Would you rather be blind or deaf? That was one of the questions in The Book of Questions. I originally said I'd rather be deaf, because then I could still do a lot of things like
- surf the web
- golf
- watch TV and movies (closed caption/subtitle)
- clean my apartment
But today I saw three Teslas, the $100K electric sports car, and it's making me rethink things. The Tesla can do 0-60 mph under 4 seconds, the quarter mile under 13. But during that time you don't hear anything. For a family car like the Prius that's great, nice and quiet; but sound is half the excitement of a sports car. I still remember the first time I heard a Porsche Carrera GT, I almost jizzed in my pants.
So I started thinking about all the things I'd be missing if I was deaf,
- shooting the shit with friends
- listening to music
- hearing the crowd at a sporting event
I think it's easier to create a mental image than to create a mental tune. I can close my eyes and imagine a beautiful woman I've never seen from a description, but dare I say it's impossible to create beautiful melodies from seeing song lyrics.
This is why the Tesla Roadster will never be beloved by car enthusiasts, just by geeks. Good thing they have a sedan coming out.
Comments