Do you know who this man is? His name is Daniel Kish. You see his eyes? Well they're not real. Those are his prosthetic eyeballs due his retinas being cut out due to a rare form of cancer called retinoblastoma which he was diagnosed with at birth.
However, the remarkable feat performed by this man on a day to day basis is his ability to live like a regular person, even though completely blind. He's able to navigate through the woods without any aid, bike through very busy streets, and can visualize every little thing around him. How may you ask? The same method bats are able to see at night!
Daniel has completely mastered the art of echolocation using tongue clicks. What he does is click his tongue at certain pitches to create frequencies sensitive enough for him to interpret where they bounce off from. In the article written by Michael Finkel, Michael describes the first meeting he and Daniel had:
“The first thing Daniel Kish does, when I pull up to his
tidy gray bungalow in Long Beach, California, is make fun of my driving. “You’re
going to leave it that far from the curb?” he asks. He’s standing on his stoop,
a good 10 paces from my car. I glance behind me as I walk up to him. I am,
indeed, parked about a foot and a half from the curb.”
Read more: http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/the-blind-man-who-taught-himself-to-see-20120504#ixzz2M2EngMaj
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Follow us: @mensjournal on Twitter | MensJournal on Facebook
What is Daniel doing now? He is head of the World Access for the Blind traveling across the world helping those who are sight impaired and guiding them to living a perfectly normal life. To Daniel, he believes that the blind should not be conformed to the norms of a blind person. He firmly sticks to the belief that a blind person can live a regularly normal life along with everyone else. Is this possible? I say it is.
Michael states in his article regarding Daniel's wildlife excursions:
“He climbs trees. He camps out, by himself, deep in the
wilderness. He’s lived for weeks at a time in a tiny cabin a two-mile hike from
the nearest road. He travels around the globe. He’s a skilled cook, an avid
summer, a fluid dance partner. Essentially, though in a way that is unfamiliar
to nearly any other human being, Kish can see.”
Read more: http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/the-blind-man-who-taught-himself-to-see-20120504#ixzz2M2EngMaj
Follow us: @mensjournal on Twitter | MensJournal on Facebook
Remarkable isn't it? It really makes you think about our perceptions and how powerful they can be when one sense isn't operating correctly. Am I saying this man could be the next Dare Devil? Maybe, maybe not. What I do know though is that we humans are one of the most gifted biological creatures on this planet and we have talents we have yet discovered. What is yours?
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