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zakruti.com » Knowledge, science, education » Historical films
Bad Eyesight Before Glasses: What Did People Do?  - History Dose

Bad Eyesight Before Glasses: What Did People Do? - History Dose

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1
History Dose tackles the question: What did people with poor eyesight do before glasses were invented? Glasses are a necessity for so many people today, so what did people do before the they were invented in the late thirteenth century? We look at how farsighted people from Renaissance scholars and Vikings, to Ancient Romans and Egyptians may have used magnifiers to combat farsightedness (presbyopia. We also look at how nearsightedness (myopia) appears to be a modern epidemic driven by lifestyle changes. However, if you were one of the few that were nearsighted, it probably would not have impacted your lifestyle as much as it would today
Date: 2022-09-15

Comments and reviews: 20


I don't think near combat was much affected by nearsightedness. I'm 3. 5 dioptres on both eyes and did fencing in the past. It was difficult to wear glasses under the mask, so I often didn't and it was before I started wearing contacts. The fencing weapons are very thin and move fast and under the mask are difficult to see without glasses, with some distance almost impossible for me.
But while dueling, it was actually fine. My performance wasn't worse, actually a bit better (because I concentrated more. Mostly not seeing the weapon made me focus more on the body movement of my opponent, I think. It's more relaxing with glasses/contacts, but well, it worked. So if it was a battle for life and death I don't think it would be much worse either. Swords are bigger and easier to spot.
Incoming spears and arrows would be very deadly probably, but I have no experience with that. ;-) It might also be difficult to keep track of the frontline. I remember being forgotten on a class trip to the swimming pool once, because I couldn't see faces well enough to notice my class was leaving. So it is still a disadvantage to a certain degree.

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I know the video said that today's theory is that the development of good eyesight has to do with exposure to sun. But I think the increase of glasses really has more to do with the increased need of our culture for everyone to be able to see signs and details at any distance (and increased access to glasses. And that your eye sight is determined most by genetics. My dad has horrible eyesight and my mom has fantastic eyesight. My brother inherited our father's eyes and I inherited my mother's eyes. Pretty sure I didn't really spend any more time outside than my brother. I'm pretty sure I've got something like perfect 20/20 vision and well my brother very much does not. Genetics and culture makes sense to me.
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I figured out I was nearsighted when I was teaching about concave and convex lenses to my science class and I held each on to my eye to show how they made my eye appear bigger or smaller. The first time, I held the double concave lens to my left and there wasn't much of a difference. In the second class, I held it to my right and was shocked at how sharp and clear everything was suddenly, particularly the words on the 86 screen across the room.
I took the lens down and said, You guys, I think I might need glasses.
An optometrist confirmed it that night.

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I was ten when I needed glasses. I inherited my moms terrible vision. I didnt know how bad my vision was until I was moved to the back of the classroom and couldnt see anything. The school mom was the one who voiced her concerns to the teacher, who told my mom. I remember crying at the end of the eye exam because I didnt want to wait to see again. The optometrist was kind enough to use expedited shipping for me. I remember putting my glasses on and seeing clear again. It was like going from a fuzzy VHS tape to a Blu-Ray disc.
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I'm extremely near sighted and used to live in a small village on a farm. I didn't know I had bad eye sight because it was just the norm for me.
It wasn't really a problem because you can still see stuff colours and general shapes. If you know that grass is green and tomatoes are red, you can guess pretty easily what is where.
Imagine leaving a painting out in the rain and having the outlines of the objects in the painting get blurred. You can still make out what each object is if you try.

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This video confuses two different refractive errors presbyopia is NOT farsightedness these are two different things. Presbyopia refers to the loss of accommodation that occurs in everybody about 45 years or older. There are many Near sighted people that are also presbyopic. Hyperopia or far sightedness is present at a young age and usually lasts throughout life. EyeMD
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I am the only one in my family with perfect eyesight. My brother is nearsighted, sister farsighted, dad and mum nearsighted, grandpa and grandma on both sides had glasses. I have often asked the question, why. It must be genetic. I thought it might have something to do with eye color. Most of us have blue eyes, including me. Dad and brother have green.
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I can't say that my near sightedness was from lack of sunlight during my eye development. I lived outside as a kid. I was always in the sun. It's more a genetic abnormality in my family. Most ended up with glasses well before their 30s and only just in recent times have needed glasses in my 40s. So I lasted longer than most in my family.
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My eyesight improved after smoking marijuana as an 18yo. I had bloodshot bulging eyes. got really sick with jaundice and smoking weed. And when i got better, my eyesight had improved. MY CASE MIGHT BE A UNIQUE ONE. SO, BE CAUTIOUS! (Im not saying that its a sure thing. Just worked for me. I only smoked it for 2 years)
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Really interesting. As someone with a myriad of eye problems I often wondered how people in bygone days managed with sight problems. It never occurred to me that this might not have been such an issue then. The Chinese statistic is worrying and Im sure our digital lifestyle is contributing to figures like this.
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I know this is an old and early video, but youre mixing terms. Presbyopia is an inability to accommodate ie shift focus between distance and near objects. Farsightedness is called hyperopia. It is also possible to be a myopic presbyope if you were nearsighted enough to begin with.
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Many Chinese people are nearsighted as a result of their exceedingly difficult writing system, which has caused their minds, nerves, and eyes to adjust to cope with that reading skills, leading to a deviation from normal vision. They've been drawn into their own system of writing.
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great video, this question popped into my mind today and i was very curious about it.
btw, myopia is an Eye anatomy defect. the eye ball is bigger. there is no way the sun or anything else has anything to do with it, or preventing it.
can you double check that?

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During the pandemic and working from home which I still am majority of the time, my prescription has significantly gone up, and my doctor called it pandemic eyes, since he approximated that 90% of people that had glasses and went back to see him had the same issue.
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Im near-sighted and I do a terrible job cleaning without my glasses. I attempt it at home all the time and end up having to sweep again and whatnot. I wouldnt have been a good slave. which would have sucked if that had been my only option.
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As someone with terrible vision, I always wondered about this. My sight is so bad that I get headaches when I take my glasses off to go to bed or when I take a shower. I feel bad for those who didnt have glasses at that time.
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Regular farsightedness is actually hyperopia. Presbyopia naturally occurs with age and wearing of the eyes which leads to some farsightedness. (The reason why older people who previously needed no glasses now need a pair to read.
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I was born extremely near sided due to not only being premature but I was delivered emergency c section. They said it was temporary loss of oxygen or something like that. I never had a chance to damage my eyes
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I think another point is that people on average lived much shorter lives, so the whole eyesight going bad in old age wasnt as much of a widespread issue because much fewer people made it to old age
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anyone else got lied to by the doctors as a child that told u if you wear ur glasses long enough u eventually won't need them anymore? im wearing them half my life and im at 40% vision now lol
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