# What do blind persons "see"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2002, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484 "2002-12-29T07:18:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/1 "2002-12-29T07:18:30Z")
A friend of mine recalled the other day (during a conversation) that he once attended a high school motivation speech at which the speaker happened to be blind. This man in particular was once sighted, and became blind as a result of some disorder, I believe. He was taking questions, and someone asked what color he saw, was it like closing your eyes? He said that he saw nothing, not even a color such as black. I find this hard to comprehend, and I was wondering if anyone knew a way to explain this better than he did, or do blind people actually “see” a color? ---
**Author:** ![Maryellen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@Maryellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maryellen)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/2 "2002-12-29T07:33:12Z")
I’ve also heard that, and it’s hard to get your mind around NOT seeing black. Think of it this way. Your elbow doesn’t “see”, but it also doesn’t “see black”. It sees absolutely nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/3 "2002-12-29T14:48:42Z")
Well one thing I have read is that the visual cortex gets wired to the braille-reading finger, assuming you read braille. Whether this happens to someone who becomes blind as an adult is another question. But in any case, I imagine that eventually the conscious mind simply stops paying attention to the visual cortex since there is never any useful input. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/4 "2002-12-29T18:38:53Z")
Read “Blindness,” by Jorge Luis Borges. He says he saw yellow most often. ---
**Author:** ![twelfthsign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@twelfthsign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twelfthsign)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/5 "2002-12-29T20:25:57Z")
Some blind people are able to see some colors. Sometimes a blind person might have enough vision to see all colors, or maybe he or she can only tell bright colors. Some blind people can see some colors but not all of them, or they might have a hard time telling blue or black or brown apart, or pink from white. Some blind people do not see any colors. It is important to learn about colors even if you cannot see them. You need to learn what colors look nice together, and what colors do not match, and about stripes, plaids, and other patterns. This is important for clothing and decorating. You need to understand that the sky is mostly blue and grass is mostly green, and the colors of the ocean and the colors of leaves in the fall are just as important for the blind to know as everyone else. [http://www.nfb.org/kids.htm](http://www.nfb.org/kids.htm) ---
**Author:** ![twelfthsign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@twelfthsign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twelfthsign)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/6 "2002-12-29T20:27:30Z")
God is Love. Love is blind. Therefore God is Blind. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/7 "2002-12-29T21:11:58Z")
And Stevie Wonder is God. ---
**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/8 "2002-12-29T21:23:52Z")
I was temporarily blind in one of my eyes a long time ago. I saw white. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/9 "2002-12-29T23:12:43Z")
I appreciate the input. If I might hijack my own thread without ignoring my OP, wasn’t Stevie Wonder once a candidate for some operation that would restore his sight? ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/10 "2002-12-30T20:28:03Z")
Wow, this is interesting. I had always thought that blind people actually saw blackness, and now this? Yellow? How very odd. ---
**Author:** ![fauxpas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e480ec/32.png) [@fauxpas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fauxpas)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/11 "2002-12-30T20:37:06Z")
I use to see another world…wait no that was my sister! Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![fauxpas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e480ec/32.png) [@fauxpas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fauxpas)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/12 "2002-12-30T20:38:20Z")
Someone once told me they see shadows…then I asked them what color were they…they said they were mists…and I said what color are these mists…they said Im looking at them right now…scary… ---
**Author:** ![Elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@Elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/13 "2002-12-30T20:45:09Z")
Hello all, But if A person was always blind, and never saw color, how could they be able to explain what color they saw:confused: But if they were able to see at one point and time, that would be totally different, then they could explain:D But there I go thinkin again …peace ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-blind-persons-see/145484/14 "2002-12-30T22:15:31Z")
FWIW, I was asking about the vision a once-sighted person might see. I don’t think many of us with sight could comprehend blindness from birth.