Social media users baffled by simulation that shows what somebody would see if they went blind

Online users have been left baffled by a stomach-churning simulation that shows what we would see if we had no eyes.

Online users have been left stunned by a simulation that shows what somebody would see if they went blind. Credit: Mavocado / Getty

Our eyes are crucial for both sight and self-expression. But have you ever wondered what the world would look like without them?

YouTuber Zack, who goes by the handle @ZackDFilms on the platform, created a disturbing simulation to answer this question.

In a short video, the YouTuber explained what we already know - we would completely lose our vision if our "eyeballs fully popped out" of our heads.

But the question is, what would we actually see? While many believe that we would see "darkness" like pitch black, Zach explained that that is not accurate.

"Now this next bit might be hard to comprehend, but stick with us for a second. You wouldn't see darkness, because you wouldn't see anything at all," he said.

"It would be like trying to see out of your elbow - there is no visual input, which means you quite literally see nothing. Not darkness, not pitch black... nothing," he added.

The YouTuber explained that "you wouldn't see darkness, because you wouldn't see anything at all". Credit: Ekaterina Vasileva-Bagler / Getty

Like many of the 18.2 million subscribers who flooded the comment section of the YouTuber's video, I found imagining "nothing" to be quite difficult.

"'You don’t see black. You literally see nothing.' My brain hurts trying to imagine what that’s like," one user commented.

"The idea of 'seeing nothing' is impossible for me to comprehend and is honestly terrifying," a second user echoed.

"It’s actually impossible to comprehend what literal nothing looks like. It’s impossible to imagine what it would be like to lose your eyes without actually losing them," a third user added.

A commentator wrote that the idea of seeing nothing sounded "scary," while another remarked: "The thought of literally seeing nothing, not even pitch black, just nothing, is enough to trigger a panic attack."

Many users have said it's impossible to imagine what "nothing" looks like. Credit: Hill Street Studios / Getty

To help viewers who were struggling to grasp the complex concept, one user stepped in to offer an explanation.

"For who still didn't [understand,] think of your eyes as cameras," they wrote. "When you're blind, that camera is damaged/broken, and can't properly send footage to the 'computer.'

"But in other cases, the 'cables', might not be properly attached recording, but not sending footage. Think as a lack of Input (lack of vision), rather than a different Output (seeing everything 'pitch black')," they concluded.

And if you are still confused, a Reddit commenter wrote that "your brain just wouldn't register anything as 'seen'", adding: "You wouldn't 'see' black, there would just be no signal in your brain."

They also shared that if you had your eyeballs removed then you might see black or "all kinds of things as your optic nerves respond to every impulse as though it was vision".

Featured image credit: Skynesher / Getty