Which condition do you think would be harder to live with, or adapt to? No disrespect intended for any people who are deaf or blind, or even both. This is just a personal-semi-doomsday hypothesis I'm running through my head.

Personally, I think deafness would be easier to adapt to. There are subtitles and sign language users everywhere, I actually find communicating by writing easier than speech, and user interfaces on various technology, especially touch screens, relies heavily on sight. But I think I'd be more miserable deaf than blind - most of the entertainment I consume and many of the things I create involve music.

What do you think?

Either condition would be difficult to adapt to. Personally, I feel going deaf would be 'easier.' Music has never been very important to me, so I wouldn't feel like I was losing that. Communication with others would be a challenge - I'm mostly thinking of strangers on the street if I need directions, or I'm in some kind of trouble, rather than friends or family. Things we take for granted, serving personnel in restaurants, store clerks, basically anyone we have to interact with would suddenly be a challenge, not only in getting our point across, but in their attitudes. A lot of people still believe that people with hearing impairments are stupid as well as deaf. Watching TV would become annoying. I've watched the occasional subtitled show and find that I often miss things because I'm busy reading and don't notice more subtle things happening on screen.

Many of those things, though, while annoying, wouldn't cause a great deal of change to my current life. Going blind, on the other hand, I think would entail a lot of changes. Not being able to drive for example. I'm a clumsy person who already bumps into things a lot, not being able to see obstacles makes me think that I'd end up covered in bruises every time I tried to leave my house. Everything becomes scarier because you can't see potential threats. The psychological ramifications would be even worse than the physical ones. Almost everything you do in daily life, from getting dressed to cooking to household chores would have to be relearned.

I'm aware that a person who is visually impaired can do almost everything a sighted person can, but it does require a lot of adaptations and different techniques to learn, something that would take a lot of time and effort and be much harder to do than the few things you'd have to relearn as a deaf person.

I wouldn't want to lose any of my senses, but if I had to chose, I would rather give up hearing than sight.

I think this is a pretty tasteless hypothetical tbh.

This seems like it'd be a lot more suited to chit-chat so I'm going to go ahead and move this over there as this is more of a hypothetical what-if and not a debate.

Fair enough, it's not really a debate, it's just expressing opinions, I just thought chit-chat was for lighter topics.

I wouldn't be able to side with one. Hearing is really important for me, since I listen to a lot of music on a daily basis. The world would be too silent for me. Being blind would be hard for me as well. It's hard when you've seen and heard things, and then it disappear. It's different if you were born with said condition.. so.

Pretty much everyone discusses this hypothetical. It's not tasteless and it's nothing to get offended about.

I think I could more easily adapt to being deaf than blind. I can't imagine navigating while blind and personally I'd be sad if I couldn't see the people and animals I love ever again. I do like to be able to hear of course, but it wouldn't severely affect my navigation if I couldn't hear.

I'd pick to be deaf, if I had to. More autonomy. Plus I'd have an excuse not to talk to people (unless those fuckers know sign language!). Even if you imagine something as basic as cooking and cleaning, you'd fare much better deaf than blind. And I'd image it's easier to get employment too.

Be that as it may, I still find it tasteless. I do see your point of view too but "pretty much everyone does it" is kind of a weak justification imo. [edit] (I'm not looking to dwell in this thread as a general note to other posters.)

@ Lilo I guess I just don't get how it's tasteless. Most people discuss it because it's something that can happen and different people feel differently about which disability would be worse for them personally. It's not like people are saying anything bad about people who are deaf or blind.

edited for MIA word

Deaf for sure. Though I love music theres just too much in the world I haven't seen yet. Plus I know sign language so it wouldn't be that hard to adjust!

As a photographer, the thought of losing my sight is so scary that I hate to think about it :S I'm a total hypochondriac when it comes to my eyes. So I'd have to say I could adapt better to being deaf, personally.

As someone who is going blind, it is worse, hands down, than being deaf. We live in a world where sight is our species most important sense. Our lives are based on sight first,and everything processed second.

I struggle every day to do things you all take for granted and have been dealing with this since I was a baby in glasses. I am hard pressed to think anyone would choose blindness over deafness.

Looks like everyone is either undecided or would choose deafness. Maybe you'd have to be a professional musician to disagree (although judging from Beethoven and a few others even that isn't the end of the world). This has been a curious discussion. Again, I hope I didn't offend or make anybody too uncomfortable by bringing this up.

I'd rather be deaf for sure! As an artist, losing my sight is one of the most horrifying things for me. And I mean, losing music and my bf's voice and having easy conversations would suck, but--

I'd lose a lot less of my passion.

Deafness would be awful, but I imagine it'd be easier to adapt to. Music and art are both super important to me, but I don't think I'd want to live without seeing nice things (and you know, people). I also like videogames too much.. Adapting to life without those things, and with difficulty moving around and not bumping into everything would suck.

I go blind. For starters it would knock out my porn habit. But I feel like this sight does little to make my life easier. I'd go further into madness if I lost my hearing now, since my haywired brain plays music I hate when I get stressed. Finally, what's there to see?

I think to have to adapt to living without one, hearing would be easier to live without than seeing. I don't know that I personally would be strong enough to live without either, because I vent a lot through music and art, and both my eyes and ears are already so shitty its hard enough as it is. Ha.

Thats a really hard question. I consume a lot of media by seeing it, but I also love to listen to music or to make it myself. I think that it would be easier to learn how to live as a deaf person. You could still communicate by writing, until one learned sign language. On the other hand sign language is far harder to learn compared to the braille alphabet. I don't want to say that it is easy! But at least you habe the same letters and have to learn to read with them. In the sign language there is a special sign for every word and just names are getting spelled. At the moment I'm studing to become a teacher for children with disabilities. There are special helps for deaf people, but less for blind. So If I had to decide now I would probably choose to be deaf. If I were given that question before I was born I would choose to be blind. There are many helping items for your everyday life and (at least where I live) already really young kids go to courses in which they learn how to face specific problems. But I'm a very cautious person and I'm afraid that if I turned blind now, I would be too unsure about myself, to dare to face my problems on my own.