39

Geordi La Forge was blind from birth. Do we have any material in the novels or other sources which indicates what specific medical condition caused this congenital blindness? Is it a medical condition we have today, or some kind of space medical condition (like an alien infection)?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
61

A genetic condition of some sort. In "The Masterpiece Society" Geordi discusses this with a member of the genetically "perfect" society

HANNAH: Were you always blind?

LAFORGE: I'm sorry. I probably shocked the hell out of you, didn't I?

HANNAH: No.

LAFORGE: I'll put it back on.

HANNAH: Don't. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you.

LAFORGE: I've never been embarrassed by this, Hannah. Never. I was born blind. I've always been this way.

HANNAH: May I see it? Your visor?

LAFORGE: Sure. So, I guess if I had been conceived on your world, I wouldn't even be here now, would I?

HANNAH: No.

LAFORGE: No, I'd've been terminated as a fertilised cell.

I think this discussion implies that there was some genetic cause, rather than a pre-birth infection or injury.

Improve this answer
3
  • 18
    I don't think just implies. It states it. There's no way for the state of a single fertilized cell to result in blindness except via the genetic route. Even if there were some pathogen involved, it would still have to cause blindness by altering genetics.
    – ThePopMachine
    Commented May 2, 2022 at 17:27
  • 7
    @ThePopMachine, It wasn't expressly stated, and you reached the conclusion through logic. It was therefore implied. Even if you're right about only being one logical conclusion, that doesn't mean it's not implied.
    – ikegami
    Commented May 4, 2022 at 13:19
  • 3
    @ThePopMachine epigenetics?
    – user20574
    Commented May 4, 2022 at 13:36
27

There's no canon material that ever explains why LaForge is blind. The only things we know about his blindness are

  1. He was born that way (TNG: Encounter at Farpoint)

    CRUSHER: You've been blind all your life?
    LAFORGE: I was born this way.

  2. It had something to do his optic nerve (TNG: All Good Things...)

    CRUSHER: This is amazing. The DNA in his optic nerves is regenerating. Geordi, it's as if you're growing new eyes.

Memory Alpha notes this

The computer game Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Transinium Challenge establishes that Geordi's blindness was caused by an "incurable optical nerve defect."

That video game is not canon, but it is consistent with the canon mentions above.

Improve this answer
9
  • 5
    strictly speaking, if it's regenerating, that implies that it was good at some point and then deteriorated. of course, regenerating DNA wouldn't change anything about the functionality of the nerves anyway...
    – ths
    Commented May 1, 2022 at 21:28
  • 3
    The concept of "DNA regenerating" doesn't make much sense either as the thing being regenerated or the thing performing the regeneration. To me it just sounds like technobabble written by someone who doesn't understand biochemistry.
    – WaterMolecule
    Commented May 2, 2022 at 17:03
  • 10
    @WaterMolecule I can think of a few instances where the Star Trek writers demonstrated that they did not really understand biology or genetics.
    – Seth R
    Commented May 2, 2022 at 17:51
  • 3
    @SethR I am shocked, I tell you. Shocked!
    – Machavity
    Commented May 2, 2022 at 18:25
  • 2
    For what it's worth, there's a real genetic defect where you could be born without malformed or non-existent eyes (Branchiooculofacial syndrome). It looks like all the other symptoms are ones that can be corrected with (possibly extensive) surgery, so if Geordi's particular defect let the eyeball itself form without any other structure (or if they were surgically implanted as placeholders), it's close enough to be believable. And it could mean that there just wasn't a nerve to attach anything to.
    – Bobson
    Commented May 2, 2022 at 21:08

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.