Absolutely, one hundred ten percent agreement. If I liked doing research, I might go for my PH.D. in Psychology and pursue it. However, I'm happy to make suggestions and stick with reading about it.
Signed: Dakotah Rickard On 8/4/12, Thomas Ward <thomasward1...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Dakotah, > > I had sight growing up, but lost it as a teenager. I'm not sure where > that puts me in the adaptation to blindness argument, but I'm sure I > was able to adapt quicker and easier than someone twice my > age.However, as you say there have been some studies that the brain is > able to adapt to the lack of sight at a younger age than at an older > age and as a result there may be a wide degree of interpretation of > what is and isn't accessible for that person. It sounds to me there > needs to be more study on this subject. > > Cheers! > > > On 7/25/12, Dakotah Rickard <dakotah.rick...@gmail.com> wrote: >> I want to include some experiences and information. >> >> First of all, I have sparred with my sighted friend. He and I are both >> pretty good, and by sparring, I mean we actually came away with >> bruises from the various weapons we used. It is not difficult, given >> the right situation and environment, to actually note the stance of >> your opponent and the position fo their weapon and block and attack. >> Many martial arts include a blind fighting test as part of their >> mastery testing. >> >> Also, I think that there is a big difference between those who have >> lost their sight and those who never had it to begin with. If I had to >> guess, Tom, you either never had sight or lost it a long time ago. >> Dark, you had sight, were familiar with that perspective, then lost >> it. >> >> The reason that this is different is that I can relate to the >> guesswork thing as a blind person who never had sight. All the >> mainstream games I've ever played involved some level of guesswork. I >> remember playing dark forces, the star wars game. I could shoot storm >> troopers and such, but I couldn't do more without a lot of painstaking >> effort and some guesswork. I had to use the infinite ammo cheat so I >> could shoot at walls with my gun like a sort of zappy sonar. I played >> other games like that too, but I doubt anyone ever heard of take no >> prisoners, even if it rocked. >> >> I think that there are some experiences, backed up by physiology and >> psychology that blind persons who have been blind from or from near >> birth, will have differently than will their sighted counterparts. It >> is documented fact that the auditory and visual cortecies in the brain >> are similarly structured and proximal to one another. If the visual >> cortex is unused, the auditory cortex will spread into it and use it >> for extra processing power, and vice versa. Basically, I thought the >> thing about blind people having better hearing and such was bull, but >> then I learned that it isn't necessarily tripe after all, it just >> depends on how plastic, that is how changeable, the brain is and in >> what stage blindness occurs. >> >> This doesn't mean that blind people can't unite in a common goal, or >> that sighted and blind people will necessarily play their games >> separately forever, but there is a difference in perspective. I'll use >> the very gap-bridging game of Swamp, briefly. >> >> I play like a typical blind person, because I am. I shoot from afar or >> close up with sound. My wife tries to use both, and she usually >> spazzes when a zombie is close up, and she's getting better, >> therefore, at aiming by sound. My friend, however, uses his assault >> rifle to attract a hoarde of zombies close enough to see, then blasts >> them all with pinpoint accuracy because he can see. A very accessible >> game, played with three different perspectives. >> >> The fact is that we all bring different abilities and disabilities to >> the table. My wife's spazzing at zombies is her disability. My >> friend's inability to aim with sound is his. My blindness and lack of >> quick visual accuracy is mine. That, in my oppinion, is the way life >> works. >> >> Signed: >> Dakotah Rickard >> > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
