0:00:00.903,0:00:07.804
(Clicking)

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I was born with bilateral retinoblastoma,

0:00:12.420,0:00:14.353
retinal cancer.

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My right eye was removed

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at seven months of age.

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I was 13 months[br]when they removed my left eye.

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The first thing I did[br]upon awakening from that last surgery

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was to climb out of my crib

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and begin wandering around[br]the intensive care nursery,

0:00:39.829,0:00:43.208
probably looking for the one[br]who did this to me.

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(Laughter)

0:00:46.966,0:00:50.127
Evidently, wandering around the nursery

0:00:50.127,0:00:53.702
was not a problem for me without eyes.

0:00:53.702,0:00:56.337
The problem was getting caught.

0:00:57.557,0:01:00.731
It's impressions about blindness

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that are far more threatening

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to blind people than the blindness itself.

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Think for a moment about[br]your own impressions of blindness.

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Think about your reactions[br]when I first came onto the stage,

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or the prospect of your own blindness,

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or a loved one going blind.

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The terror is incomprehensible[br]to most of us,

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because blindness

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is thought to epitomize ignorance[br]and unawareness,

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hapless exposure to the ravages[br]of the dark unknown.

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How poetic.

0:01:49.440,0:01:52.801
Fortunately for me,[br]my parents were not poetic.

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They were pragmatic.

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They understood that ignorance and fear[br]were but matters of the mind,

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and the mind is adaptable.

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They believed that I should grow up

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to enjoy the same freedoms[br]and responsibilities as everyone else.

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In their own words, I would move out

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-- which I did when I was 18 --

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I will pay taxes

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-- thanks --

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and they knew the difference[br]between love and fear.

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Fear immobilizes us[br]in the face of challenge.

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They knew that blindness[br]would pose a significant challenge.

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I was not raised with fear.

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They put my freedom first before all else,

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because that is what love does.

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Now, moving forward,[br]how do I manage today?

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The world is much larger nursery.

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Fortunately, I have my trusty long cane,

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longer than the canes[br]used by most blind people.

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I call it my freedom staff.

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It will keep me, for example,

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from making an undignified [br]departure from the stage.

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I do see that cliff edge.

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They warned us earlier[br]that every imaginable mishap

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has occurred to speakers[br]up here on the stage.

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I don't care to set a new precedent.

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But beyond that,

0:03:30.425,0:03:33.502
many of you may have heard me clicking[br]as I came onto the stage,

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(click, click)

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with my tongue.

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Those are flashes of sound

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that go out and reflect[br]from surfaces all around me,

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just like a bat's sonar,

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and return to me with patterns, [br]with pieces of information,

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much as light does for you.

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And my brain, thanks to my parents,

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has been activated to form images[br]in my visual cortex,

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which we now call the imaging system,

0:04:07.338,0:04:11.288
from those patterns of information,[br]much as your brain does.

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I call this process flash sonar.

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It is how I have learned to see[br]through my blindness,

0:04:20.322,0:04:23.498
to navigate my journey

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through the dark unknowns[br]of my own challenges,

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which has earned me the moniker

0:04:31.439,0:04:35.154
"the Remarkable Batman."

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Now, Batman I will accept.

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Bats are cool. Batman is cool.

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But I was not raised to think of myself[br]as in any way remarkable.

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I have always regarded myself[br]much like anyone else

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who navigates the dark unknowns[br]of their own challenges.

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Is that so remarkable?

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I do not use my eyes, I use my brain.

0:05:04.834,0:05:07.317
Now, someone, somewhere,

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must think that's remarkable,[br]or I wouldn't be up here,

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but let's consider this for a moment.

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Everyone out there

0:05:17.739,0:05:22.428
who faces or who has ever[br]faced a challenge,

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raise your hands.

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Whoosh. Okay.

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Lots of hands going up, a moment,[br]let me do a head count.

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(Clicking)

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This will take a while.[br](Clicking) (Laughter)

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Okay, lots of hands in the air.

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Keep them up. I have an idea.

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Those of you who use your brains[br]to navigate these challenges,

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put your hands down.

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Okay, anyone with your hands still up

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has challenges of your own. (Laughter)

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So we all face challenges,

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and we all face the dark unknown,

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which is endemic to most challenges,[br]which is what most of us fear, okay?

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But we all have brains

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that allow us, that activate to allow us

0:06:17.069,0:06:23.456
to navigate the journey[br]through these challenges. Okay?

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Case in point.: so I came up here

0:06:28.284,0:06:35.254
and -- (Clicking) -- they wouldn't tell me

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where the lectern was.

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So you can't trust those TED folks.

0:06:42.796,0:06:44.653
"Find it yourself," they said.

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So -- (Laughter)

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And the feedback for the PA system[br]is no help at all.

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So now I present to you a challenge.

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So if you'd all close your eyes[br]for just a moment, okay?

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And you're going to learn[br]a bit of flash sonar.

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I'm going to make a sound,

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I'm going to hold[br]this panel in front of me,

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but I'm not going to move it.

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Just listen to the sound for a moment.

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Shhhhhhhhhh.

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Okay, nothing very interesting.

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Now, listen to what happens[br]to that same exact sound

0:07:24.242,0:07:26.656
when I move the panel.

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Shhhhhhhhhhh.

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You do not know the power[br]of the dark side.

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(Laughter)

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I couldn't resist.

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Okay, now keep your eyes closed,

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because, did you hear the difference?

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Okay. Now, let's be sure.

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For your challenge,

0:07:57.584,0:07:59.558
you tell me, just say now,

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when you hear the panel start to move.

0:08:02.599,0:08:07.150
Okay? We'll relax into this.

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Shhhhhhh.

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Audience: Now.[br]Daniel Kish: Good. Excellent.

0:08:13.768,0:08:15.381
Open your eyes.

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All right. So just a few centimeters,

0:08:20.025,0:08:22.045
you would notice the difference.

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You've experienced sonar.

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You'd all make great blind people.

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Let's have a look at what can happen

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when this activation process

0:08:34.584,0:08:39.111
is given some time and attention.

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(Video) Juan Ruiz: It's like[br]you guys can see with your eyes

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and we can see with our ears.

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Man: It's not a matter[br]of enjoying it more or less,

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it's about enjoying it differently.

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Woman: It goes across.[br]DK: Yeah.

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Woman: And then it's gradually[br]coming back down again.

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DK: Yes![br]Woman: That's amazing.

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I can, like, see the car. Holy mother!

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Man 2: I love being blind.

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If I had the opportunity, honestly,[br]I wouldn't go back to being sighted.

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Man 3: The bigger the goal,[br]the more obstacles you'll face,

0:09:19.176,0:09:21.777
and on the other side of that goal

0:09:21.777,0:09:23.425
is victory.

0:09:23.425,0:09:28.580
Stop. [in a foreign language]

0:09:28.580,0:09:38.355
(Applause)

0:09:38.355,0:09:42.395
TK: Now, do these people look terrified?

0:09:42.395,0:09:44.067
Not so much.

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We have delivered activation training

0:09:46.853,0:09:50.382
to tens of thousands of blind[br]and sighted people from all backgrounds

0:09:50.382,0:09:52.820
in nearly 40 countries.

0:09:52.820,0:09:57.302
When blind people learn to see,

0:09:57.302,0:10:00.320
sighted people seem inspired

0:10:00.320,0:10:02.665
to want to learn to see their way

0:10:02.665,0:10:05.637
better, more clearly, with less fear,

0:10:05.637,0:10:12.533
because this exemplifies[br]the immense capacity within us all

0:10:12.533,0:10:16.434
to navigate any type of challenge,

0:10:16.434,0:10:19.406
through any form of darkness,

0:10:19.406,0:10:22.332
to discoveries unimagined

0:10:22.332,0:10:27.695
when we are activated.

0:10:27.695,0:10:33.709
I wish you all a most activating journey.

0:10:33.709,0:10:35.474
Thank you very much.

0:10:35.474,0:10:42.695
(Applause)

0:10:43.716,0:10:45.272
Chris Anderson: Daniel, my friend.

0:10:45.272,0:10:51.007
As I know you can see, it's[br]a spectacular standing ovation at TED.

0:10:51.007,0:10:54.281
Thank you for an extraordinary talk.

0:10:54.281,0:10:58.298
Just one more question about your world,

0:10:58.298,0:10:59.900
your inner world that you construct.

0:10:59.900,0:11:02.849
We think that we have things in our world

0:11:02.849,0:11:05.635
that you as a blind person don't have,

0:11:05.635,0:11:06.819
but what's your world like?

0:11:06.819,0:11:09.582
What do you have that we don't have?

0:11:09.582,0:11:12.717
TK: Um, 360 degree view,

0:11:12.717,0:11:16.618
so my sonar works about as well[br]behind me as it does in front of me.

0:11:16.618,0:11:18.499
It works around corners.

0:11:18.499,0:11:21.238
It works through surfaces.

0:11:21.238,0:11:27.229
Generally, it's kind of a fuzzy[br]three-dimensional geometry.

0:11:27.229,0:11:31.269
One of my students, who has now[br]become an instructor,

0:11:31.269,0:11:34.195
when he lost his vision[br]after a few months

0:11:34.195,0:11:36.447
he was sitting in his three story house

0:11:36.447,0:11:40.464
and he realized that he could hear[br]everything going on throughout the house:

0:11:40.464,0:11:44.643
conversations, people in the kitchen,[br]people in the bathroom,

0:11:44.643,0:11:47.337
several floors away, several walls away.

0:11:47.337,0:11:50.889
He said it was something[br]like having x-ray vision.

0:11:50.889,0:11:54.511
CA: What do you picture[br]that you're in right now?

0:11:54.511,0:11:57.530
How do you picture this theater?

0:11:57.530,0:12:01.593
TK: Lots of loudspeakers, quite frankly.

0:12:01.593,0:12:08.709
It's interesting. When people make a sound,

0:12:08.709,0:12:11.124
when they laugh, when they fidget,

0:12:11.124,0:12:14.003
when they take a drink or blow their nose

0:12:14.003,0:12:16.557
or whatever, I hear everything.

0:12:16.557,0:12:19.738
I hear every little movement[br]that every single person makes.

0:12:19.738,0:12:22.501
None of it really escapes my attention,

0:12:22.501,0:12:24.545
and then, from a sonar perspective,

0:12:24.545,0:12:26.309
the size of the room,

0:12:26.309,0:12:30.489
the curvature of the audience[br]around the stage,

0:12:30.489,0:12:34.227
it's the height of the room.

0:12:34.227,0:12:37.547
Like I say, it's all that kind of[br]three-dimensional surface geometry

0:12:37.547,0:12:38.824
all around me.

0:12:38.824,0:12:42.110
CA: Well, Daniel, you have done[br]a spectacular job of helping us all

0:12:42.110,0:12:43.875
see the world in a different way.

0:12:43.875,0:12:45.825
Thank so much for that, truly.[br]DK: Thank you.

0:12:45.825,0:12:50.214
(Applause)