Blindsight

I watched Blindsight (2 hours), a movie about young men and women from Tibet who are blind that set out on a trek to the summit of a mountain that was directly next to Mount Everest and approximately 23,000 ft high. Each young man and woman had a guide who had vast experience mountain and rock climbing to help them in this journey. The group made it to advanced base camp of Mount Everest, which is at 21,000 ft. They had lost two of the young students just before they made it to advanced base camp due to illnesses associated with the extremely high altitude. The decision was made, at advanced base camp, to turn back and head home and not go on to the summit. The factors in this decision were the fact that they had split up the group, the dangers involved in climbing to the summit, and the fact that some students didn't even want to continue on.

This accomplishment was truly astounding, whether they made it to the summit or not. However, the one gripe I had with the decision making process was that the founder of the school seemed to be slightly infantilizing the students despite the fact that the main theme of the movie (and rightfully so) is that people who are blind are  completely normal people. She seemed to be holding the students back from going on because she believed the students had learned enough from the experience. Frankly, I think that the decision should have been up to the students and the guides. If the guides felt confident that the students could reach the summit safely and the students wanted to continue on, they should have.

Nevertheless, the accomplishment of these young men and women cannot be denied by anyone. This shows the abilities humans possess, whether they have all of their senses or not. It is a truly inspiring story that makes you reflect upon your own life and think about the little things that make your life difficult. It puts things in perspective, for sure.