SACKS’ PROPOSITION: “I am sometimes moved to wonder whether it may not be necessary to redefine the very concepts of ‘health’ and ‘disease,’ to see these in terms of the ability of the organism to create a new organization and order, one that fits its special, altered disposition and needs rather than in terms of a rigidly defined ‘norm’.”

QUESTION(s): Is colored vision a prerequisite for a clean bill of health? Is color-blindness a disease, or merely an “altered disposition”?

THESIS IN RESPONSE: In agreement with Sacks, we assert that colorblindness of all kinds is not inherently disabling or conducive to a poorer quality of life. Mr. I’s story is one of unimaginable loss, but also one of wondrous adaptation.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER: In his book An Anthropologist on Mars, Dr. Oliver Sacks details the story of one “Mr. Jonathan I”. The secondary visual cortex in Mr. I’s brain suffered injury during an automotive accident; Mr. I became color blind, so that his world was, put simply, “leaden”, composed entirely of, as we can best understand it, blacks, whites, and grays. Mr. I’s life post-trauma began in utter misery with a complete loss of just about all his appetites – indeed, enjoying various scents is cited as having been his only remaining active sensory desire. Having been a committed artist with a reputable eye for the aesthetic, Mr. I considered the loss of colored-vision synonymous with a loss of all potential to experience joy and wonder, as well as a loss of identity. But Mr. I slowly found release in his maintained ability to paint alluring, intriguing paintings… ultimately overcoming his initial despair by using his unique newfound vision constructively.