4 ms·

About 7 or so years ago, after wearing glasses for somewhere around 20 years, I also had my eyesight fixed. What surprised me the most was how completely natur

by enobrev 12y ago

About 7 or so years ago, after wearing glasses for somewhere around 20 years, I also had my eyesight fixed. What surprised me the most was how completely natural it was. For the first 2 weeks, I habitually tried to push my non-existent glasses up the bridge of my nose. Maybe 2 or 3 months after the procedure, I'd basically forgotten that I'd ever had glasses, except when someone reminded me. When friends asked the difference, whether it was worth it, etc, I had a hard time relating to what it was like to have glasses / contacts. I remember the details. Doctor visits, bent rims, ordering contacts, the inability to drive, etc. But I'd completely forgotten the experience, as though I've always had perfect vision.

visakanv 12y ago
That's really interesting! I think this is the case whenever something gets simpler + more gratifying. We can remember the inconvenience of the old way of doing things, but we don't quite remember the experience- because the new experience becomes our default reality. I remember reading Francis Bacon's A New Atlantic, and thinking "This isn't really that revolutionary... it's just people doing things in a rigorous, scientific sort of manner." (A product corollary– Consider how Google and Facebook often seem like they've always been around!)
hultner 12y ago
As a person with -0.5/-0.75 I frequently switch between wearing and not wearing glasses. I usually wear glasses at work, when watching movies, at lectures while if I'm out at night, hanging out with friends, going out or doing anything like that I usually leave the glasses of. I often forget my glasses at home in the morning because I don't really notice that I'm not wearing them and when I'm not wearing them I sometimes think that I'm actually wearing them (this is especially common when I'm accidentally using the computer or watching a movie without glasses). However if I've been wearing my glasses for an extended period of time (say a couple of hours) I do notice a quite marginal difference when comparing having them on to not. I don't know if it's imaginary but it's almost like my vision without glasses gets worse if I've recently been wearing glasses extensively.

by enobrev 12y ago

visakanv 12y ago

That's really interesting! I think this is the case whenever something gets simpler + more gratifying. We can remember the inconvenience of the old way of doing things, but we don't quite remember the experience- because the new experience becomes our default reality. I remember reading Francis Bacon's A New Atlantic, and thinking "This isn't really that revolutionary... it's just people doing things in a rigorous, scientific sort of manner." (A product corollary– Consider how Google and Facebook often seem like they've always been around!)

hultner 12y ago

As a person with -0.5/-0.75 I frequently switch between wearing and not wearing glasses. I usually wear glasses at work, when watching movies, at lectures while if I'm out at night, hanging out with friends, going out or doing anything like that I usually leave the glasses of. I often forget my glasses at home in the morning because I don't really notice that I'm not wearing them and when I'm not wearing them I sometimes think that I'm actually wearing them (this is especially common when I'm accidentally using the computer or watching a movie without glasses). However if I've been wearing my glasses for an extended period of time (say a couple of hours) I do notice a quite marginal difference when comparing having them on to not. I don't know if it's imaginary but it's almost like my vision without glasses gets worse if I've recently been wearing glasses extensively.