RE: Using infrared light to help deaf people hear and blind people see
@Dontfixit, I hope I'm allowed an opinion even though I'm not deaf, I'll try not to make it an ignorant one...
I'm trying to understand your vitriol. It seems that you are offended that something which you see as a characteristic which is part of your identity is being fixed; treated like a problem. I guess that's how I'd feel if tall people with brown hair were made to feel that society considers them defective unless they get shorter and blonder...
Many hearing people certainly do not realise how important deaf culture is to deaf people; you've made this point very well, along with outlining the very real risks to people's senses of self if they gain hearing (especially as an adult). Most/all hearing people certainly underestimate these things.
However, while you apparently consider life without hearing as being in no way lacking compared to life with hearing, the fact that you don't know what you're missing means that you can't make an informed judgement on that. Can you?
I'm going to say this even though you won't like it: Deafness is a defect; deaf culture is a culture. Neither of us is qualified to give a definitive opinion on this; maybe somebody who had hearing and lost it can give their opinion. I'm sticking my neck out and saying that, having known hearing - with all of music and the practical conveniences it brings - most people who lose it are sorry to see it go.
As for which of these factors is more important - that's down to the individual to decide.
Let me ask you this - do you consider blindness a defect? When doctors and scientists strive to find cures for blindness, do you see that as an attack on a culture or an attempt at laudable medical progress?
