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Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

economist.com

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Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#311

Post by wrycoder »

zymhan wrote: post #306
hk1337 wrote: post #233

The different usage of words and their meanings in English is interesting and makes me think this weird miscommunication is why we have so many arguments. In my everyday, the article would be referring to nearsightedness, short sighted would be when someone doesn’t think through all the possible things, lacking foresight. By definition it’s both but in every day use it’s not.

Yeah, given that this is an Economist article, I assumed they meant "lack of foresight", since they often write similar titles

That's the article I was expecting, also. Lack of foresight these days is a serious problem - with the mis-education current in the US, the younger cohorts are losing the historical perspective developed so painfully over the last four thousand years. What to do is not so important as what not to do.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#312

Post by wrycoder »

jedberg wrote: post #278

When I was a kid, we had a "no TV when the sun is up" rule. That included computer screens, which were literally TVs when I was a kid. Of course I violated that rule when my parents weren't looking, but for the most part I spent a lot of time playing outside, especially in summer. This is of course anecdotal, but I'm 45 and still don't need glasses. I'm trying to do the same with my kids, but sometimes it's just too…

When I was a kid, we didn't have TV, and computers had just been invented.

But, I read a lot, often in bed at close distance, and I was astigmatic and near-sighted when I was young. Now, I'm mostly just astigmatic and presbyoptic.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#313

Post by stakkur »

>Sedentary, white-collar jobs are less arduous (and less lethal) than manual work. They also promote obesity and heart disease.

I'm always baffled by the dismissive wave of the "activity level causes obesity and heart disease" trope--because it's mostly wrong. The first world diet is the primary cause of obesity and heart disease, and it's well-proven. Starch and sugar, processed foods, a diet primarily consisting of carbohydrates. Diet is the driver, not activity level.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#314

Post by jcims »

d_tr wrote: post #178
jart wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't believe you're serious. I wear glasses and there's nothing wrong with me. Last thing I want is to live in a world where I'm pressured to be genetically engineered for having the wrong kind of eyes.

I have around -10 dioptres in both eyes, like my father. I am also amblyopic. It is a minor inconvenience for me right now, but the risks for serious problems in the future are real. The problem, if I understand correctly, is that myopia correlates well with eyeball elongation, which puts stress on the retina, thus sharply increasing the risk of macular degeneration and retinal detachment as you get older. Other comp…

Not to scare you or anything but to just reinforce the fact that you should incorporate regular retinal exams. My daughter is also around -10 and in a recent eye exam they did the retinal imaging thing (that i always thought was just an upsell scam). Well they found what they thought was retinoschisis. They referred her to a retina center (which of course took nearly a month).

At that exam they found that her left eye had substantial retinal detachment and scheduled her for a scleral buckle procedure the following Tuesday to avoid any further progression. Aside from seeing some sparks every now and then there were no symptoms. Ocular migraines run on both sides of the family so she wasn't too worried about it.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#315

Post by kortilla »

jart wrote: post #304
kortilla wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there’s nothing wrong with you, why are you wearing glasses? I wear hearing aids because my hearing is flawed. I would be ecstatic if there was a genetic solution.

I'm sorry to hear about your hearing. From what I've heard, hearing aids help but they are not a satisfactory solution. So if you still feel something is wrong, then the way you feel is what matters. There's nothing wrong with my vision because I wear glasses. I like my glasses. I consider glasses to be a satisfactory technology that solves the problem I used to have before I got them. I see myself as one with the te…

They are called “corrective lenses” because they are correcting your flawed vision. You have a problem you address with glasses. It’s no different than any other medical technology to address a life altering flaw.

You can be happy with the solution, but there is still something wrong with your eyes. Someone offering a solution that actually fixes your eyes shouldn’t be offensive and you most certainly shouldn’t be discouraging it. It’s like someone getting in a huff about a diabetes cure because they see their insulin needle as a part of themself.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#316

Post by t_von_doom »

spiffytech wrote: post #268

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…

I wonder how much that might be explained by variance around the mean

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#317

Post by dymk »

pessimizer wrote: post #259
FollowingTheDao wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it mean they are more obedient? Not meaning that as a put down, but being good in school has a lot to do with behavior.

I think it's more likely that people treat people who wear glasses like they're smarter, and they feel pressure to live up to that.

Wearing glasses certainly shaped my hobbies - more reading and computer time. On top of that, being nearsighted (pre glasses) made it hard to catch a ball, so less time spent doing sports.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#318

Post by californical »

tominous wrote: post #184
Hellicio wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine is genetic. I have very similiar values than my mother. So i'mnot sure if / how your theory is correct or not. Also there are a lot of normal people in the world who live outside and also don't have perfect eye sight at all. This goes back a long time. Can you also elaborate on your 2 diopter difference between red and blue light? For one i find that number very very big but i'm very good in seeing full color wi…

Not denying that there are many ways in which development can go wrong, whether that's genetic or the environment. What I'm responding to is the sudden change seen in many populations as per the article. Re: the chromatic aberration spread, see e.g. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3716229/ They measured 1.82 diopters between 420nm and 660nm. Visible light is a bit wider, 380nm to 720nm, so 2 diopters is about right.…

Huh, I always wondered why blue LEDs that were further away would be hard to look at & make me dizzy, that’s crazy!

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#319

Post by moron4hire »

rootusrootus wrote: post #300
spiffytech wrote: post #268

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…

That may just be lucky coincidence. I've been a computer nerd spending way too many hours in front of my computer since I was a teen. Last eye exam I had was a few years back when I turned 45. 20/20 in one eye, but after I made a remark about having been 20/15 when younger, the tech said "let's try!" and I could still do it. Barely. In only one eye now. But still, after all these years. But really it's presbyopia tha…

Use a large screen TV as your computer monitor, placed far away from you.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#320

Post by coffeeblack »

PeterisP wrote: post #171
coffeeblack wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

60W would be some 10 LED lights that each are 100W equivalents to old glow lights. That would probably already do the trick in a small room. Do people really still use old “light bulbs”?

> 60W would be some 10 LED lights that each are 100W equivalents to old glow lights. That would probably already do the trick in a small room. Not really, daylight is not 10 times but much more brighter than a 100w incandescent lamp, such illumination (e.g. it has certain uses to help seasonal depression) exists but it's very bright compared to normal indoors lighting. The old 100w lamps were ~1600 lumens; outdoors d…

Interesting! Thanks for the correction.
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