Asperger's Syndrome

[John Kozubik]

> Eyeglasses have become common only in the past 100 years (and arguably
> in the past 60 years, about since the time visits to eye doctors became
> common). While there have been jokes about "four eyes" not breeding,
> because they can't get dates, neither this theory nor the converse
> appear to have any correlation with actual breeding patterns. Do more
> kids today need glasses than 100 years ago? Than 500 years ago? Than
> 5000 years ago? An interesting question, but claims that the past
> 60-100 years of eyeglass wearing have caused some major change in
> genetics seems to be a stretch.

Another possibility is that a large population of those with corrected
vision had their vision slowly degraded by the early applications of the
correction.  I have no experience with vision correction, but I know
anecdotally that most people with corrected vision need their corrections
strengthened throughout their lifetime.  In reality, their sight problem
may have stabilized (or even improved) very early on in the absence of
treatment.  Thus, our perception of what sight abilities the average
person in the United States has might be artificially deflated by early
and aggressive treatment.

Imagine putting back braces on all children that exhibited minor scoliosis
- and asking them to leave it there all their life.  If this were common,
we might be speaking about how back strength and lifting ability must not
be what they used to be...

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John Kozubik - john at kozubik.com - http://www.kozubik.com