HEllo Ardith,   
      
   On Wed 2012-Jan-04 23:52, Ardith Hinton (1:153/716) wrote to Richard Webb:   
      
   RW>  You'll always hear or read us stressing the term   
   RW>  "alternative" because utilization of "substitute"   
   RW>  connotes inferiority, not quite as good as.   
      
   AH>  Makes sense to me.  I did the same without thinking   
   AH>  about it....  :-)   
      
   Figured you'd understand that one.   
      
      
      
   AH>            Agreed.  One example I often used in my English classes   
   AH> is that the Inuit... whose survival may depend far more on a precise   
   AH> knowledge of which is which than either yours or mine does... have   
   AH> 36 different words for snow.  For us all that really matters in the   
   AH> majority of cases is whether we need to take turns shovelling the   
   AH> stuff, what is likely to happen when people drive or walk on it or   
   AH> when it melts & refreezes, and whether we can still get around with   
   AH> a car or a wheelchair.   
      
   Right, all those 36 words for snow describe some   
   characteristic of it which needs to be communicated for   
   survival.  Snow that won't hold weight, snow that will, snow that's melting,   
   snow that's too hard and packed to show   
   tracks of animals, etc. etc.   
      
      
      
   AH>            Once I have learned the name of a person or a plant or an   
   AH> animal, I begin to notice details I hadn't noticed before.  The use   
   AH> of words may help us clarify our observations.  Assigning a   
   AH> "filename" enables me to collect what I know about xxx somewhere in   
   AH> my brain where I can find it again & compare it to similar examples.   
   AH> Language is a tool which we can use to refine & clarify our   
   AH> thoughts.  Language can also limit thought, however, and I think   
   AH> some concepts may be better expressed in one language than in   
   AH> another.   
      
   Indeed, and the other parts of speech are just as important   
   to our perceptions, and the perceptions of others.  Again,   
   alternative vs. substitute.  An alternate teacher might have full knowledge of   
   the lesson plan, the students to be taught and their abilities, whereas a   
   "substitute" teacher is   
   someone there to fill in for the day.  HE/she doesn't really know the lesson   
   plan, the capabilities of the students, etc.   
      
   AH>           Anyway, I understand why you're careful about the   
   AH> vocabulary you use with folks who are beginning to come to terms   
   AH> with a physical handicap of some sort.  I could spit nails WRT those   
   AH> who spout whatever "political correctness" decrees without changing   
   AH> their thinking one iota... or who firmly believe that certain   
   AH> medical conditions are limited to senior citizens, nasty evil   
   AH> smokers, etc. etc. despite evidence to the contrary.  Bottom line   
   AH> is, we've been there. And those of us who have been there tend to   
   AH> choose our words differently.  ;-)    
      
   Right, it's a conscious choice we make, especially with   
   newcomers we're trying to reach with the message that the   
   loss of sight does not mean anything to them other than   
   they're going to have to learn to interact with the world   
   around them a bit differently in some ways.  Words are   
   powerful things.  They tell the hearer or reader a lot about our attitudes.    
   oFten they tell the hearer or reader more   
   than we'd like them to infer, but like it or not they do.   
      
      
      
   RW>  Indeed, musicians do have an advantage there .   
      
      
   AH>           Uh-huh.  Although my learning mode is primarily visual,   
   AH> I'm grateful that the study of music has taught me to use my ears   
   AH> more efficiently....  :-)    
      
   I'm sure, and the opposite is true in my case.  I have to   
   think carefully when making a presentation about what sort   
   of visual aids might help, I'm not used to thinking in those terms.   
      
      
   RW>  I've told more than one person that if the miraculous   
   RW>  were to occur tomorrow and I'd find myself with full   
   RW>  20/20 vision I probably would be so confused and   
   RW>  disoriented I couldn't cope for quite a time, as my   
   RW>  brain wouldn't know what to do with the input it was   
   RW>  now receiving.   
      
      
   AH> Although they may have 20/20 vision they don't seem   
   AH> to notice what's going on around them in many cases.  I must warn   
   AH> you that if the miraculous suddenly occurred you might find yourself   
   AH> wishing it hadn't.  These people evidently have difficulty sorting   
   AH> out what matters from what doesn't in the big city, where the pace &   
   AH> quantity of visual input can be overwhelming at times even for those   
   AH> who have had decades of experience with it... [wry grin].    
      
   Right, or even out in the woods, where I'm also comfortable. Sorting out   
   meaningful input from the "noise" would probably be extremely difficult for   
   me.  A bird in flight, the shape   
   of a leaf, all those things are just stuff I might or might   
   not notice, unless the bird in flight flies close or   
   directly across my path with my limited vision now I might   
   not even notice it.   
      
   AH>           I'm reminded here of a fellow Dallas & I met during our CB   
   AH> days.  We knew he was blind before we invited him to visit our   
   AH> place.  He coped so well, however, that by the time he enquired   
   AH> where the bathroom was I answered as I'd have answered a sighted   
   AH> person.  We both had a good laugh when I realized just after I'd   
   AH> told him where to find the light switch that it was irrelevant.  :-)   
      
   I remember getting a sermon as a young man about not turning on a light in a   
   bathroom by my mother.  IT was just one of   
   those things i never thought about.   
   Even more interesting, I remember coming home from work when my eldest was a   
   toddler to find my wife preparing supper,   
   and the kid playing on the floor in our apartment, adn the   
   place was pitch dark.  I had to remind my lady that our   
   child could see, and she should turn on lights for the kid   
   .   
      
   There's a story I heard when I was young about two blind   
   guys (brothers) who were remodeling a kitchen.  They're   
   working during the late evening hours, in the dark as they   
   were doing this for the customer after hours.  A local   
   policeman stopped by as he heard all this banging and   
   whatnot going on to find these two men busily installing   
   custom kitchen cabinets they'd built.  Then he asks why they didn'tturn on any   
   lights.  They seemed incredulous, as   
   they're trying to figure out why they would turn on lights   
   they didn't need.  The officer explained that maybe people   
   wouldn't be as concerned if they lit up their work area,   
   because they'd be sure nothing nefarious was taking place.   
      
   RW>  Adding sensory input could potentially be as debilitating   
   RW>  as taking it away.   
      
   AH>           I imagine so.  Visual input interferes with the alpha   
   AH> rhythms in the brain, as I learned from reading the report on some   
   AH> study or other while I was trapped in a hospital waiting room.  More   
   AH> about alpha rhythms on request.  :-)    
      
   I'd heard that one, but I'd surmise not as much for people   
   who are used to processing it as part of their day to day   
   existence.  Give 20/20 vision to somebody like me though and I wouldn't be   
   sure how to cope, as I said, separating signal from noise would be a   
   challenge.  What can safely be   
   ignored, what can't?  I'd have to relearn how to interact   
   with the world around me.   
      
   Regards,   
              Richard   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:116/901)