Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The ability of a blind person to sense the presence of a light source.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The responsivity shown by some blind or partially blind people to visual stimuli of which they are not consciously aware.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

blind +‎ sight. Coined in a 1974 paper in the Lancet by Sanders et al.

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Examples

  • I was not aware of "blindsight" - another point to consider as artists...how much of what we paint is from observation versus memory?

    Blindsight James Gurney 2009

  • This ability gives rise to the term blindsight, but that is only part of the reason Blindsight was chosen as the title.

    REVIEW: Blindsight by Peter Watts 2006

  • See another patient (Ellis-Troy) demonstrate something called blindsight, wherein a blind woman successfully reaches for an object by "predicting" its position.

    Latest stories 2010

  • See another patient (Ellis-Troy) demonstrate something called blindsight, wherein a blind woman successfully reaches for an object by "predicting" its position.

    Latest stories 2010

  • "blindsight" - the remarkable ability to respond to what his eyes can detect without knowing he can see anything at all.

    Scientific American 2010

  • There's a medical phenomenon called "blindsight," where people who seem to be partially or completely blind are able to respond to visual information under test conditions.

    Richard (RJ) Eskow: Blindsight: Economics, Country Music, Tea Parties, and Third World America 2010

  • To take but one example: Patients whose brain damage has destroyed their sight may still display implicit "blindsight," by slipping a card into a mail slot that they cannot consciously see.

    Please, Pay Attention 2009

  • Again, I can see why the book is the way it is, and why the characters were chosen (to re-enforce the whole 'blindsight' angle, and I'm using blindsight not in its strict meaning, but rather referring to abilities that might be similar in nature to blindsight).

    REVIEW: Blindsight by Peter Watts 2006

  • Magnetically induced 'blindsight' induced in healthy human volunteers.

    Mind Hacks: November 2005 Archives 2005

  • Magnetically induced 'blindsight' induced in healthy human volunteers.

    Mind Hacks: 2005-11-04 Spike activity 2005

Comments

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  • OK so I can't prove I have this, but put it this way - I estimate nearly 40% of my right field of vision is not consciously available to me (due to hemispatial neglect) and yet I can function fairly normally. It's either compensation from other parts of my brain, or the visual stimuli is still getting in there some other way.

    October 12, 2007

  • *makes mental note to look out for arby when driving*

    Actually I know a couple people who have mono-vision--that is, their eyes don't function together, which makes it hard for them to perceive distance or see things in 3-D. They both function normally too.

    October 12, 2007

  • Oh, I don't drive. I've had WAYYYYY too many accidents to feel comfortable behind the wheel for long. Although it's been suggested that a complicated system of mirrors could compensate.

    October 12, 2007

  • *makes mental note not to worry about mental note about arby driving*

    October 12, 2007

  • I think it's highly possible, arby. The brain can do amazing things.

    *makes mental note to worry about chained_bear making mental note not to worry about mental note about arby driving*

    October 12, 2007

  • Ah, recursion.

    *makes mental note to worry about everyone else's worrying status*

    October 13, 2007

  • Oh no! Another niche worrier.

    October 13, 2007

  • I try to worry about everything at once, but I have the attention span of a gnat, so I end up being a niche worrier by default.

    October 13, 2007

  • Well, that's handy.

    Exactly how long is the attention span of a gnat, anyway? Inquiring minds....

    October 13, 2007

  • Ha! Forgot to check this page/recent comments, thus proving my own point.

    I suspect a gnat's attention span is less than that of a goldfish (famously reported as 3 seconds).

    October 17, 2007