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Would you rather...

be near deaf

hear everything two minutes later

If you're near deaf, you cannot use a device to help you hear. Everything will be completely muffled for the rest of your life.

Hard of Hearing

Feb 27, 2012

VintageLife Pain & Suffering Sacrifices

Community arguments

be near deaf

A two-minute audio delay makes real-time conversation completely impossible; near-deafness at least preserves live situational awareness
Hearing aids and lip-reading offer workable everyday strategies for near-deafness; there is no equivalent workaround for a two-minute audio lag
A two-minute delay on environmental sounds is genuinely dangerous — you would never hear a warning shout or horn in time to react

hear everything two minutes later

Offsetting audio playback in media software makes TV and music fully enjoyable with just a little setup
Near-deafness permanently degrades every sound you hear; the delay preserves full audio clarity, just shifted in time
Writing, texting, and signing still function normally — the delay only disrupts live spoken conversation, not all communication

Last generated Jun 29, 2026.

Comments

Anonymous Traveler1mo
I choose to listen to the full text after two minutes. Almost deafness is a permanent hearing loss, while just receiving sound two minutes late still means your full hearing is essentially intact.

Would you rather...

be near deaf

hear everything two minutes later

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