I can understand the anxiety and frustration Michael felt adapting to his cochlear implant. The whole reality of a tiny microchip replacing my hearing with its own interpretations of audio signals through 1s and 0s can be a bit unsettling. Not only that but a microchip designed by programmers who have their own ideas of what hearing is to sound like can lead to doubts. None the less I would have gone through with the implant just as he did. To live in a world without being able to hear would be unimaginable. Not to be able to talk to your family and friends, you would really be living in a world not many other live in or understand. Then there is the whole process of getting accustomed to your new implant which reminds me of an assignment I did in another class where we had to navigate a computer only using the keyboard. I know this is not even near the same level as trying to reclaim your hearing but it sure frustrated the heck out of me and I couldn’t imagine how Michael who has no other choice might have felt. To add to any more problems, there is that optional upgrade which is so tempting because of that longing to hear as normal as possible, which if one does decide to upgrade leads to the whole process of getting accustomed to the new sounds once again right when your comfortable where your at.
3 comments:
I think I would've gotten the implant too. I really agree with the quote about vision being on the outside looking in and hearing being in the middle of everything. I don't think I could function and do everyday things without hearing. It must have been so hard for him. I also did the keyboard only exercise. It wasn't fun. I mean, I have to admit, it was easier than the no mouse exercise, but it still wasn't easy, you know? I didn't know all the shortcuts, so everything took forever. I just had to muddle around until I got something right and build off of it. It also sucks that he has to adapt to a new upgrade- a new way of hearing all the time. I mean, obviously upgrades are good, but it changes the way he perceives his world. It gets more into it in Wednesday's reading, and I like the idea of the world as having multiple ways to perceive it. The hearing way isn't the only way. I never knew that before.
I too would have gone through with the implant because there is family in my life that I’m not sure what I would do if I wasn’t able to hear their voice. I know it wouldn’t be exactly the same, or perhaps not anywhere near the same, but after knowing what hearing is like, I would go through great lengths such as this implant to get my hearing back. Even though it is weird to think that a device is sending electronic currents of 0’s and 1’s directly to your brain, it isn’t too different from people that have a pacemaker in them which basically beats your heart for you. Every adjustment takes time to get used to, and I also did the class experiment where we had to give up the mouse and only navigate a computer using a keyboard. It was EXTREMELY frustrating, but with time I found my way around the computer using shortcuts, tabs, and even unix code when necessary.
Yes, the upgrade is always a tempting alternative. Think about if we could choose to "upgrade" our hearing to that of a dogs. Would that be desirable? We know that they hear better than us, so we would be more adapted beings, and therefore more able on an evolutionary level, but I do not think I could trade in the sense of hearing that I have become accustomed to over the 20 so odd years of my life. This would be to grave a change. I feel like he might deal with this same situation every time he has to choose either to upgrade or not to upgrade. If I was him I would just find a good setting and then stick with it.
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