Blind man answers ‘5 hour question’ about what he can see

Sight is something that a lot of us take for granted. I mean, it’s so common not to even think about what we can or can’t see when it comes naturally.

But for those who lost their sight or were born without it, it’s a completely different world to navigate.

Tommy Edison has been blind since birth and has spoken about his experience as a blind person on a range of forums to help others to better understand what he and others go through on a daily basis.

But there’s always one thing that curious members of the public ask him.

They want to know what he can see.

Now, it might sound silly to ask a person who is blind what they’re ‘seeing’, but it’s a valid question.

Is it a colour, something similar to static on a TV screen or simply, nothing?

Thankfully, Edison has the perfect response to this query, even though it typically leads to 'five hours' of conversations afterwards in a bid to fully explain it and answer follow-up questions.

In his video on TikTok titled ‘What Do Blind People See?’, he explained: “People online have been asking me what do blind people see?”

He said that ‘people have asked me this my entire life’ and they always want to know what it is that he can see, because he ‘must see something’.

But he went on to share that he doesn’t see anything at all.

Edison discussed: “That's a five hour conversation. People often talk about seeing, like, well then you must see black.

“Well, no, cause you have to see to know what black is.

“Therefore, I can't see black.

“It's just nothing.”

So, the speaker doesn’t see anything at all, which is pretty hard to comprehend if you haven’t had to experience it.

Regarding the specifics of ‘nothing,’ he explains it as though it doesn’t have colour, but he does see the presence of ‘light or dark’ in a room.

But that’s it.

Commenters were left baffled needing further clarity.

This might be why Edison then has to discuss it for five hours after telling people he sees nothing.

One person was so desperate to find out, the only way they could ask their question was through capital letters: “OK BUT WHAT DOES NOTHING LOOK LIKE”.

Another user wanted clarity over how he can see darkness: “Okay but how do u see light or dark if u can’t see..”

However, one person was able to give a little bit of insight after losing their sight briefly as a child.

They wrote: “I went fully blind from ADEM when I was 7 for a day. Its like seeing in a pitch black room… so just black lol”.

Someone else suggested a physical exercise to simulate what a blind person can see: “Best way to simulate it is closing ONE eye and trying your best to look out of it, it’s not black like when you close two, it’s literally nothing”.

But one of the most profound comments, was the idea that 'sight is the one and only sense that we cannot comprehend losing.'

That’s completely true.