Blind Dreams

So the question is, can blind people see in their dreams? Do they have vision? It's a famed and very familiar question for many dreamers. So, let's take in all of the possibilities to cipher this famous subject. This is an interesting question- and one that piques more than just human curiosity. There have a been a couple of academic studies made on precisely this subject, particularly amongst those concerned with developmental psychology, and the general conclusion is that people who have been blind from birth, or from a very young age, tend to have no visual component to their dreams.

I beg to differ . . .

Let us just exploit those who were born visionless, because we can all pretty much figure, indisputed, that an individual who developed blindness can still very muh see in their dreams. Well first, a person is born blind. A very crippling disability. But, can they see in a world where we are not cramped by physical boundaries? The answer, while not seemingly so, is actually very simple- yes. You see, in a world where reality is perceived through the human sensory system, I find many human speculations of this motif subordinate to that of the overt and veracious answer.

Blind-born people can see in their dreams because in dreams nothing must be based on reality alone, but rather imagination. Reality is the real, more bleak plane that we now subside in. Imagination is sublime. But you may ask, how can someone, blind at birth, know what anything looks like? Let alone dream? Dreams are imagination. Imagination are dreams. One needs not know the aspect of something to use their imagination. But then again, contradictory disclosure begins to fall into play.

The conclusion of researchers who studied this issue, pretty much bears
out the traditional thinking, although there were a couple of slight
surprises including two congenitally blind subjects reporting seeing
objects in their dreams. The researchers however concluded that this
was merely a metaphorical use of vision, especially as one of the
subjects said that she could tell silver objects were beautiful when
she touched them because the silver "felt pretty". Those of us with
sight would almost always ascribe the beauty of silver to its
appearance, yet evidently those who have no sight can still use the
same language terms in a different context.

In general, it appears that those who have been blind from birth or
very early childhood have just as vivid dreams as the rest of us.
However their dreams centre upon the non-visual senses: particularly
smell and sound, but also to a surprisingly large degree the sense of
touch. Whilst most of us usually view things before we feel them, the
blind often "see" with their fingertips and hence tactile dreaming is
not uncommon.

I hope this is sufficient to answer your question. Please express your views on this topic, though. :)

well, under the assumption that they were born blind, they won't see things exactly as we do, thye'll have the shapes, but i doubt the colour will be there. and perhaps they'll miss thelittle details that they just can't feel...or have no desire to feel.

Regardless of what they see in thier dreams, thiey must have intense dreams of sound and sensation. I cant even imagine.

well i think i read somewhere if one of your senses are dullened then the other senses become sharper so i expect gameover is right,and their dreams might lack sight but have intense realism sound and emotional qualities. but lucid dreams?i cant begin to imagine.

Lucid dreams for them would be beyond our 'normal' speculation. It's too intense for us to fathom, that's for sure! :)

i think if they were born blind they can still see lots of stuff in their dreams because they have an idea in their head of what things look like even if its completely opposite they still see that even if their vision doesnt work

because you dont use your eyes when your dreaming

Good point.

actually, if they've been blind their whole life, they have no rapid eye movements and seem to lack visual imagery (lucid dreams being associated with REM, no REM no visuals). but it seems if you lose your sight while young, you still dreams images:

http://www.studentbmj.com/back_issues/0501...cation/140.html

quite interesting page.

How can you know what sight is like if you've never experienced it? You take your memory of vision for granted.