This always fascinates me because it takes the idea of being “blind” all the way out to its broadest interpretation. Not only are those who do not share one’s own “ism” seen to be blind to the truth, but even within the “ism” itself there can be these ferocious squabbles over the right way in which to both understand it and to live it.
I was once smack dab in the middle of this as a political activist. But it can revolve around religious and spiritual narratives as well.
Giving blind people sight illuminates the brain’s secrets
By Rhitu Chatterjee at Science Magazine
Leaving aside the outrageous political realities embedded in a world where literally millions of children must endure the horrors of global poverty embedded in a global economy where some ever and always get the very, very best while others barely manage to subsist at all – even die – there’s the question that is pertinent to this thread: blindness in all of its many individual manifestations.
In fact, there are medical conditions related to blindness at birth [or at a very young age] such that medical science has not yet perfected a way to reverse the condition. So for those like Maia the question still remains: what about my condition?
Any particular individual afflicted with hundreds and hundreds of different medical conditions are always in the same boat here: in my lifetime will medical science find a cure…or a way to reverse their own particular condition. Then the part where this is accomplished but they are not among the lucky few who fortuitously happened to be living in a part of the world where they can actually afford to have the procedure.
And then what most of us here cannot cannot even begin to imagine:
A whole new reality for him. A whole new world. Then back to the tricky part. Okay, he can now see the world around him. And in some ways that changed his frame of mind about things, but in other ways it did not.
Now that would be a fascinating discussion for someone like me.
First of all, Maia contacted me in an email recently apologizing for asking me to stop posting. She even contributed a post of her own above relating to a post of mine on dreams.
On the other hand, is something going on “behind the curtains” here that I am not privy to?
She has once again abruptly ended our email exchange. Why? She doesn’t say.
So, did she contact you through a PM asking you to tell me to stop posting…again?
Just level with me please.
Note to Dan:
I have begun the laborious task of creating a new thread for my postings on this thread. Enough of this already.
Actually, it wasn’t nearly as laborious as I’d imagined. 30 minutes at most.
I replied to your email of 1 July in which you had asked me questions about how I live at home. I have received no emails from you since.
My apology was for calling you voyeuristic and festishistic, which I felt guilty about. But given the tone of your email to me of about half an hour ago, perhaps I was right the first time.
And no, I have not been in touch with Dan.
My main objection to your posts here is that you seem to be talking about me, without actually addressing me, which I find pretty creepy, and, indeed, voyeuristic. A case in point is your post from yesterday:
+++In fact, there are medical conditions related to blindness at birth [or at a very young age] such that medical science has not yet perfected a way to reverse the condition. So for those like Maia the question still remains: what about my condition?+++
Every day for almost two whole months I did my best to provide lengthy and interesting replies to your posts here, talking about my life as openly as I could, but despite everything I said, you still appear to believe that I’m desperately hoping for a cure for my “condition”.
I did not receive that email. I checked again and again. Thus creating this gigantic mix-up. So, please disregard the email I sent to you this morning.
I’m no Adam. The “tone” revolved entirely around the fact that, from my end, I had not heard from you in days. Apparently, as it turns out, because I did not receive your last email
Note to Dan:
So, what was your post all about then?
Of course I’m going to make references to you from time to time. After all, as I explained above, it was you who got me so enthralled with these relationships in the first place!!! Thinking about identity given frames of mind that had never really crossed mine.
I’ve tried to explain that over and again.
I think perhaps it might be best if we just called it quits. The very last thing in the world I wanted was to bring any sort of contention of this sort into our exchange. I thought we might actually be on our way to sustaining a virtual friendship…not whatever this has turned out to be.
Anyway, this thread is now defunct. But, again, thanks for making me aware of a world I had never given much thought to at all.
Turned out it was me all the time. I just emailed Maia apologizing for accidently sending that email she did send me to spam! How I could have done that is beyond my grasp. But unless someone broke into my apartment solely in order to do that himself, I did it. Completely bizarre among other things.
But I do think it is still best to send my posts here to the new thread.
