The mind-deaf and the hearing-deaf
I have a Ph.D. in Sensory Science (specifically auditory physiology) with a minor in Computer Science from Syracuse University. During my time there, as I was studying for my doctorate, I had many opportunities to interact with deaf people and study the deaf community at large. When I designed the Vuduri society for Rome's Revolution, once I came up with the idea of mind-connected people and the balance of the mandasurte, the mind-deaf, I had to draw upon that experience to build an alternate society to contrast against the Vuduri.
The hearing deaf, especially in the United States, are a complex community and have many unique characteristics. I make no judgment. I'm just a scifi writer so I used my experience to mimic things that I learned about a group of people who have a different way of perceiving the world than the main-stream.
First and foremost, while deaf people are aware of the fact that they are deaf, they have found numerous ways of overcoming that sensory deficit to the point where it isn't a deficit at all. As a whole, they are just as happy as the hearing people so I made the mandasurte a happy group as well. The hearing deaf have their own language (sign language) and so I made sure the mandasurte had their own language as well.
Also, while this is certainly no rule, hearing deaf people sometimes gather in communities or groups, just like any other group. Thus I had the mandasurte gather in enclaves where they could luxuriate in the comfort of others like them.
As in our world, our scientists have worked tirelessly to research and come up with inventions to allow the hearing deaf to hear. So too, with the Vuduri, I had them invent the Espansor Bands so that mandasurte could experience communication the same as the Vuduri with an artificial device.
All in all, I tried to make the mandasurte parallel the hearing deaf to give a feel of authenticity to a society apart. At the same time, I wanted to show that such a people are not to be pitied but rather respected because they have taken what nature has given them and built a complete and satisfactory society around themselves.
The hearing deaf, especially in the United States, are a complex community and have many unique characteristics. I make no judgment. I'm just a scifi writer so I used my experience to mimic things that I learned about a group of people who have a different way of perceiving the world than the main-stream.
First and foremost, while deaf people are aware of the fact that they are deaf, they have found numerous ways of overcoming that sensory deficit to the point where it isn't a deficit at all. As a whole, they are just as happy as the hearing people so I made the mandasurte a happy group as well. The hearing deaf have their own language (sign language) and so I made sure the mandasurte had their own language as well.
Also, while this is certainly no rule, hearing deaf people sometimes gather in communities or groups, just like any other group. Thus I had the mandasurte gather in enclaves where they could luxuriate in the comfort of others like them.
As in our world, our scientists have worked tirelessly to research and come up with inventions to allow the hearing deaf to hear. So too, with the Vuduri, I had them invent the Espansor Bands so that mandasurte could experience communication the same as the Vuduri with an artificial device.
All in all, I tried to make the mandasurte parallel the hearing deaf to give a feel of authenticity to a society apart. At the same time, I wanted to show that such a people are not to be pitied but rather respected because they have taken what nature has given them and built a complete and satisfactory society around themselves.
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Tales of the Vuduri
Tidbits and insights into the 35th century world of the Vuduri.
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