Zimyatin

Like many upright primates my vision is not perfect and I need corrective lenses. I wear contacts because only virgin nerds wear glasses. Anyway, before Ben Franklin gave the world glasses there must have been many people whose vision was less than perfect. How did these people survive? I'd imagine that the travails of life would have wiped them out: the hunt for food, fighting wars blindly, dating the ugly girl because you just can't see the difference. How were my visually impaired ancestors able to fornicate and pass on bad vision without being eradicated from the gene pool?

Nic Tamzek

I've often wondered the same thing, having needed glasses from the age of like 8 or something.

I always thought that maybe it was an effect of civilization, e.g. I was a kid who stayed up late reading by a dim light every night. But that's probably bunkum, I have no idea.

Vision problems later in life are easier to explain, your average neolithic schmoe was very old if they made it to the age of 30, let alone survived childhood...

Kuu

I would think that if one lives in a tribe one could get by with poor vision as there would be other jobs that a person could do for the tribe.

Ovazor

First, Franklin did not invent the glasses. As early as 1289 a man wrote "I am so debilitated by age that without the glasses known as spectacles, I would no longer be able to read or write. These have recently been invented for the benefit of poor old people whose sight has become weak" The chinese may have knwon them ever longer. There are paintings from the 14th centurty featuring glasses.

What Franklin invented was the bifocals, reducing the need for two pairs of glasses, one for tasks involving near objects and the other for seeing far objects. Generally, only older people need them and people didn't use to live that old -and if they did they had already passed their genes in any case.

They didn't need perfect vision to survive. Only very bad vision would be seriously impairing in most of the tasks you list, and as human beings live in communities and do things in groups, those with poor vision could do those jobs where vision is not that important.

Other factors have been more important, especially in finding a mate. If you are a gorgeous hunk or a fusion-hot babe, you don't need to see well to pass the genes (although having sexy spectacles does improve the chance...), it is enough that somebody else sees how sexy you are

Toto

Myopia has increased drastically with modern civilization. Current speculation is that myopia is related to the consumption of refined starches and sugar, and the resulting insulin reaction.

Myopia linked to bread

Nearsightedness linked to sugar

Edited to add: the spectacles that Franklin developed were for presbyopia (far sightedness), which develops with age, usually starting after 40, after our paleolithic ancestors typical life span. A different phenomenon.

cloudyphiz

not often do i get to correct the folks around here

you're right that bifocals correct presbyopia, but presbyopia is not what's commonly referred to as far sightedness... that's hyperopia (myopia being near sightedness). and, unfortunately, all humans will become presbyopic as they age (that is, their naturally crystalline lenses become more rigid with age, and the accommodative mechanism that was originally able to deform them to change their power simply becomes less and less effective).

-gary

Spaz

I'm glad I got my mom's (former) vision. My dad and my brother need glasses, my mom only needs them cuz she's aging . I am rather near-sighted in my left eye though, and slightly far-sighted in my right. I guess it balances out...

Undercurrent

Seems to me that the need for really good vision has only arisen with reading. There are very few people who have such poor eyesight that tasks other than reading (or othe things that humans inflict upon themselves) are diffcult for them.

Of course, I have fighter-pilot eyes, so this is all idle speculation (what a pun) for me.

LogicMage

I would think that one with poor vision, would be able to perform tasks other than hunting. Like basket weaving for instance. Or gathering fruits

With the protection of your tribe/social group you wouldnt need perfect vision. The others will cover you, nd scream and shout if a large cat was stalking you.

for the recod my vision is 20/250

Toto

Regardless of the survival disadvantages of innately poor vision, it appears to be more a product of environment than heredity.

In traditional societies that stick to a traditional diet, there are few vision problems in younger people. The older people with deteriorating vision are supported by the younger people because of their accumulated knowldedge.

I still think that the human eye is proof that there was no intelligent designer behind the human body.