So it really was all that reading under the bedcovers with a torch

[muninnhuginn]

Or, as New Scientist puts it: Lifestyle causes myopia, not genes

Comments

Re: "In books..."

[muninnhuginn]

Evidently I hit a raw nerve there.

Actually, I'd attach no more blame, if you that's what you saw me doing, to an activity-related cause than a genetic one. Impairment comes about from too many causes, sometimes impossible to determine in an individual case, to do that. I'm always horrified by the suggestion that medical treatment should be different for those who smoke or who are deemed to be overwieght becaue their health problems are somehow their fault. I'd expect someone with mobility difficulties due to genetic disease to be treated no differently to the paraplegic ex-rugby player injured in a scrum.

We use our bodies and sometimes that use has unintended side effects--musicians going deaf for example (and that may be a good analogy to the situation with short-sightedness: there's little doubt that exposure to high levels of noise damages the hearing, yet not all musicians playing in loud groups--rock bands, symphony orchestras--go deaf and of those some might have done so anyway and others might not, but I'd not wish to treat them differently) or athletes who end up with joint problems (they might have a genetic propensity to suffer from arthritits or it might be the damage due to their activities or both).

Do you tell disabled children that the reason they can't walk is because they're lazy?

No I wouldn't, any more than I would tell a dyslexic child that it was stupid. But I might see whether tinted glasses or different-coloured paper helped.

I'm much more concerned that the human-controlled factors are identified and understood so that they can be counteracted--without finger pointing.

But then my vison's cock-eyed and rather short and I'm sure my judgments are the same. Oh, for the long-sightedness of my mother or my father's one longsighted one shortsighted vision.

Re: "In books..."

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

Evidently I hit a raw nerve there.

You did, but I shouldn't have shouted. I was feeling on edge and tired and unnerved, for various reasons which have nothing to do with my short-sightedness (or with your comments), and I very much regret being so snappish. I apologise.

Re: "In books..."

[muninnhuginn]

No problem. It's always good to examine ones assumptions before thay become prejudices.