Then again, I sometimes feel as if I’m one-eyed, saying “I understand how having two eyes would be better, but is it really necessary?”
You know, discovering LessWrong forced me to reconsider exactly this. I mean, the “you don’t know what you’re missing if you never had it” argument never seemed wrong before LW, just annoying.
Realistically, if a cheap and quick-to-heal eye repair/replacement method became available tomorrow, I can only try to imagine how my brain would respond to a random extra input. And depth perception sounds like some terrifying mindscrew, and what is this business about eye-crossing and seeing double? And I am a wee bit worried about what having the ability to see people in full detail would do to me (my one good eye went bad before I ever considered looking at porn… the possibility is unsettling for some hard to identify reason). And driving, and getting a decent reading speed, and hand-writing, would all take a very long time—years, most likely.
But nevertheless, leaving money on the ground is leaving money on the ground. I like braille, but it’s less useful than print precisely because print is everywhere and everything is available in it. Learning math and science when most of the best books aren’t readable is a pest. And I would be surprised if a whole sense shutting off isn’t inherently depressing just due to decreased stimulation.
Does exercise work similarly? Eh, it depends? The whole forcing yourself to do something you simply can’t get excited about for nebulous health benefits suffers from a heavy cost in effort. OTOH, if an activity can be engaging and healthy, the effort-reward ratio is high from the beginning. So this is where we look for something fun to do, rather than hitting the gym. Of course, if there is not a fun or otherwise rewarding solution available, then we’re right back where we started.
You know, discovering LessWrong forced me to reconsider exactly this. I mean, the “you don’t know what you’re missing if you never had it” argument never seemed wrong before LW, just annoying.
Realistically, if a cheap and quick-to-heal eye repair/replacement method became available tomorrow, I can only try to imagine how my brain would respond to a random extra input. And depth perception sounds like some terrifying mindscrew, and what is this business about eye-crossing and seeing double? And I am a wee bit worried about what having the ability to see people in full detail would do to me (my one good eye went bad before I ever considered looking at porn… the possibility is unsettling for some hard to identify reason). And driving, and getting a decent reading speed, and hand-writing, would all take a very long time—years, most likely.
But nevertheless, leaving money on the ground is leaving money on the ground. I like braille, but it’s less useful than print precisely because print is everywhere and everything is available in it. Learning math and science when most of the best books aren’t readable is a pest. And I would be surprised if a whole sense shutting off isn’t inherently depressing just due to decreased stimulation.
Does exercise work similarly? Eh, it depends? The whole forcing yourself to do something you simply can’t get excited about for nebulous health benefits suffers from a heavy cost in effort. OTOH, if an activity can be engaging and healthy, the effort-reward ratio is high from the beginning. So this is where we look for something fun to do, rather than hitting the gym. Of course, if there is not a fun or otherwise rewarding solution available, then we’re right back where we started.