The country of the blind
"Although best known for his novels, it was in H. G. Wells's early short stories that he first explored the relationship between science and humankind. This collection brings together twenty-three of his short works. In 'The Star, ' a vast comet hurtles towards Earth while humankind looks awestruck to the skies. 'The Cone' is a story of adultery and revenge amid the blast furnaces of industrial England, while 'The Country of the Blind' tells the tale of a mountaineer who discovers a lost valley in the Andes - and a civilization chillingly different from his own. Here the fantastical meets the everyday, horror meets humour, man-eating squids invade the sleepy Devon coast, and strange kinks and portals in space and time lead to other worlds." "This collection displays H. G. Wells's fascination with the wonders, but also the perils, of scientific progress. Part of a brand-new Penguin series of his works, this edition includes newly established texts, detailed notes, a full biographical essay on Wells and an introduction by Neil Gaiman discussing the lasting influence of Wells's short fiction, and how it differs from his novels."--BOOK JACKET.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
6mentions
6people
2007–2026years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Recently there was an episode of 99% that touched on this. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-country-of-the-bl... In it they refer to country of the blind (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635964/the-country-...).
Consumed them both and found it pretty interesting. I’m not going blind though, so not sure how helpful it is for someone so is, but at least it will show how Andrew dealt with it and still is.
- Perhaps you should read the short story "The Country of the Blind" by HG Wells. http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/3/ To wit: a society generally lacking in a sense thinks those with that extra sense insane.
- I tend to think of the people who were made uncomfortable by my antics instead, but I feel a similar sense of relief to be free of them. I've often found comfort in the H.G.Wells short story "The Country of the Blind".
- H. G. Wells wrote about how this proverb has limitations [1].
- Meh, my formidable powers of foresight aren't really a superpower. Few people listen until things have progressed far enough that they see the things, too, by which point there are rarely many interventions available. And every time we do intervene early, that's "you said this would happen and it didn't happen!", making it harder to convince people the next time. And when things do turn out more-or-less as predicted, I "made a lucky guess" because "there was no way you could have known that".
In the land of the blind, why would anyone pay attention to this weirdo's ramblings about "rain-clouds"? Obviously they're just feeling changes to temperature, pressure, and humidity. Oh, and they know what shapes things are? Wow! So does everyone else who's touched the things. Sure, that "how many fingers am I holding up?" party trick is pretty neat (probably cold reading), but not something we should make policy decisions on the basis of.
You underestimate the extent to which humans are social creatures. See also: H. G. Wells's story The Country of the Blind. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Country_of_the_Blind
- Reminds me of The Country of the Blind by HG Wells.
It’s about a guy who finds his way into a valley in a mountain range where everyone has been blind for generations. At first he thinks that he’ll have “a superpower“ because he’s sighted. Instead the people of the valley view his sight as an illness.
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