Long life | 6 August 2015

Most people, when asked if they would rather be deaf or blind, say they would rather be deaf. I would say that, too. Deafness is obviously a wretched and isolating condition, but it appears to be less absolute in its effects than blindness. A blind person simply can’t see anything. With the deaf it is more complicated. Dame Evelyn Glennie, whose deafness didn’t stand in the way of her becoming one of the world’s greatest percussionists, contends that hearing is just a form of touch; that if your ears aren’t working, you can feel sounds as vibrations in other parts of the body. ‘The low sounds I feel mainly in my legs and feet, and high sounds might be in particular places on my face, neck and chest,’ she writes; and she claims she still has perfect pitch. Thomas Edison’s deafness didn’t prevent him discovering how to record sound, and Beethoven’s deafness did not impair his ability to write great music.