Seasoned readers know mariner is old. He has been old long enough to recognize that there are new habits about every phase of life. From time to time he will recognize his new ‘old-age’ habits. There was the time when he was breaking the shell of a soft boiled egg for breakfast. Born a natural left-hander who was forced to pretend to be right-handed when learning to write, with the egg he was aware that only his left hand knew how to correctly break the shell; if he damaged his left hand, the right hand simply wouldn’t be up to the job. Probably, mariner wouldn’t eat soft boiled eggs again.

He has seen science shows that show how advanced the technology is for artificial limbs. But he wonders, do artificial hands have palsy?

This post, however, focuses on how brain habits shift because of hearing loss. On the surface, it’s all about sound waves, echos, poor speaker technology and the slippery way folks slide through their words and stop breathing when it comes to the predicate clause.

But the brain adapts to this inefficiency. Think about it: With normal hearing the brain, with no time delay whatsoever, interprets what words are spoken, compensates for echoes and other interfering noises, understands context, mood, relevancy and other implications included in the sounds of words. And at the same time applies internal judgment about the greater circumstances affected by the conversation. Simple example: Someone says “The world is flat.” In the same instant the brain hears ‘flat’ it has formed a reaction. No extra time was needed.

It is this ability of the brain to instantaneously receive, interpret and manage the circumstances of speech that disappears when hearing is affected. Mariner suspects that if someone had full hearing restored after a lengthy time of deafness, for awhile their brain would still use the altered habits that filled in for awkward reasoning processes. The brain would have to relearn the mental processes that are instantaneous with normal hearing.

The common reality for hearing deficiency is that the brain grabs and holds onto a few key words, typically the most clearly enunciated words, then tries simultaneously to add words and searches for general meaning – while the person talking continues talking. If a conversation includes talking about several comparative instances at once, or if the person excessively uses pronouns, or if any of the aforementioned external disturbances occur, the brain looses touch. Then comes the brain saying “What?”

So the biggest change that occurs with hearing loss is not the mechanics of sound waves but how the brain processes what it is hearing – which is nowhere near instantaneous comprehension; even continuity is fragile.

Ancient Mariner