I think i could cope with not having a career in sound/music if i went deaf. but to not LISTEN to music anymore!!?? Fuck that. But then to never see another lovers face again? Or gaze upon the natural beauty of the far corners of the planet.. I would like to say blind as a way to prove just how in love i am with music, but really, if it came to it.. I reckon i would cave and go deaf.

I really like and believe Bernie Krause's quote "While a picture is worth a thousand words, a sound is worth a thousand pictures."

I did a little experiment for fun where I wore ear plugs for half a day, even though it wasn't completely silent obviously, it made me very uneasy and a little anxious which is why I didn't go for a whole day which was my original plan, you loose the "eyes" at the back of your head. I'm still unsure but for now I'd say I'd rather be blind, may be I should try being blind for a day as an experiment as well.

Neither sound like great options........but joking aside, being blind would restrict my whole life a lot more than being deaf. Also you can get a certain a mount of sensory perception from feeling sound vibrations.

well yeah, either would suck. The thought of life without music seems unbearable. And it would definitely mean a job change, but I have to say going blind would still be worse.

@stephen. I was listening to episode of either Radiolab or This American Life where they talked about this. What they said was that it is extremely common for other sounds to come out of your brain when it lacks auditory input. For one person, it was a familiar symphony. For another, a radio jingle. Really interesting, and impossible to simulate since you will always have at least your own heartbeat to listen to.

I could be a musician without without sight. I could not be a musician OR a sound designer without hearing. So I guess I would rather be blind.

ALthough, I think I would have a tough time waking up in the morning if I lost either.

Have a look at this. Jared Ficklin's TED talk about new ways to see music. Technology is always advancing to allow those with such disabilities to experience that ability loss through another of their senses. It's hard to make a choice having not experienced life with the loss of either senses, but between the two, I reckon that sight is probably more valuable for our day-to-day ins and outs. But I guess I rather prefer experiencing life through listening rather than seeing. The visual landscape is more depressing and desensitizing compared to the sonic environment.

I would definitely rather be blind. Deaf people have a far higher suicide rate than blind people. Obviously either one really reduces live quality. But when you are blind you can still take part in most social interactions with people. You can still go to parties and meet up with all kinds of friends, because most of communication takes places over sound. Deaf people have a far bigger problem with this. They face far quicker social isolation, thus the bigger suicide rate.

Plus of course, I need music to balance my emotional inner world. If I didn't have that, I would probably explode at some point. As a blind person I could still do 80% of what I am doing right now. Just navigating throught the world would be a lot more difficult.