<nettime> Shifting the sensory balance: restoring sight at the age of 52

["HTTP://@KALX.COM" <kalx@kalx.com>]

    Gegory (1978) tells the story of S.B., a man who had his sight
restored at the age of fifty-two. Before the operation this man had lived
an active and productive life. He liked making things in a shed in his
garden, and sometimes rode a bicycle with a friend holding his shoulder to
guide him. Immediately after the cornea transplant, he had some trouble
judging distance--for example, he thought his hospital window was about 6
feet from the ground when it was really about 60. But he recognized
objects by sight that he had learned to touch. He had little trouble
learning to tell time--for years he had used a watch with large raised
numberals. 

    But S.B. never learned to completely trust his new sense. When he was
blind he would blithely cross the busiest streets with only his cane to
guide him.. Later, he was terrified by traffic and never felt comfortable
crossing the street. After the initial thrill wore off, S.B.  gradually
became rather depressed by how drab the world was. Flaking paint and
blemishes on things disturbed him. His depressions gradually became deeper
and more general, and he died a few years after the operation. 


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