Hi Guys, I can't help but feel that the debate has widened out to the point where people are arguing different things past each other. So to return to the OP and use the flying / wings metaphor. I was born without wings. So in a world where nearly everyone else could fly I would consider myself disabled. I'm not saying that that would make me a lessor person, though I might feel that way. And it might well be the case that others might look down on me, and I might well take that to heart. I might even be able to carve myself out a normal enough life where my lack of wings would not seem like a handicap. I might even become proud of my stronger leg muscles. But why would I not sit there from time to time watching my friends fly around while I have to plod slowly on my feet and struggle with stairs, and think, Gosh it'd be nice to have wings? And if a doctor came to me and said we can wing you, why would I say no? Granted it might be frightening. I might discover a whole new fear of heights (though I actually have that already). And it might upset my world and my comfortable life. But at the end of the day its about being able to do something that I can't do now. I would jump at the chance. Hell even in this world, without any of the rest of that being true, if a doctor came to me and said we can wing you, I'd jump at the chance. I'd willingly take on the mantle of being different or a freak or what have you simply for the joy of being able to do something like that. I'd risk falling over, being laughed at, possibly looked down upon, and maybe even hurting myself for it. I'd accept that it might destroy my world, leave me confused, perhaps even make me less able than I am now simply for that ability. Now with regard to the OP, we're talking about someone who was able to see (fly) but lost the ability. I have absolutely no doubt that someone in that situation would jump at the chance to get his sight (wings) back. Because here we're talking about someone who has felt that loss, and presumably still feels it. Oh and as to Avatar, great movie, the ending was about two things. One it was about a man who had lost his ability to walk I think about seven years before, wanting to walk again. Why do you think he found it so exciting to be able to walk and run as a fake Navi the first time? He was remembering what he'd lost. And it was about him fully becoming a part of the people. Joining the tribe. I hope that no one takes this as offensive. It certainly isn't meant to be. And I have no personal experience of what it would like to be in a wheelchair or blind, so fully accept that my understanding of these matters is limited. Cheers, Greg.
