Ok I get we all look at small letters and images on screens and paper these days. Is this why in the last 150 years or so millions and millions of humans need spectacles? Is it because we are meant to be looking at things from a distance rather than nearby so our eyes haven’t caught up?
In: Biology
So many people in this thread are assuming rates of poor vision are the same now as they were in the past.
This is NOT true.
For example, 41.6% of Americans were nearsighted in 2004. 25 percent of Americans were nearsighted in 1971. That’s a 66% increase in ~30 years.
Our ancestors from the 1800s and prior had, on average, much better vision than we do today.
Scientists are still working out the causes, but there seems to be a positive association between educational attainment and poor vision. One other theory I see mentioned is reduced exposure to natural sunlight in childhood – children who spend more time outdoors have a lower chance of becoming nearsighted.
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