Does The Sun Really Exist?

[Doveaman]

Presumably like everybody else they feel the effects from the environment - where else could the heat be coming from? And presumably they can distinguish between different types of heat.

Presumably.

The effect of heat tells me there is a cause, but it doesn’t tell me what the cause is. And since I’m blind, how can I ever know what the cause is?

I could be wrong - but while I know blind people may wonder what "colour" and "light" are like, I have yet to hear of cases where a blind person didn't know what the sun itself was.

I would say they know what heat is since that is their only experience. The cause of the heat to them would be unknown.

Incidently OP's question reminded me of something I read in a book: the psychologist Richard Gregory was describing the first time his patient, known as S.B. (a blind man who had his eyesight restored as an adult), saw a quarter moon. He was quite surprised - he said he had expected it to be wedge-shaped rather than a crescent.

Which, when you think about it, makes sense. After all, what does the quarter of a round cake look like?

So while he was blind his perception of the moon was wrong all along.

His perception of the sun could have been wrong too.

 

[Doveaman]

Sure, objects (like cameras, radars, etc) can "see" the sun, but alas, we can not with the naked eye.

No kidding...

 

[Doveaman]

How do you know it is from the sun?

I know by faith in the documented claims of scientists.

Reminds you of anything?

 

[Doveaman]

They say on a clear night, you can hear the sun moving overhead.

If only the blind man knew what a clear night looks like so he could listen for the sun’s movement that night.

 

[Doveaman]

You win. Congratulations. . High five.

These internet scientists will rip us apart if we don't have all our facts in order.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

If I gave you a raised textured map of God-energy, would you be convinced God exists?

What is 'God-energy'?

 

[JustMeSee]

I know by faith in the documented claims of scientists.

Reminds you of anything?

This would be trust, not faith.

 

[Tomk80]

Presumably.

The effect of heat tells me there is a cause, but it doesn’t tell me what the cause is. And since I’m blind, how can I ever know what the cause is?

By setting up experiments that tease out what the cause is. For example, the first thing would be to determine when you feel the warmth and when you don't. This would give you a fix on the direction of the source of the warmth. You could use instruments to further determine this direction, the same way we determine other sources of electromagnetic radiation like x-rays.

Basically, you start with the most basic observations and go from there, building on the previous observations and refining them.

I would say they know what heat is since that is their only experience. The cause of the heat to them would be unknown.

Of course it's not unknown to them. Because they can make use of the knowledge acquired by other persons.

So while he was blind his perception of the moon was wrong all along.

Certain aspects of his perception were wrong.

His perception of the sun could have been wrong too.

Again, parts of it, yes.

 

[Split Rock]

I know by faith in the documented claims of scientists.

Reminds you of anything?

Is that the same "faith" as your belief in your infallible interpretation of scripture?

 

[Loudmouth]

If I gave you a raised textured map of God-energy, would you be convinced God exists?

Could you describe the instrumentation and how it works?

 

[QueSi]

I know, but QueSi claimed that you can't see something by any light it emits by itself, you can only see something by the light it reflects. Yet, clearly, we can see those objects by their emission spectra alone.

Being a particle physicist, that's not quite right. When atoms absorb light as heat, they oscillate more in all degrees of freedom; though this includes spinning, the energy actually goes more into vibration than anything else.

As well, the reason they begin to glow is actually due to their stronger and more frequent collisions with their neighbours, giving their electrons energy. These electrons drop back down, releasing that energy as a photon. The hotter the object, the bigger the drop, the more energetic the photon. That's why things begin to glow when hotter, from red to yellow to white, giving way to blue.

If the sun stopped putting off light, could it be seen with the naked eye?

 

[juvenissun]

Where does the OP say you cannot use artificial means to make the person "see" the sun?

Blind means no "see".

 

[juvenissun]

Not at all. The OP states that the person is blind, and asks how we would convince such a person that the Sun exists. It never for one second ruled out giving them back their sight. The full text of the OP is:

"If I was born blind, how would you prove to me or convince me that the sun exist?"

The easiest way to prove to a blind person that the Sun exists, is to make them no longer a blind person. Where, in the OP, is the solution to the hypothetical forbidden to be a cure to the aforementioned blindness?

That is what I said, you violated the premise of the question. That is illegal. You are not answering the question.

 

[QueSi]

That is what I said, you violated the premise of the question. That is illegal. You are not answering the question.

Making a blind person see proves to them that the sun exists, how does that answer violate the premise of the question? What laws or rules were established that they broke?

 

[freezerman2000]

Making a blind person see proves to them that the sun exists, how does that answer violate the premise of the question? What laws or rules were established that they broke?

It makes to much sense...therefore invalidating their stance on the subject.

 

[Skaloop]

If the sun stopped putting off light, could it be seen with the naked eye?

No. But then, neither could the moon.

 

[QueSi]

No. But then, neither could the moon.

Correct, but if we had a big flash light, we could see the moon. Could we see the sun with it though?

 

[Skaloop]

Correct, but if we had a big flash light, we could see the moon. Could we see the sun with it though?

If it were big enough and bright enough.

 

[QueSi]

If it were big enough and bright enough.

How? The sun is just gas.

 

[Skaloop]

How? The sun is just gas.

The same way we can see light reflected off of Jupiter.