http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/08/does-squinting-really-improve-vision/ Neuroscience and psychology tricks to find out what's going on inside your brain. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:40:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/08/does-squinting-really-improve-vision/#comment-5164 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:03:47 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/does-squinting-really-improve-vision/#comment-5164 This ‘phenomenon’ has been well documented for some time; it is a function of optical physics.
‘Myopic’ derives from the Greek myein (shut), and ops, (eye)… near-sighted people squint when viewing far-off objects for a reason.
Pinhole glasses work. To test out the hypothesis, make your hand into a tight funnel, with a small opening / point of light at the pinkie end (you can also do this by punching a small hole thru a bit of cardboard or thick paper). Look through it. If you are myopic, you will will see that far-away objects are brought into much tighter focus, resulting from the blocking of light rays that enter the retina at obtuse angles. These light rays are improperly bent due to a ‘faulty’ (usually older and more rigid) lens. Thru a pinhole, only a straight-on ‘pencil of light’ enters the eye, projecting a much more focused image onto the retina.
This should be studied much more heavily as it also has corrective potential (at a very low cost… hence, it’s gone into the memory-hole).
Peace, y’all.

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