")
I’m not PO’d at you omni, if I was, it would be more at the moderators because they let it slip. If someone used the N word here it would not have been allowed. I think that the mods just let it slip because they didn’t know it was offensive. I did love that play. I went to our library & got the original opera script when it came out. That URL i posted said that Peter was in La Jolla in '69 & so was I. But shucks, I didn’t get to see him 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675/20 "2000-10-30T01:45:59Z")
Another plot element of _Tommy_, if you recall, was that he would often spend hours staring at a mirror. I think the idea was that Tommy was living in a different world while deaf and blind to this one, and in a mirror he could see a refelection of his inner self. Perhaps the reflective nature of the pinball meant that it too could be percieved in this inner world as some sort of spiritual orb. That’s my theory anyway, and if that’s what Townsend was ttying to imply he did so very subtly, but what is clear is that the rock opera is open to interpretaton. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-dumb-and-blindness-and-pinball-wizardry/38675.md?page=2)