Be-Well Information

Vision correction is one of the most significant technology developments, after the wheel and the saddle stirrup. The next most important is the movable type printing press, for those languages which use alphabets and not ideographs. Together, they extended the working life of people and led to the explosion in both technology and population of the last 8 centuries.

Just why was vision correction so earth shaking?

Consider that all trades and professions used to be passed between generations by the apprenticeship system. As practitioners of some skill achieved the status of “master”, they took on young persons as apprentices to learn that skill, as well as to chop wood, haul water, and do the numerous aggravating chores the master could name as time wasters. The learned appentice became a journeyman, who might actually be producing the swords, alchemical solutions, medicines, paintings, et cetera attributed to the master or “the school of master X.”

This process of becoming a master took many years, and was in close competition with the effects of aging. Pity the hunter approaching middle age who lost his distance vision, the jeweler or silver smith who could no longer focus closely, and so on. With spectacles, the professional years were extended, even to people who would previously have been unable to see well at all.

Cheap printing and cheap eyeglasses enabled the explosion of knowledge, which led to the Industrial Revolution.

Unintended consequences include population explosion, explosion of the use of energy, exponential growth in pollution, hence Global Warming.

The following articles first appeared at 3daycontacts.com.
History of Contact Lenses
Contact Lens Sanity
Dry Eyes with Spectacles and Contact Lenses
Eyeglasses, Printing Press, and Global Warming
Eye Focus
Eye Health & Safety
Vision Correction and Modern Civilization
Why not Laser Eye Surgery, LASIK or PRK
LASIK is Money Driven
Price Factors for Eye Care
What makes contact lens cost?
Why Professional Contact Lens Fitting
Rejuvenate Your Eyes
Spectacles vs. Contact Lenses
Sun-contacts
From Cataracts to Normal Vision