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Pet peeve about language use: I thought it was obvious that short-sightedness (Exclusively Short term thinking) is an epidemic, nobody on Wall Street can see p

Pet peeve about language use: I thought it was obvious that short-sightedness (Exclusively Short term thinking) is an epidemic, nobody on Wall Street can see past the next Quarter's numbers. I don't need the economist to point that out. Nearsightedness is what this article is about... a completely different thing. I've dealt with that my entire life... and just went through the knock-on effect of retina detachment, and surgery to correct the same. Having a bubble of C3F8 gas in your one good eye is pretty damned effective at taking you out of commission for about 4 months. Looking down hurts! I hope to be up and about, and able to drive again by the start of September, once the bubble has gone, my eye has stabilized, the surgeon has made a final check, and finally after I get new glasses. I strongly suspect the amount of light outdoors is NOT really the issue. If you're always focused on things close at hand (as the above mentioned folks on wall street), you never allow the eyes to focus on the far horizon for an appreciable fraction of the time. I'm surprised to learn that there's no consensus on how the eye actually focuses on objects at various distances[1]. It is also well know that the smaller an iris in a camera (or eye), the larger the range of distances that appear in focus. It seems reasonable to me that if you spend your time looking at only nearby objects (like above mentioned Wall Street residents), you'll lose the ability to see things further out that might be coming to get you. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accommodation_(eye) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accommodation_(eye)

msk-lywenn 4y ago
I have very bad eyesight too. May I ask what is your correction? (Not sure it’s the proper word in English, but the thing measured in dioptres?)
- CydeWeys 4y ago
  Not him, but myopia is the correct medical term. It only has one meaning, whereas "short-sighted" has a widely used metaphorical meaning that it is easily confused with.
  - teamonkey 4y ago
    ‘Myopic’ is certainly used to describe short-term thinking or a restricted viewpoint
  - shellac 4y ago
    From very start of the article: "Leaders | What to do about myopia". However 'myopic' is certainly used metaphorically. This is one of those cases where you just have to read the article.
    - mattnewton 4y ago
      I would find “Near sightedness less ambiguous, in American English at least. I can’t remember having heard that used for anything other than a physical difficulty to focus your eyes at longer distances.
  - hammock 4y ago
    msk wanted to know thethe guy’s prescription
xioxox 4y ago
Short-sightedness is the eye problem in British English: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/ We also use long-sightedness.
- veltas 4y ago
  Funny you say that because I'm British and only hear and say "near-sightedness". I certainly wouldn't be offended by "short-sighted" but instead confused because it has dual meanings.
  - dhzhzjsbevs 4y ago
    It's not really a dual meaning, shortsighted in relation to thinking is a metaphor.
- ricardo81 4y ago
  Yes, that's the definition I've always held. Had 20-20 vision but through working online (and likely smoking) my vision is not 20-20 any more. Short sighted, long sighted - is a bit counter intuitive but covers it.
bigmealbigmeal 4y ago
> I strongly suspect the amount of light outdoors is NOT really the issue. If you're always focused on things close at hand (as the above mentioned folks on wall street), you never allow the eyes to focus on the far horizon for an appreciable fraction of the time. Then you need to read more on the matter. Studies on chicks, tree shrews and rhesus monkeys show that simply increasing the amount of indoor light intensity has a protective effect on myopia. Scientists can induce more myopia in chicks simply by reducing light intensity. See https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2164963 https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2164963 and https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2355431 https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2355431 The leading hypothesis is that light stimulates the release of dopamine in the retina, and the dopamine blocks the elongation of the eye during development. One study showed that injecting a dopamine-inhbiting drug into the eyes of chicks abolished the protective effect of bright light, and myopia increased. See https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2126968 https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2126968 Your particular confidence on this ("strongly suspect") bothers me because it has an influence on others, yet it is totally ignorant of what current scientific findings suggest.
- cassandratt 4y ago
  Does it? This isn’t a scientific journal, nor is this a hard science forum. So the expectations that a layman conform to the standards of a field to have a conversation about a fairly esoteric subject is asinine. I can’t know the top science in every field, so that bars me from discussion, lest I be slammed for having a thought. This isn’t just anti-science, it’s ignorant of social interactions, and the conversations that lead to greater understanding. You aren’t nearly as smart as you think you are.
  - bigmealbigmeal 4y ago
    I guess the spirit of what you're saying is that I reacted with excessive condemnation. Yeah, you're right. Truth is important and I don't regret the information I gave out, but I agree that I should have taken it easier. On that note, I guess it's a little fun that you ending with "you aren’t nearly as smart as you think you are" seems to be participating in the same unnecessary meanness that you just called out. Ahhhh man, aren't we all so brutally human...
itsoktocry 4y ago
>nobody on Wall Street can see past the next Quarter's numbers. I don't need the economist to point that out. This funny to read on a tech oriented website. I agree that the quarter by quarter financial goals can be a "shortsighted", and I think the problem is even worse when it comes to the 4 year political cycle (2 years if you consider the fact the Houses can change hands). But Wall Street is still filled to the brim with public companies espousing some future fantasy profits that may or may not ever come. We are as far away from shortsightedness there as we've ever been. One only has to looks at ARKK research to see this.
Angostura 4y ago
Would that pet peeve be regarding British publications using British English? https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/
formerly_proven 4y ago
From an optical perspective, focusing on something a few meters away is basically infinity for the eye. Even indoors you do that a lot, which makes the "focus close -> loose infinity" theory less plausible compared to light levels, which we know have a very significant impact on the whole body. Focusing very closely all the time (again, optically speaking, a screen 1 meter away is closer to infinitely far away than to a smartphone in the face) might do and explain something.
robinduckett 4y ago
This feeds into my pet peeve that Americans assume the world revolves around them and that all use of non American English is invalid despite the stereotype being that British English speaking people are worse for this.
- inopinatus 4y ago
  I believe there is a Will Self story in which a geological probe reaches the Earth’s core and finds the compressed remains of an American around whom the planet is in fact revolving.
- jaqalopes 4y ago
  It's not so much invalid as confusing. For Americans to call someone "shortsighted" has a well-known usage and negative connotation about their intellectual integrity. As someone who had never encountered the British usage prior to this headline, I don't think it's out of line to remark on this as a weird curiosity of our shared (but also frequently as in this case not shared) language.
  - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
    the definition it's literally in every American dictionary though
  - inopinatus 4y ago
    I suspect folks are more irked by the parochial condescension with which the initial complaint was voiced, rather than the fact of the observation. This is not a forum that generally smiles upon weaponised imbecility.
- starkd 4y ago
  You need not be disturbed by this. Every nation/culture tends to think in terms of the world "revolving" around them. A people need a frame of reference to view the world that is provided by one's culture. I don't think the OP intented to treat British English as inferior or invalid.
_moof 4y ago
> I thought it was obvious that short-sightedness (Exclusively Short term thinking) is an epidemic, nobody on Wall Street can see past the next Quarter's numbers. I don't need the economist to point that out. Nearsightedness is what this article is about... a completely different thing. Is it ironic or just poetic that this is a myopic take on the meaning of the word "shortsighted"?
danielfoster 4y ago
I also made the same mistake and assumed the article was about shortsighted thinking. But I've also always found the term "nearsighted" to be very confusing as well. I always confuse the meaning with "farsighted," ie not being able to see things near you.
martyvis 4y ago
Sorry, but in Australian English, those with myopia are always referred to as being short-sighted. The metaphor, having lack of foresight, is also referred to by the same expression.
JoBrad 4y ago
I am from the US, and have heard “shortsighted” used as a synonym for “myopia” all my life. “Nearsighted” is more common, but not exclusive to non-US English. Wikipedia backs up the idea that they are all synonyms, as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia
alexalx666 4y ago
It's very true that there is nothing to focus on that is further than the next tall building in that area, add it to looking at the screen like its life or death all day
peoplefromibiza 4y ago
> Pet peeve about language use My first thought was about shortsightedness as the medical issue. because that's what the term means short-sightedness noun: shortsightedness the quality of being short-sighted; inability to see things clearly unless they are relatively close to the eyes. AKA myopia
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msk-lywenn 4y ago

I have very bad eyesight too. May I ask what is your correction? (Not sure it’s the proper word in English, but the thing measured in dioptres?)

CydeWeys 4y ago
Not him, but myopia is the correct medical term. It only has one meaning, whereas "short-sighted" has a widely used metaphorical meaning that it is easily confused with.
- teamonkey 4y ago
  ‘Myopic’ is certainly used to describe short-term thinking or a restricted viewpoint
- shellac 4y ago
  From very start of the article: "Leaders | What to do about myopia". However 'myopic' is certainly used metaphorically. This is one of those cases where you just have to read the article.
  - mattnewton 4y ago
    I would find “Near sightedness less ambiguous, in American English at least. I can’t remember having heard that used for anything other than a physical difficulty to focus your eyes at longer distances.
- hammock 4y ago
  msk wanted to know thethe guy’s prescription

xioxox 4y ago

Short-sightedness is the eye problem in British English: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/ We also use long-sightedness.

veltas 4y ago
Funny you say that because I'm British and only hear and say "near-sightedness". I certainly wouldn't be offended by "short-sighted" but instead confused because it has dual meanings.
- dhzhzjsbevs 4y ago
  It's not really a dual meaning, shortsighted in relation to thinking is a metaphor.
ricardo81 4y ago
Yes, that's the definition I've always held. Had 20-20 vision but through working online (and likely smoking) my vision is not 20-20 any more. Short sighted, long sighted - is a bit counter intuitive but covers it.

bigmealbigmeal 4y ago

> I strongly suspect the amount of light outdoors is NOT really the issue. If you're always focused on things close at hand (as the above mentioned folks on wall street), you never allow the eyes to focus on the far horizon for an appreciable fraction of the time. Then you need to read more on the matter. Studies on chicks, tree shrews and rhesus monkeys show that simply increasing the amount of indoor light intensity has a protective effect on myopia. Scientists can induce more myopia in chicks simply by reducing light intensity. See https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2164963 https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2164963 and https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2355431 https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2355431 The leading hypothesis is that light stimulates the release of dopamine in the retina, and the dopamine blocks the elongation of the eye during development. One study showed that injecting a dopamine-inhbiting drug into the eyes of chicks abolished the protective effect of bright light, and myopia increased. See https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2126968 https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2126968 Your particular confidence on this ("strongly suspect") bothers me because it has an influence on others, yet it is totally ignorant of what current scientific findings suggest.

cassandratt 4y ago
Does it? This isn’t a scientific journal, nor is this a hard science forum. So the expectations that a layman conform to the standards of a field to have a conversation about a fairly esoteric subject is asinine. I can’t know the top science in every field, so that bars me from discussion, lest I be slammed for having a thought. This isn’t just anti-science, it’s ignorant of social interactions, and the conversations that lead to greater understanding. You aren’t nearly as smart as you think you are.
- bigmealbigmeal 4y ago
  I guess the spirit of what you're saying is that I reacted with excessive condemnation. Yeah, you're right. Truth is important and I don't regret the information I gave out, but I agree that I should have taken it easier. On that note, I guess it's a little fun that you ending with "you aren’t nearly as smart as you think you are" seems to be participating in the same unnecessary meanness that you just called out. Ahhhh man, aren't we all so brutally human...

itsoktocry 4y ago

>nobody on Wall Street can see past the next Quarter's numbers. I don't need the economist to point that out. This funny to read on a tech oriented website. I agree that the quarter by quarter financial goals can be a "shortsighted", and I think the problem is even worse when it comes to the 4 year political cycle (2 years if you consider the fact the Houses can change hands). But Wall Street is still filled to the brim with public companies espousing some future fantasy profits that may or may not ever come. We are as far away from shortsightedness there as we've ever been. One only has to looks at ARKK research to see this.

Angostura 4y ago

Would that pet peeve be regarding British publications using British English? https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/

formerly_proven 4y ago

From an optical perspective, focusing on something a few meters away is basically infinity for the eye. Even indoors you do that a lot, which makes the "focus close -> loose infinity" theory less plausible compared to light levels, which we know have a very significant impact on the whole body. Focusing very closely all the time (again, optically speaking, a screen 1 meter away is closer to infinitely far away than to a smartphone in the face) might do and explain something.

robinduckett 4y ago

This feeds into my pet peeve that Americans assume the world revolves around them and that all use of non American English is invalid despite the stereotype being that British English speaking people are worse for this.

inopinatus 4y ago
I believe there is a Will Self story in which a geological probe reaches the Earth’s core and finds the compressed remains of an American around whom the planet is in fact revolving.
jaqalopes 4y ago
It's not so much invalid as confusing. For Americans to call someone "shortsighted" has a well-known usage and negative connotation about their intellectual integrity. As someone who had never encountered the British usage prior to this headline, I don't think it's out of line to remark on this as a weird curiosity of our shared (but also frequently as in this case not shared) language.
- peoplefromibiza 4y ago
  the definition it's literally in every American dictionary though
- inopinatus 4y ago
  I suspect folks are more irked by the parochial condescension with which the initial complaint was voiced, rather than the fact of the observation. This is not a forum that generally smiles upon weaponised imbecility.
starkd 4y ago
You need not be disturbed by this. Every nation/culture tends to think in terms of the world "revolving" around them. A people need a frame of reference to view the world that is provided by one's culture. I don't think the OP intented to treat British English as inferior or invalid.

_moof 4y ago

> I thought it was obvious that short-sightedness (Exclusively Short term thinking) is an epidemic, nobody on Wall Street can see past the next Quarter's numbers. I don't need the economist to point that out. Nearsightedness is what this article is about... a completely different thing. Is it ironic or just poetic that this is a myopic take on the meaning of the word "shortsighted"?

danielfoster 4y ago

I also made the same mistake and assumed the article was about shortsighted thinking. But I've also always found the term "nearsighted" to be very confusing as well. I always confuse the meaning with "farsighted," ie not being able to see things near you.

martyvis 4y ago

Sorry, but in Australian English, those with myopia are always referred to as being short-sighted. The metaphor, having lack of foresight, is also referred to by the same expression.

JoBrad 4y ago

I am from the US, and have heard “shortsighted” used as a synonym for “myopia” all my life. “Nearsighted” is more common, but not exclusive to non-US English. Wikipedia backs up the idea that they are all synonyms, as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia

alexalx666 4y ago

It's very true that there is nothing to focus on that is further than the next tall building in that area, add it to looking at the screen like its life or death all day

peoplefromibiza 4y ago

> Pet peeve about language use My first thought was about shortsightedness as the medical issue. because that's what the term means short-sightedness noun: shortsightedness the quality of being short-sighted; inability to see things clearly unless they are relatively close to the eyes. AKA myopia

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