What ability would you rather lose to a debilitating illness?

I’ll lose my hair. Everything else you mention affects me when I’m alone and restricts what I can achieve or experience.

If my head gets cold I’ll put a hat on. I appreciate it could affect the ego in social situations but that wouldn’t bother me.

In fact, the tanned bald look could even be a social bonus.

I could live without smell. That would not be so bad. Some stuff does not smell that good anyways. I would hate to never hear music again. I would hate to lose my sight and not see my daughter’s pretty face. I would be a ugly bald lady.

Out of those, I might actually choose losing the ability to walk. I’m already disabled almost to that point and if I flat-out could not walk at all maybe people would leave me the fuck alone about it instead of pushing me to try harder and making me feel like a pathetic loser when I fail. That’d be kinda nice.

@MacBean That’s a powerful answer my friend.

lose my ability to hear. Even a slight sound can be a distracting annoyance to me

I’d be willing to lose my ability to smell. It’s not really an important physical sense, and there are some smells I would certainly not miss.

@jesienne I can relate. Even the slightest noise wakes me up from my sleep.

The singer from INXS lost his ability to smell and he killed himself.

Pass, I am greatful for all my abilities. If I had to choose… I’d lose my left pinky toe.

I’d lose my hair and invest in a wide assortment of wigs.

@MRSHINYSHOES What about that truck horn from the truck you cut off by mistake because you did not hear it that is trying to warn you he can’t stop and is about to make your car into a 3 ton paper weight or the fire alarm going off because of faulty wiring?

@MRSHINYSHOES it’s pleasant that you always feel the same way I do:)

@jesienne & @MRSHINYSHOES it seems losing your hair would be less of an inconvenience than losing your hearing or ability to smell. I only chose my left pinky toe because I have to admit, I’m a little vain. hearing over hair?

@gypsywench I’m suffering from hair loss now and I have to admit I have no feeling towards it… I can’t stand sounds, I want everything to be quiet..er,,impossible…................

@Hypocrisy_Central If you read more closely, I said my “sense of smell”, not my sense of hearing. I just said I am sensitive to noise when I sleep.

@jesienne Maybe it’s because we’re both Asian? Lol. (wink)

I love music and I love images and would hate to lose hearing or sight. My sense of smell is already very poor and I don’t think I would miss it so much. Hair?, well hair today and gone tomorrow. Like my vanity I could probably afford to lose that. I would also hate to lose my mobility

Just pointing out that your sense of smell has a very big effect on your ability to taste, so you’d essentially be losing two senses if you choose that.

That is easy!! a chrome dome is not the end of the world! Bald is beautiful!

Some people here are seriously underestimating the value of human senses.

Out of all of those choices, losing my hair is the only one that doesn’t increase my chance of an untimely end. So I choose that one…

@chocolatechip Are you sure you’re not overestimating the value of human senses? One of the most capable people I know is blind. If I wasn’t so completely obsessed with movies, I wouldn’t worry about blindness at all. Humans are incredibly adept at adapting.

Hearing. my body requires everything else for daily funtions.

Goodbye hair! I have been fussing with this mess for 40-odd years and if it all fell out, I’m not sure I would miss it. The only downsides are the fact that I don’t have a face that would work with a bald head, and people would stare or ask about chemo treatments. An added bonus – I could sleep later!

@John65pennington – Your body requires hair for daily functioning?

I wouldn’t worry about losing my hair. I don’t count baldness as a disability.

Of real, major disabilities – I think I could probably stand to lose an arm without too much difficulty.

Blindness terrifies me. I already have a visual handicap and I’m blind in one eye, and the idea of losing what sight I have, is frightening. So much of what I do (like, everything) is dependent on sight.

I’d give up the ability to smell. It would reduce my enjoyment of some foods but I can deal with that in order to keep on experiencing the rest of the world as I’ve come to know and love it.

I’d go bald and get a tattoo on my scalp of a really bad toupee…is that cheating??

@MacBean

No, I’m not.

It would be a tremendous sacrifice, but I could manage the loss. I’d give up on farting.

My god, I wouldn’t care one bit to lose my hair or sense of smell.

Even sense of smell is quite important compared to presence of hair.

E.g. you may be able to detect when something is burning.

@MacBean Yes physiologically that may be true, but since this question is hypothetical, I will be hypothetical in my answer and say I would lose my sense of smell, and keep my sense of taste. Heh! :P

Given those parameters, I would rather lose my ability to smell. But of the five senses I would rather lose my ability to taste. I actually think this would be a blessing then I would only eat to satisfy my nutritional needs.