A special thanks to Nathalie and Tommy – two good friends of mine – who allowed me to translate their German blog entry posted on their blog “Ungesichtet”, to also make it accessible to English-speakers! Although the post is already about 2 years old, the explanation remains up to date.
Yes, even in 2023, people still say to me that blind people should hear better. Most of the time, it is asked as a question: Can blind people really hear better?
The clear answer is: No!!! Unfortunately, nature does not redistribute abilities in this way, as one might have heard about intelligence. The
higher the IQ, the lower the social intelligence.
I don’t know much about this topic, but this is definitely not the case with blindness. Nature does not just go around giving blind people better hearing. So what is the truth behind this rumor?
In most cases, at least, such a common belief has a grain of truth:
It simply has to do with the practice and possibly training of the senses.
If you are sighted, you take the visuals as your primary source of information.
But that also means that you no longer really pay attention to your other senses. – When you see a train from a distance, you no longer need the information
provided by your other senses. For example, there is the sound of the vibrating rails or the noise of the train as it approaches. You see the train coming
and usually don’t pay attention to the rest anymore. –
Furthermore, it would be difficult to explain if, for example, Nathalie and I could hear better. Neither of us was born blind and it is still presumed that we also hear better.
Getting back to the distribution topic, one could imagine a process in the form of a small computer program:
If a person can still see,
then check regularly if they can still see!
Otherwise, sharpen their hearing!
And yet, even though the human body is a biochemical organism, there is no such function. It really is just a matter of focus and
training.
Imagine a super busy businessman who only pays attention to his duties and his will to succeed. Only when he is stressed out, he would start listening
to his body. You only pay attention to certain noises, smells, or other sensations when you are no longer sighted. – The sound of a car or bicycle is always there, but why do you need the sounds? You can see the car or bicycle long before you hear it. – Impressions that are easy to recognize with the eye and therefore cannot be perceived in any other way are sometimes even vital for us. The best example is a tram on a busy street.
Noises that are not there are not there for blind people either. A picture does not make any kind of sound unless it falls off the wall. However, I cannot tell from the resulting noise what the picture was showing in its intact state.
The silent film mentioned in the title can therefore only be enjoyed by a blind person with audio description.
You can try it with silent films though, but during the time of my apprenticeship, this experiment went completely wrong once.
At that time, I chose my movies based on their titles. “The Great Silence” sounded like a profound film to me. That may be the case, but I couldn’t
find out. Unfortunately, the acoustics of the film matched the title.
Conclusion
Blind people cannot hear better in general. My wife even claims that I have quite poor hearing. However, this may have other causes. Unlike sighted people, blind people simply pay more attention to sounds. This means that their hearing is more trained.
Even blind people cannot hear the impossible. If a sound is not there, it is simply not there.
So, go ahead and listen for what has been hidden from your ears until now. Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below this post!
The way to my personal independence 