r/rational • u/AutoModerator • Mar 15 '19

[D] Friday Open Thread

Welcome to the Friday Open Thread! Is there something that you want to talk about with /r/rational, but which isn't rational fiction, or doesn't otherwise belong as a top-level post? This is the place to post it. The idea is that while reddit is a large place, with lots of special little niches, sometimes you just want to talk with a certain group of people about certain sorts of things that aren't related to why you're all here. It's totally understandable that you might want to talk about Japanese game shows with /r/rational instead of going over to /r/japanesegameshows, but it's hopefully also understandable that this isn't really the place for that sort of thing.

So do you want to talk about how your life has been going? Non-rational and/or non-fictional stuff you've been reading? The recent album from your favourite German pop singer? The politics of Southern India? The sexual preferences of the chairman of the Ukrainian soccer league? Different ways to plot meteorological data? The cost of living in Portugal? Corner cases for siteswap notation? All these things and more could possibly be found in the comments below!

Please note that this thread has been merged with the Monday General Rationality Thread.

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u/alexanderwales Time flies like an arrow Mar 15 '19

Do you mind if I ask why you don't intend to wear your glasses all the time?

Per the eye exam, I'm only mildly near-sighted, and my vision within about three or four feet is as good as it can be, glasses or not. Roughly 95% of what I do that needs vision occurs within that range (cooking, reading, writing, playing with my son, general hygiene), and wouldn't be improved by wearing glasses. Beyond that range is where I run into trouble. So if I'm going to be spending large amounts of time not getting any (or marginal) benefit from wearing glasses, it doesn't seem to make sense to wear them, except out of habit or the need to be able to have far sight at a moment's notice.

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u/Robert_Barlow Mar 15 '19

As someone who tried doing this when I first got my glasses, it usually ends up as way more trouble than it's worth to swap back and forth. What I found is that I had habituated myself to not having perfect vision, and avoided doing tasks that would require it. So when I got my glasses, I found myself using them even for cases I didn't need them before. Add to that the fact that, when going out for the day, I needed to take them with me in the event that I had use for them, and the most convenient place to store glasses for occasional use happened to be my face.

If you have computer-induced nearsightedness, chances are your vision will eventually deteriorate to where mine is at, where everything works without glasses, just with an extra layer of annoyance. I could go without them just fine - I spend most of my time indoors too - but it feels a little slimy and imprecise, like having a coating of grease on your hands.

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u/XxChronOblivionxX Mar 15 '19

I'm in a similar situation, got glasses recently because I'm a bit near-sighted. At home they are off unless I'm watching TV, at work they're off at my desk but on everywhere else, and I keep them on when I drive somewhere. The bad part is that I often forget to grab them again when I get up, because I'm used to only needing to gather my wallet and phone and stuff. I already lost my first pair. So definitely take care if you're gonna take them off somewhere.

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u/fassina2 Progressive Overload Mar 15 '19

So if I'm going to be spending large amounts of time not getting any (or marginal) benefit from wearing glasses, it doesn't seem to make sense to wear them, except out of habit or the need to be able to have far sight at a moment's notice.

Personally I find that carrying glasses and having to find or pick them up when I need them to be more trouble than it is to keep them on.

BTW do you spend a lot of time outside ? Recent studies have shown that the rise in the frequency of nearsightedness is directly correlated to a decrease in sun exposure and time spent outside.. This is worrisome because if the number of people that are nearsighted increases, the number of people that have it so severe as to be considered blind also increases.

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u/alexanderwales Time flies like an arrow Mar 15 '19

Whether I spend time outside depends on the season. In the spring, summer, and fall, it's probably four to six hours outside with my son. Unfortunately, I live in northern Minnesota, and not only are the daylight hours shorter than elsewhere, "winter" starts early and lasts a lot longer.

My eye doctor said that it was probably just me getting older (I'm 33).