How Does A Blind Man Dream?

[sleepeazy]

i was wondering if you were born blind it would be impossible to see in your dreams because you have no imagery stored in your brain so what is in a blind mans dream? can he make an image if someone describes to him what somthing looks like? just thourght it be a good brain teaser topic

[King and God]

A man born blind would not be able seeing in his dreams, as he would never have had the sense.

[Adrenaline Junkie]

hmmm, its a tough one, i believe that a blind man could maybe come up with various colour imagery, not much else, as you said, he would need a sort of database to go off.

[White Shirou]

Well, I've never personally seen a lot of the things in my dreams that actually exist. Blind people can feel shapes, therefore, I believe they can just fill in the gaps with whatever they want, or perhaps they just dream about shapes. They may dream in black and white or colors they made up, even if they don't know what colors are or what they look like.

[Klace]

A blind man came to my school, he said. "I can see in my dreams, and in them, I'm always driving" That stuck with me as really odd, I wasn't into lucid dreaming then, or I would've told him, because that would be a major dream sign.

[ExoByte]

A man born blind, would be impossible for the person to see in their dreams. Our dreams are from our mind, and from things we've seen, know and experiences. A man born blind would not understand the concept of sight, colour, shades, even shape would be difficult. Even if a man born blind could see in dreams, they wouldn't understand the concept of 'visual' to explain to people. A person who became blind after birth for some reason, however is a different story.

[Sprout]

Why are people so adamant about pretending they know what they're talking about? From about.com:"Those blind for a lifetime instead experience other keenly developed senses in their dreams--i.e., the sensation of moving around, the emotion of joy, etc. Dream images of the blind instead seem to be reconstructions of objects based on sensory input such as touch and sound, just as occurs in waking life. But can these images be accurately described as visual? Can an object be recreated in detail if the dreamer has in fact never experienced seeing it? Other studies indicate that individuals blind at birth do see visual images. But it can be argued that these images are constructs based on input from other senses (and on what the dreamer has been told by the sighted about what these objects look like). "

[mmv]

i personally believe that if you keep a person locked into a dark square room for.. umm.. 10 years since he's been born (well that woudl be sadistical, but anyway) he coudln't dream at all. I mean.. this is based on elementary psychology. Dreams are a consequence of a certain type of imagination (can't remember which one). And another well known fact is that imagination fully depends on memory. Dreams are a "reconstruction" of our memories. This is why many times in dreams we experience paradoxal scenarios. So, my point is that a person without memories (either caused by the lack of senses, or even by.. amnesia, i guess !&#33 couldn't dream, because he's got no memories to "reconstruct". Now, regarding this particular case, the "blind" person.. None dreams only images. We dream mostly in images because our eyes are the most.. "used" sense. But a blind person has all the other sense well-developed, so that in dreams he would experience a lot stronger audio/kinesthezic images, and emotional sensations. So, he could dreams about feeling the silky touch of a chair in a concert hall, while listening to opera music, these causing him the sensation of euphoria. He couldn't see the other spectators, nor the artists on the scene. ~Vox.

[a dude]

well think about it this way, can you imagine other colors that you havnt seen before.

[Brilliand]

Could a man born blind be taught to dream in full color via a shared dream?

[a dude]

If i tried to explain to you a color that you had never seen before would you be able to see it.

[Brilliand]

No, probably not. I might be able to make a new color in my dreams with a good deal of effort. Nevertheless, I think a blind man could be taught to dream of seeing by means of a shared dream. If one lucid dreamer can control the landscape around another - and I don't know for sure, but I'll assume it's possible - he can probably cause another to see, because he can imagine that other seeing. The sighted dreamer's memories of seeing might then be copied to the blind man's memory by a sort of telepathy. I haven't heard anything that convinced me that shared dreaming works, but I'm willing to think about it out of wishful thinking. The evidence I would need to prove shared dreaming to me: One person gives another a codeword via a shared dream, then that other person repeats the code word in real life. I'd take your word for it, but I want some definite form of exchanged information. I'm going to go ask for that in one of the shared dream threads.

[Man of Steel]

Well, obviously, I have no idea about those that are born blind. However, my dad is blind, from glaucoma, and has been for the past 8+ years. Having recently begun learning about lucid dreaming, I mentioned dreaming to him offhandedly. I learned that he dreams visually, in full color, etc.. He has a form of sleep apnea, and so frequently dozes of in the day in his chair. In fact he was describing what I recognized as hypnogogic imagery to me, occurring as he dozes off. Apparently he stays conscious toward the latter stages of falling asleep quite frequently. I'm going to get him to try WILDing in future, in the hope that this may help him enjoy his sight in his dreams. Just thought I'd throw in my $0.02.

[Oneironaught]

This is actually a very good question. However, logic tells me (but since when do dreams obey logic?) that some one who was born blind could not have any visual dream elements besides the sensations of light and darkness that some blind people can see - like what you see when you close your eyes in plain daylight, as opposed to what you see when you cover your closed eyes in plain daylight. But that's assuming they have even that level of visual perception. If some one has never experienced sight then I doubt they'd have any sort of stimulation of the visual cortex dream the dream state. There is simply nothing to refer to. They would have no concept of what sight is, or what color is. They would have plenty of memory from other sensory input to rely on but anything we would considered "visual"? Probably not in the least.