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Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

economist.com

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Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#261

Post by vasco »

frereubu wrote: post #107
vasco wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should've stopped at the scoff. Someone qualified to handle children in a classroom and in field trips is already qualified to take them to a beach.

I think you may be misunderstanding, which is perhaps understandable given that I didn't unpack what it meant - see my sibling comment. But scoffing without asking for more information isn't a great strategy for learning.

I grew up in a beach town and gone to the beach in kindergarten all the time with the school without any special certifications. In the event kids go into the water there's always a lifeguard on duty already so otherwise it's the same as any other school outing, I'm not sure what the difference would be from leading a group of children in a city walk for example which to me looks way more dangerous.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#265

Post by tharne »

geoffmanning wrote: post #263

I read the title and immediately agreed, but i had misinterpreted "short-sightedness" as the inability to consider the long-term effects of our choices and habits, at least to the effect of making positive changes, rather than the ocular deficiency.

> I read the title and immediately agreed, but i had misinterpreted "short-sightedness" as the inability to consider the long-term effects of our choices and habits

I had the exact same reaction, and was genuinely surprised when I clicked through.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#266

Post by mathgeek »

geoffmanning wrote: post #263

I read the title and immediately agreed, but i had misinterpreted "short-sightedness" as the inability to consider the long-term effects of our choices and habits, at least to the effect of making positive changes, rather than the ocular deficiency.

First I have ever encountered the term used in this context. Have always understood it to be near-sightedness, but that may just be cultural.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#267

Post by jeffreyrogers »

tominous wrote: post #149

Almost all children are born hypermetropic (far-sighted). The growth of the eyeball is calibrated by the amount of defocus (blur) experienced. More defocus, more growth, which reduces hypermetropia. My hypothesis is that less sunlight means wider pupils and more defocus (contrast to a pinhole camera), so more eye growth. Even with perfect eyesight, there's a 2-diopter difference between focussing blue light and red l…

Something like this is beginning to be accepted. At least that's the impression I got from the eye doctor when I had PRK surgery. FWIW I had 20/15 vision until starting college and consequently being indoors in the dark much more often (staying up late to program).

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#268

Post by spiffytech »

In my early teens I had 20/15 vision. By the time I went to college I was wearing glasses for nearsightedness.

I'm pretty sure it's because I got interested in computers, and started spending all day staring 3ft ahead instead of glancing around outdoors.

Some friends in my computer science program passed around each other's glasses and found we all had nearly the same prescription. That didn't seem like a coincidence.

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