Neurobiology- TED: How Can Going Blind Give You Vision?

    

     Listening to Isaac Lidsky tell his story of developing blindness is a story of how a battle turned into a victory. Lidsky's face is a familiar one if you ever grew up watching NBC's sitcom, Saved by the Bell. Although he had not completely gone blind during his time on the show, he was experiencing altered vision and later diagnosed with sight deterioration at age 13, that would ultimately take his vision by the time he was 25 years old. He recalls feeling as if it would be the end of his success, and the end of making anything of his future self. What he later realizes is that he was very mistaken to believe this. 

    Lidsky points out how us humans rely so tremendously on our sight to tell us about the world. What we see is simply what our brain wants us to see, or in other words, how our brain processes our sight. If you are walking and you approach a hill up-ahead, that hill might look to be tall if you are exhausted from your walk, or it might look like a simple speed bump if you just started your walk. This example shows how sight is our own figment of imagination. 

    For me personally, and I am sure for many others, the thought of loosing your vision is terrifying. This audio, however, showed me a different outlook. Just like Lidsky feared the loss of his eye sight initially, he was able to recognize how that fear was distorting his reality. At the end of the day, we are what we believe we are, and we are the only person who can control of our thoughts and outlooks. I believe for Lidsky, loosing his vision showed him the power of his mind, how much stronger the control over his thoughts are, versus the things he used to believe based off of his sight.

👂I highly recommend checking out this TED Radio Hour audio for yourself to learn more! https://www.npr.org/2017/01/20/510624029/how-can-going-blind-give-you-vision