How Blind People Actually See the World

How do blind people see the world? Do blind people see dreams? Most people imagine that what the blind see is complete blackness. But, it’s not that “black-and-white”, so to say. There are different degrees and causes of blindness that affect what blind people can see.

What's functional blindness?
When a lot of us think of blindness, we only imagine total blindness. But there is something called functional blindness as well. It means different things in different countries. In the US, normal vision is 20/20, and the higher the second number, the worse the vision. A person with 20/200 vision is considered to have functional blindness, which means they can see at 20 feet what a person with normal eyesight can see at 200 feet. It could also mean the person has a visual field of 20 degrees or less, whereas normal is between 60 and 100 degrees. There are different types of functional blindness with varying levels of severity.

TIMESTAMPS
Blind from birth 0:25
People who lost their eyesight 1:10
Legally blind 2:07
Able to perceive light 3:17
Tunnel vision 3:33
Do blind people see images in their dreams? 4:04
Using other senses 5:21
Perceiving light non-visually 6:14

SUMMARY
- People who are blind from birth obviously have never had the ability to see. And it’s not really our eyes that actually see information but the brain that processes it. So if the brain receives no signals from the eyes to process, a person can see nothing.
- Becoming totally blind, that is, losing light perception altogether, is extremely rare. It happens to those who have lost the connection between the eyes and the brain. This can happen when the brain or optic nerve is damaged or when the eyes are removed.
- A legally blind person can see people and large objects but they’re out of focus. They can perceive colors or even see things in focus but only at a certain distance, perhaps only as far as right in front of their face. In some cases, everything they see is blurry and hazy.
- Keeping light perception doesn’t help blind people see clearly, but it does help them distinguish between light and dark, day and night. Some of them can also tell where the light’s coming from.
- People with tunnel vision look at the world kind of like through a narrow tube, hence the name. They might see things pretty clearly, but only within a field of vision less than 10 degrees.
- A person who once could see and then lost their vision may see dreams like sighted people do, with bright vivid images. Legally blind people can also see images while they’re sleeping.
- Another popular question concerning people with impairment or loss of vision is if their other senses get stronger. Researchers believe it’s true. Blind people remember how different objects smell and often use hearing and touch to find their way around.
- And it’s possible that totally blind people have their own way of perceiving light. In 1923 Harvard graduate student Clyde Keeler conducted some research on blind mice. Although their eyes lacked certain parts necessary for vision, they still followed day-night cycles.

If you know anything else on this topic, share your knowledge in the comments below.

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[BRIGHTSIDEOFFICIAL]

5:28 This fact amazed me most! Which one is your favorite?

[Quinhala]

I can't imagine "nothing", everytime i try to i feel weird

[ivanamielniczuk]

My father turned blind cause of damage on his optical nerve, he said he saw everything black but had hallucinations where he saw people but he knew it wasnt true. He was 70 years old. He was able to do chores, errands in his neighbourhood, and was very happy when people said hi or helped him cross the street, he died a year ago, but was a very happy person even though he couldnt see, he was very strong, I am so proud of him.

[depressedgarbage]

"blind people don't see black, they just see nothing"

everyone trying to figure out what nothing looks like: *confused screaming*

[masterwings]

I still cant process seeing “nothing” being able to see black makes sense to me because its the absence of light

[ForeverEva]

Wait... people who wear glasses/contacts can dream out of focus? I wear glasses and I can barely see anything without them, yet I’m pretty sure my dreams are in focus.

[mynameisntyourbusiness]

"Nothing looks like blackness it just isn't blackness!"

Yeah makes sense 🙄

[evathompson]

My head hurts
“Try looking with your elbow”

[omr_w]

To be honest i think people who were born blind imagine the world more beautiful than how it actually is

[el_mas_mafioso]

All I know is that I am blessed I can see all the beauty in the world 🙏

[TeamRS]

"Total blindness can happen if the eyes are removed" No kidding

[elliotandersson]

It is so difficult to imagine how seeing nothing is like!

[Ayoaairah]

"just close one eye and you'll see nothing!"

Me: nahh man I closed my eyes and I saw black

[kairoles]

My dad is blind and he said that he can’t see anything, pitch black

[MelodySnowflakeVA]

I am legally blind myself, thank you for making a video about this! Us blind people in general are quite miss understood in terms of our vision. Thanks for educating people, keep being awesome!

[itsreeah]

Thank you Brightside for making a video on blindness. I’m a blind person myself and I can’t stress how important it is to share awareness about vision impairment and blindness. It is a real thing that many people live with and it impacts our day-to-day life. We can still do many things but just in a slightly different way

[LegoJFK]

I’m legally blind in both eyes completely blind in one eye, haven’t always been this way but this video is accurate. and the one thing they forgot was the mental things that come with blindness; the loneliness that comes with losing your once perfect eyesight, it’s a hard thing to go through but no one understands it
Having people point out everything to you that you couldn’t find; or having someone make fun of you for not seeing something obviously right in front of you, without realizing you’re blind,
Or even the puns that come with it.
People will purposely give you names like 3x scope because you struggle
And the worst part is not having anyone to turn to that will understand it,
Family will say they support you through it but they’re just as guilty of the same things.
The worst thing you could possibly do to a human is take their eyesight after giving them it.

[dr_amalia]

"What can you see with your elbow?"

[aadzaad]

You can imagine it like this. You can’t see what’s behind you right now, or whats outside your field of vision. Blind people also have that nothingness in front of them, where we see things.

[sayakochanuwu]

Me:Mom i turned blind
My mom:ItS BeCauSe of tHAT DANG pHoNe