All the practice in the world looking at a rainbow will not improve their ability to see what they can't see
I agree. Completely.
However, if someone colour blind painted a picture of a rainbow that was just colours with no resemblance to a rainbow, should one pretend it's a glorious artistic encapsulation of one ? Should it be put up in a public gallery ?
...or in the case of those with Amusia (tone deafness) able to hear what they just can't hear...
Amusia has got to be one of the most ironic words out there.
Sucks because singing can be such a cool spiritual thing and really get the endorphins going...maybe for those that are tone deaf they still get the spiritual endorphin rush...ya know singing is a lot more than just singing
I agree. Completely.
But I think we're unnecessarily crossing swords here because we are talking about two completely different things.
I thoroughly support the freedom of absolutely anyone to sing if that is what they want to do. And you're right, there's a heck of a lot more to
singing 
than just singing.
But we're not really talking about just singing. We're talking about
performing. That's the difference. If someone cannot help the fact that they cannot respond to music, or hear notes and pitches, that
is in the realm of science. When it comes to performance, science doesn't come into it. Performance has two distinct realms to it, that of the performer and that of the punter. The punter desires entertainment that, unless they are a person that gets a buzz from witnessing a trainwreck or a masochist, is pleasurable. Within certain bounds, the performer delivers that.
Now, I don't think that the punter should dictate to the performer how they should be or what kind of music/song/film/poem etc they should do. You take on board what the artist/performer delivers. But the performer
is duty bound to at least make the effort to entertain those that they are there to entertain.
If you give most kids a drum or something percussive, they'll just hit it with no particular thoughts as to time, rhythm etc. They'll have a great time for a bit and there's a place for that ~ as long as one isn't foisting that on the public who have come to listen to something they'll be entertained by.
I would suspect that happens to both those who sing in key and those that don't
It does. No doubt about it.
Most people that can sing in key are never likely to perform. So it doesn't really matter. I think people, whether they can sing or not should express themselves vocally to their hearts content.
Performing it is a different matter. Some people might love the sound of the violin but can't play it. I wouldn't encourage them to get up publicly and play either but I would encourage them till the cows come home if they want to play a violin
in the privacy of their own abode or with like minded friends who also can't particularly play an instrument but all like making a noise together.
Also, if people that can't sing are in situations where singing is an option like a congregation, at a gig as part of the crowd, at a sports event, being somewhere where a national anthem
is being sung etc, then go for it, loud and proud. Whether it's in or out of tune in such situations is irrelevant.
your particular 8 days of out of tune torture left scars on you that in normal situations would not have
The funny thing is that it hasn't left scars on me. For me, it's an amusing story to tell. I felt that way about singing a good 5 decades before that happened. My Mum told me that when I was really little and she used to sing, I used to cry ! I believe her because by the time I was about 11 or 12 I remember that her singing voice used to drive me up the wall. But it wasn't because she couldn't sing.
Over the years, I've heard all kinds of singers and the overwhelming majority have been OK. Once in a blue moon, I've heard a singer that wasn't all that, but still not terrible. And I've heard karaoke singers. Again, the majority of them have been at the very least OK. I hear kids singing all the time and it's not difficult to tell the difference between someone that is merely indisciplined and someone who literally has no idea or ability because they are pretty rare.
I'm not even sure that I'd give people props for getting up on a stage to do something they clearly can't do. Many people would but I'd be asking more awkward questions......
You're in a bar and someone is terrible you can walk out or stay and observe the joy that that poor soul who was cheated of normal hearing is getting from giving it a go at the mic
That's kind of emotive. If someone was cheated of normal sight, would you observe the joy that poor soul is getting from driving regardless of what is going on on the roads ?
A few years back, I was out shopping and outside one of the shops this guy was playing a guitar
with 4 strings and it was terrible. In fact, it wasn't even terrible, it was
terrencible. The strings were out of tune, his rhythm non-existent and whatever he was playing was unrecognizable to man and beast alike {!!}. Anyway, after I'd done my shopping I passed the guy on my way back and I thought, I've got to say something to him. So I said to him, "'ere mate, if you're going to stand out on the street and play guitar and expect people to, or even hope people will,
give you money for your playing, the very least you could do is make the effort to tune your guitar and play something that sounds like a tune or at least something people can connect with, particularly if you made it up or are making it up as you go." He looked at me and said "was it really that bad ?" and I said to him, yeah, it was.
I'll always stop to listen to buskers. I'm not interested in professional studio or Carnegie Hall quality. I don't mind if the busker only knows 2 chords or one song. I do mind if the busker can't play or sing !
Kinda of like watching the disabled olympics...joy is joy accomplishments are to be celebrated at all levels...
Again, a rather different scenario. When we had the Olympics here in 2012, I went to 3 days of events, 2 of which were the paralympics and I watched many days of the paralympics on TV. It was heartwarming and I really dug it. But there wasn't a single competitor I saw that couldn't do their chosen event. Even the people that couldn't see had help in track and field if need be. And so the competition was on a level playing field and competitors really were competing. 98% of the time I wasn't even aware that these were paralympians.
seek the good and praise it...
The good. Yeah.
It's funny, technology has enabled us as musical people to do a whole wide range of things that we find difficult, especially when it comes to recording. Non drummers can put together good, solid drum tracks, with VSTIs, those of us that don't play a fraction of the available instruments on offer can have them in our creations, varispeed has enabled those of us not great on particular instruments to still be able to play parts etc. Rap/Hip hop and spoken word have even enabled those that don't have singing voices they're comfortable with to be able to express themselves with words and sampling has brought a whole new dimension to creating musical backing and soundscapes. But the one arena that has yet to be broached is that of the voice. Sure, we've had vocoders and pitch correction and various manglers, but the human voice is in a different league from everything else. It's something we uniquely have control of and for those few that do not, what can one say ?
Sometimes we just need to be honest and say "this is one area that you can't travel ~ publicly." It's not telling someone not to sing.
Not that this applies to Nifer. We don't know that yet.
