by Gareth » Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:42 am
Interesting about the eye problems, puts mine in perspective, since I manage to work around whatever limitations it imposes reasonably well.
I usually describe mine as being partially blind in one eye, but that doesn't really explain it very well. The reality, as described by a number of eye specialists, is sometimes described as a birth cataract in one eye. This means that I cannot focus with that eye, so no binocular vision, but I can sense colour and movement, so although I can't actually 'see' what's off to one side, my brain manages a damn good job of guessing, so much so that I'm rarely caught out.
I find the binocular issue rather interesting, because I've never had it, and most folks can't understand how I manage depth perception. Answer is I can't but I can manage a reasonable facsimile thereof, because things in the distance have a habit of being smaller! So, I guess I'm using 'local knowledge' all the time when I drive! The other thing I suspect about binocular vision is that a baseline of a couple of inches probably isn't that great, so I suspect most people with normal vision actually rely on distant objects appearing smaller, but perhaps to a lesser extent.
there is only the road, nothing but the road ...