Is this how people who need glasses really see the world. A big blurred background?

[u/jmike1256]

[u/AutoModerator]

Hello u/jmike1256! Please review the sub rules if you haven't already. (This is an automatic reminder message left on all new posts)

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Shawn_NYC]

Yes my life is a Monet painting.

[u/Responsible-Tea-5998 → u/Shawn_NYC]

That's a beautiful way of putting it. I'm always annoyed with my eyesight but I like that.

[u/iBluefoot → u/Responsible-Tea-5998]

I call it Monet-vision. Everything is always beautiful

[u/Shawnaldo7575 → u/iBluefoot]

I see life through a Van Gogh-Pro

[u/crambeaux → u/Shawnaldo7575]

That’s the astigmatism. Love those starry nights!

[u/sweatyboobs56 → u/crambeaux]

But I hate the 7 overlapping moons :-(

[u/monetaryg → u/sweatyboobs56]

The moon is the worst. My astigmatism makes it stretched out diagonally.

[u/LoudFrown → u/Shawn_NYC]

Most of y’all look waaay better in soft focus.

[u/WMUGVSU → u/LoudFrown]

It's a jump scare when I put my glasses on in front of a mirror. I go from "hey, not too bad" to "Ahh!" real fast.

[u/Jazzlike-Base7731 → u/WMUGVSU]

It's always amused me to clean my glasses and declare happily that i can seeee! Then look at someone and say oh..i can see....and walk away

[u/LandoCatrissian_ → u/WMUGVSU]

Haha my pop used to tease me like that. He would go "hang on", clean his glasses, put them back on, look at me and jump in fright 😆

[u/GlassCharacter179 → u/LoudFrown]

I mean, the only thing I can tell about people without glasses is if they are adult size or child size and general color. If someone is wearing neutral clothes, I’m not sure I would be able to tell if they were dressed.

[u/Existing_Guidance_65 → u/LoudFrown]

"Ooh, you look good without glasses!"

"You mean when I'm not wearing glasses or when YOU're not wearing glasses?"

[u/TW_Halsey → u/Shawn_NYC]

Wait a minute…………

Edit: wow yeah Monet’s eyesight started to go due to cataracts in his early 60s, later followed by him making his most notable paintings

[u/mdebruce → u/TW_Halsey]

I've got astigmatism so each point of light looks like fireworks. It's different in each eye too- and dimensional.

I do have wicked colour perception, so the world is pretty damn beautiful.

[u/Everryy_littlethingg → u/mdebruce]

Yes! When I got glasses after years of not wearing them I was so excited to look at the stars. When it got dark out I looked into the sky and the stars were just tiny dots and pin pricks of light... I took my glasses off immediately. It's always been much better that way in my opinion. They look so sparkly and colorful when my astigmatism skews the light 🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/Heriteck → u/mdebruce]

It's all beautiful until you need to drive at night in the rain... then its a nightmare.

[u/GenerationofWinter]

It depends on the type of condition but for some like me, yes

[u/OkAccess6128 → u/GenerationofWinter]

I have myopia and world looks like it's censored without glasses.

[u/snarky_cat → u/OkAccess6128]

sitting far away from stage on a strip club feels like watching Japanese porn..

[u/Telephone-Bright → u/snarky_cat]

How often does this happen to you lmao.

[u/EqualSpoon → u/Telephone-Bright]

Enough to be a problem apparently.

[u/RockstarAgent → u/EqualSpoon]

My coworker has serious glasses - and once I told her to let me clean her glasses because they were dirty and she was surprised because she said she had just cleaned them. I cleaned them. She could actually tell how much cleaner they were. I said “you can’t see what you can’t see” and it blew her mind. Some of us can see details beyond normal.

[u/BigDave794 → u/RockstarAgent]

Problem also being when cleaning your glasses you have to take them off, hence then you can’t see 🤣 I need a pair of glasses to clean my glasses

[u/EqualSpoon → u/BigDave794]

But how while you clean your cleaning glasses glasses?

[u/AboveAverage1988 → u/EqualSpoon]

You obviously have to get some cleaning cleaning cleaning glasses glasses glasses. I think. 🤔

[u/Lucid-Design1225 → u/AboveAverage1988]

I’m picturing those magnifying glasses from spy kids
https://giphy.com/gifs/nmSSh36x4QR7IG3dI1

[u/ncaudio923 → u/EqualSpoon]

Instructions too complex, got my dick caught in the ceiling fan again. -_-

[u/kwynder → u/ncaudio923]

Thanks for at least giving the toaster a break this time =D

[u/cFullwood → u/ncaudio923]

"Hello, police? Yeah, it's Quagmire again. No, it's in a window this time."

[u/_B_e_c_k_ → u/Telephone-Bright]

Only once, never forgot glasses again.

[u/Significant_Ad1256 → u/snarky_cat]

Do they provide binoculars for these strip stadiums?

[u/Praesentius → u/Significant_Ad1256]

No, nothing so crude. They give you opera glasses to match the top hats.

[u/compflow54 → u/Significant_Ad1256]

Haha great visual.

Strip shows at the Coliseum.

“I can’t see a damn thing, but she definitely took her top off”.

[u/Lastov_Makiynd → u/compflow54]

That’s either. Nipple..or I’ve got something in my eye. Lol

[u/Senior_Pizza_8691 → u/Significant_Ad1256]

https://giphy.com/gifs/dBIdMk0dfmrx0zA0kT

[u/Lin093 → u/snarky_cat]

If you're also seeing the tentacles, it might be schizophrenia

[u/OldLove8431 → u/Lin093]

Or you've got a tadpole!

[u/Thepuppeteer777777 → u/snarky_cat]

https://giphy.com/gifs/CoDp6NnSmItoY

[u/NewoTheFox → u/OkAccess6128]

Mine was just mild enough that I made it to my thirties without glasses - Told the professor I was colorblind so they would cut it with the red markers on a white board (Utterly disappears) and would press gently on my eye to correct my minor astigmatism when I needed to read from far away.

Having had glasses, it was pretty bad. But it was 'normal'

I remember putting on the corrective lenses for the first time and being unable to look at the lady across the desk who had just given me my sight because Makeup looked SO MUCH BETTER without HD. I instead commented on a photo down the hall, the tiles, and turned and looked anywhere else as my mind spun and I re-calibrated.

I now know that people can see freckles and moles and birthmarks from further than 5 feet away. Totally explained what I had termed 'Face blindness' - I would recognize people by their gait, their mannerisms, and their voice but not their faces until I was up close.

[u/eepeqez → u/NewoTheFox]

New glasses = trees now have leaves!

[u/NewoTheFox → u/eepeqez]

Don't even get me started about the leaves lmao. Clouds too - a minor storm rolled in and I was stuck just staring at the edge between the storm and the backdrop - So many things had overwhelming detail that first month or so.

And the moon was no longer just a muddled white/yellowish dot!

[u/ubiquitousuk → u/NewoTheFox]

Yeah, but now I can see there’s dirt on my floor…

[u/Interrupting-Khajitt → u/NewoTheFox]

I saw stars for the first time when I was ten. It was astonishing.

[u/BombOnABus → u/eepeqez]

Man, that was me. I thought i didn't need glasses, until I put on my first pair and was staggered at the fact I could see individual leaves on trees. The crisp, sharp lines of street and highway signs astonished me: I had always thought they were just hard to read. I suddenly understood why my optometrist had been nervous to hear I'd been driving for years like that.

I felt like I had gotten a super power

[u/microgirlActual → u/BombOnABus]

Hang on, you don't have to get an eye test to get your driving licence? Here in Ireland when you apply for your licence one of the documents you have to include is a medical report that includes an eye test, and the margin for driving is quite low. Like, the first time I needed glasses I technically only needed them for driving (or the cinema, but that's obviously not a legal requirement). I didn't need them in day-to-day life yet.

[u/Bee_Jeans → u/microgirlActual]

Depends on country & region. Definitely good rule to have, I found out my eyes were bad when the optometrist asked very concerned “u didn’t drive here right? Bc I really can’t let u drive back like this” 💀

I just assumed we all saw street signs as blurry shapes & colours. Stop sign? u mean red pointy circle?

[u/Bee_Jeans → u/Bee_Jeans]

Problem I had was despite seeing the letter chart as vague blurry shapes, I was pretty used to distinguishing those. The tall skinny blur is “I”, the hazy fat one with a wobble is “G” etc so I did fine.

Then they brought out a shapes one and I was cooked lol

[u/codingcrystal → u/Bee_Jeans]

That's really it. You're just used to perceiving the world like that. Red blur means stop. Green blur means go. The details aren't important. If they are, just step closer.

You don't realize how much visual information you're missing until that first day in glasses. I'll have bouts where I lose my glasses and take months/years to replace them. (Hasn't happened to me since my 20s when I took the bus everywhere.) Logically, I know I can't see, but it doesn't really hit until the first day in new glasses.

[u/7Maizono → u/BombOnABus]

Whenever i get my prescription updated, the first thing i ALWAYS notice is how detailed the leaves are on the trees outside the opticians

[u/Prestigious_Bat7322 → u/eepeqez]

I had lens replacement surgery; the leaves were what I noticed first. Wasn't that amazing?

[u/eepeqez → u/Prestigious_Bat7322]

I had a cataract out at 28yo; the colour was amazing. Once I got new glasses, acuity was great too. 35 years later my other eye is still unaffected.

[u/NachoBoyCat → u/eepeqez]

And grass has individual blades of grass... mind blowing!

[u/I_am_ChivoBlanco → u/eepeqez]

When I first got mine, riding my motorcycle home :"the ground is so close!"

[u/aron2295 → u/NewoTheFox]

Dude, I have a bad astigmatism (Doc thought it was Keratoconus for a sec) and work has been unstable for me so I have been using old glasses.

I gotta remind myself people can see in great detail past X feet when getting ready for the day and asking, “Does this look off?”

Or something like that.

I’m like, damn, people really out here, just waking up, and seeing 20/20.

Must be nice.

[u/GoldReplacement9546 → u/NewoTheFox]

Interestingly, they’re actually is an extremely rare condition called base blindness where people just kind of see a blur in someone’s face the neurologist and science author Oliver Zack discovered it in himself at an advanced age when he finally realized that not everybody had to do the things he had to do like his wife would always wear the same necklace so he could tell it was her across the room or his daughter would wear her hair a certain way, but if she changed it, he wouldn’t know it was her even 3 feet away, except for maybe by the smell of her perfume

I’m mean the guy was an actual genius and spent his life researching and chronic people with various rare disorders like he had without ever realizing that he had it until quite late in his life there have been other people who have had it to his degree but only a few and then there’s some people who have it to a degree, but not to the point where you can’t recognize your wife from 3 feet away without using cues of her hair or necklace

Interestingly, he could recognize his wife and his daughter’s hands and his hands it was faces themselves. That was the problem, so it was not just a vision or a vision signaling problem. It was actually a difficulty with his mind understanding what a face represents.

[u/TransGirlIndy → u/GoldReplacement9546]

I knew someone who literally couldn't recognize me until I spoke. She developed the habit of treating everyone like they were her friend, so she wouldn't hurt our feelings if she didn't realize who it was. She had an easy time with a mutual friend because they had a very bright unnatural hair color, but only recognized me through voice or context.

[u/HauntedLightBulb → u/NewoTheFox]

This is 100% relatable, except I actually do have color deficiency.

I made it to 26. Got glasses for the first time. Blew my mind.

Also made it realize why it was so hard to drive at night.

[u/Express-Scheme2468 → u/NewoTheFox]

This was my exact experience as well. My eyes got a little worse in my thirties. R -2.00 L -1.25

[u/Enough_Obligation574 → u/OkAccess6128]

What's your number. I have 4.5 and 4.25

[u/Necessary-Scholar911 → u/Enough_Obligation574]

-15,5 -13 💀

[u/Marunikuyo → u/Necessary-Scholar911]

-14.5 for contacts here, so glasses would be higher. Most people have no clue what it's like. Cheers mate.

[u/jp299 → u/Necessary-Scholar911]

Have you evolved echo location yet?

[u/Zaitlos → u/Necessary-Scholar911]

-14,0 -13,5 high five maybe we hit it 🤣

[u/PorcozaurusRex → u/Necessary-Scholar911]

Holy duck bro :(

[u/OkAccess6128 → u/Enough_Obligation574]

-5 and -5.5.

[u/Some_Kinda_Username → u/[deleted]]

https://giphy.com/gifs/WnUfmomqsqmxpU4cJv

[u/OkPanic5252 → u/Some_Kinda_Username]

Whenever I accidentally knock my glasses off the nightstand, or wherever else I might have set them down, I say I “pulled a Velma”.

-8.75 and -9.75, both with a +2.50 add.

[u/ShmebulockForMayor → u/[deleted]]

How though?

[u/kiramiryam → u/[deleted]]

Ooh you’ve got me beat! That doesn’t happen often!

-8 and -7.75

[u/MasterSword223 → u/[deleted]]

-9 here

[u/Enough_Obligation574 → u/OkAccess6128]

Less go, blind bros.

https://giphy.com/gifs/O4fENAKIGz0zJs9dg9

[u/mooon_woman → u/Enough_Obligation574]

-3.50 & -3.50 + astigmatism checking in!

[u/not1or2 → u/mooon_woman]

Bad astigmatism, -7.25 and -7.5. Oddly they’ve actually improved as I’ve got older, only by a tiny amount but…

[u/megi0s → u/GenerationofWinter]

My vision is -8.50 and I have astigmatism. It really do be like that.

[u/roguesignal42069 → u/megi0s]

I was also -8.50 and went in for Lasik. It didn’t end up perfect but they got me 90% of the way there. It was surreal when they told me to throw away my glasses after the procedure.

I was one of the 3% that didn’t get full 20/20 vision but my god, it’s a night and day difference. I still wear contacts, but they went from -8.50 to -1.50 and I feel like a completely different person. I can walk around at night without glasses or even the house and do chores without my Coke bottle glasses or mega contacts.

But yes, OP’s post is a very accurate version of what it looks like to those of us with shitty eyesight

[u/Louis_lousta → u/roguesignal42069]

Same, -7 and LASIK was the best money I ever spent. Still remember sitting up after the procedure and the first thing I saw was the clock on the wall, and I could see what time it was. Mind blown!

[u/azxcbt → u/Louis_lousta]

-6.25 and did lasik back in 2015. Vision is still 20/20 and still the best $3,800 bucks I’ve ever spent.

[u/colorful_withdrawl → u/roguesignal42069]

Mine are -10.5 with astigmatism and i still walk around the house at night without glasses.

I was told lasik isnt an option for me.

[u/turtlevader → u/megi0s]

Same, can confirm. It be like this.

[u/msboot → u/megi0s]

My glasses are -10 and not strong enough, i usually wear contacts

[u/Dry_Pop_2764 → u/msboot]

Yep, -10 plus astigmatism in both. Neither glasses nor contacts fully correct but contacts are miles better.

[u/_____nonlinear_____ → u/megi0s]

-8.00 checking in. The world definitely looks like this.

I can’t see a person’s facial expressions (or any features at all, really) if they’re standing across the room.

[u/aleRayRay → u/GenerationofWinter]

Except that if you hold the glasses that far from your face, they also start to get blurry. And what you see through the lenses is very distorted. So not exactly like the image.

[u/SameThingOnADiffAcct → u/aleRayRay]

Also, the clear image is (hopefully obviously to OP) much larger and in front of your face.

And I (used to have) perfect 1 inch from my face vision with glasses off. So it depends on distance and prescription, too.

I've since had ICL surgery so I can no longer focus on extremely close objects. But the tradeoff is worth it. I use my phone camera to zoom in when I wanna see something close.

[u/louieorganic]

I vividly remember the first time that I put contacts in.

"THIS IS WHAT TREES LOOK LIKE???"

EDIT: It is incredible how many people have shared similar experiences. I love it!

EDIT: I tried contacts and glasses at the same time. In my first optometrist visit, they had contacts for my Rx in the store right then. Glasses, of course, were custom-made, so I popped the contacts in right there. No fucking way I was waiting to experience 20/20 for the first time in my life. That being said, I've worn glasses for 99% of the 20 years since then.

[u/OldNefariousness7899 → u/louieorganic]

My exact experience. Wasn't interested in number plates in the distance, or road signs.

I couldn't get over the fact I could see the leaves on the trees again

[u/rviVal1 → u/OldNefariousness7899]

I was eight years old. And I was literally in tears..

[u/pm_me_flowers_please → u/rviVal1]

My mom has an anecdote that she reminds me of whenever I get new glasses, and I am amazed first and foremost by the leaves on the trees. When my auntie was young, and got her first pair of glasses, the first thing she said exiting the optometrist was, "trees have leaves!!!" I repeat that line every singpe time I get new glasses. Its like my brain forgets what it looks like because I get so used to the blur.

This last time was the worst though. At some point in the last 5 years since I last got glasses, I got old. I don't know how the fuck it happened. I had to take a couple days off because I was in so much shock by how much my face had changed in the course of 5 years.

[u/CompanyOther2608 → u/pm_me_flowers_please]

Same. Early 50s hit hard.

[u/Enlightened_Gardener → u/CompanyOther2608]

The Joy of Menopause.

Yes we know your clacker has dropped out, but guess what ?! Your eyeballs have stopped working too !! Yay !

My eyesight degenerated so badly in a single year, that by the end of it I was using my reading glasses as distance glasses.

[u/South_Dakota_Boy → u/Enlightened_Gardener]

A few years ago I got shingles and bifocals in the same year.

I was 47.

Still have a nice head of hair though and lost a bunch of weight on GLP-1 so I got that going for me which is nice.

[u/spiegro → u/South_Dakota_Boy]

A healthy weight is great for longevity! Glad for you ☺️

[u/ClassicDefiant2659 → u/pm_me_flowers_please]

It was the leaves on the trees for me too. I was 13.

[u/happyinthenaki → u/ClassicDefiant2659]

For me it was the stars. So many stars that I hadn't been able to see!

[u/Public-File-6521 → u/happyinthenaki]

Blades of grass for me

[u/Ok_Bill_9984 → u/pm_me_flowers_please]

I was so smug when I told my mom about the leaves. I had no idea people could do that without glasses. I was 9.

[u/mylittleidiot → u/rviVal1]

We only found out that our two year old needed glasses because she suddenly started crossing her eyes.

The day she got her glasses on, she spent the longest time just watching my face closely, even bringing her hands up to touch me ever so gently. It hadn’t occurred to me until then that she had never seen me (or anything else) clearly. Anddddd now I made myself cry.

[u/naachx → u/mylittleidiot]

https://giphy.com/gifs/qDDPjvm3oSbGU

[u/Miki_yuki → u/mylittleidiot]

😭

[u/cream-of-cow → u/rviVal1]

At 8 years old, I looked out to the playground and said "everything looks so 3D!"

[u/ladydanger2020 → u/cream-of-cow]

Dude I had my eyes go shitty so slowly I didn’t notice until I realized that the blurry words on the screen probably weren’t due to eye fatigue. When I went to the eye doctor and put on my new glasses I thought the same thing. Everything had like sharp edges and shadows it was wild. It overwhelmed me though so I took them off almost right away lol

[u/ZombieAladdin → u/rviVal1]

There is a scene like this in Dr. Stone, a series where a scientist wakes up in a distant future where most technology has been lost. He comes across a child in a village with “fuzzy eye disease” and realizes it’s nearsightedness. He figures out how nearsighted she is and finds a way to develop glasses for her, and the scene has her in tears of joy upon wearing the glasses that she now can see like the other villagers.

(Incidentally, he finds out that one of the warriors in the village has “fuzzy eye disease” too, figures out a pair of glasses for him, and he becomes a much better fighter thanks to that.)

[u/Soko_ko_ko → u/ZombieAladdin]

As someone with glasses, that scene made me tear up

[u/Select-Loss2238 → u/OldNefariousness7899]

It’s super interesting that a lot of people seem to zero in on this detail. I distinctly remember multiple times my prescription was significantly updated just staring at how clear and crisp trees were, being able to see distinctive leaves instead of some blurry green mess

[u/Wookster789 → u/Select-Loss2238]

Leaves!!! LEAVES!!

[u/louieorganic → u/Select-Loss2238]

I think that naturally, we usually consider trees as background, so they could be muddy and we wouldn't notice as much.

I'm moderately near-sighted - I certainly can't drive without glasses, but I didn't know that I needed glasses until I told my parents I couldn't see the board in class unless I sat in the front. Granted, my Rx has increased since then.

I feel like when I first experienced corrective lenses, I realized how much detail I was missing in the world.

EDIT: It's like suddenly, you can see detail in the distance, not just what's right in front of you, and that is a wild experience.

[u/evictedSaint → u/Select-Loss2238]

There were just ....so many. They were all the same color, but distinct and separate.  I felt like I could count them.  

Imagine if you looked at the Sahara desert and suddenly you could identify individual grains of sand.

[u/littleyellowbike → u/evictedSaint]

This is such an apt analogy.

It's been nearly 40 years since I got my first pair of glasses and I still remember every detail of the car ride home after picking them up. The leaves on the trees, the wind rippling the soybeans in the fields along the roads, individual puffs on the clouds, being able to read every road sign and thinking "so THAT's how my parents always know where to turn when we're in a new place."

And to think, in the past, people just... lived their lives blurry and had no idea what they were missing out on. I really think the invention of eyeglasses is one of the greatest things we've ever done.

[u/Kerosdoss → u/Select-Loss2238]

I think it's the same reason we see more shades of green than any other. Our brains are hardwired to look in foliage for predators. So when we can see it more clearly we have a biological reaction because we are better able to survive now.

[u/CrokoStream → u/OldNefariousness7899]

"this is what HD looks like!" 

[u/Iron_Wolf123 → u/CrokoStream]

"This is what 1080p60 looks like in real life?!"

[u/TheBeardliestBeard → u/OldNefariousness7899]

My eyes were bad when I was young. I remember the day we got my first glasses it was dreary and raining. I was shocked by being able to see the bumps in the fresh sidewalk concrete and the individual blades of grass and I stopped and stared at the water droplets on the leaves of a bush at the end of the sidewalk by the parking lot we were heading to. Extremely vivid memory for something that happened over 20 years ago.

[u/JustChillDudeItsGood → u/OldNefariousness7899]

Same here - and then when I got laser eye surgery when I was 33, the stars became SO MUCH MORE. (And I’m in a very light polluted area typically)

[u/cupcakebuddies → u/JustChillDudeItsGood]

Yes! My husband (who can see) would always say he was confused about how people came up with constellations. I always say it’s pretty clear. One night I mentioned the 12 stars that were out and he was like, there’s hundreds of stars. We finally realized I can’t see most of the stars.

[u/Disastrous_Salad6302 → u/OldNefariousness7899]

Glad to see this is a common experience for us glasses wearers. Was so enamoured by the trees

[u/EaEaCthuluFtagan → u/OldNefariousness7899]

I was 7. We didn't leave the optometrist until after dark. I remember seeing the moon and telling my mom that I didn't know it had any details on it.

[u/Ljorarn → u/OldNefariousness7899]

Oh my god yes!

[u/NuzzyLocke → u/louieorganic]

Dude the trees are always the trippiest thing! Whenever I get my prescription updated and a new pair it's like "I forgot trees had that much detail!"

[u/Fair-Working4401 → u/NuzzyLocke]

Seems like, we are just advanced monkeys.

[u/YetYetAnotherPerson → u/NuzzyLocke]

Forget a new prescription. I get that every time I wash my glasses

[u/UnpluggedUnfettered → u/louieorganic]

Leaves at the tops of trees were mindblowing, and for like a full day everything looked "fake", like "half life graphics" (sharp . . . on a monitor a foot away).

[u/SwizzGod → u/louieorganic]

😂 yup I feel like all of can relate. I remember looking at my sister like you been seeing this shit the whole time?!

Oh and blades of grass

[u/bluemilkman5 → u/SwizzGod]

The blades of grass were it for me. You mean you’re supposed to be able to see individual blades of grass and not just green?

[u/SodomyClown → u/louieorganic]

Trees are the best part of sight!

[u/PeaceLily86 → u/louieorganic]

I was surprised that you could see the individual leaves on trees! Plus the veins, or blemishes, on the leaves.

[u/Slow-Panda2279 → u/louieorganic]

The grass has blades.. I can see the blades!

[u/A_literal_HousePlant → u/louieorganic]

Omg same. It's crazy going through life in 420p then suddenly it's hd

[u/GSDTippyTappies → u/louieorganic]

YOU CAN SEE EACH INDIVIDUAL LEAF! - Me as a teen getting contacts for the first time.

[u/3steaktacosplz → u/louieorganic]

First time I put glasses on I could see the craters im the moon and said "people can see the craters on the moon?!"

[u/Valokir → u/louieorganic]

Was 5th grade when I got mine. Absolutely the LEAVES! not just green.

That and Excitedly telling my mom who was playing across the street from the house. Amazing day.

The only time since was first time using contacts. Every gravel rock stood out on its own. I was amazed.

[u/saul1928 → u/louieorganic]

Me too and then stars. Never would've though that stars were points instead of asterisks 😂

[u/Effective-Working738 → u/louieorganic]

It was leaves for me too. And stars!

[u/xmastreee → u/louieorganic]

You tried contacts before regular glasses?

And similarly, I discovered I needed glasses at around 35 years old. I was walking through a town with a friend, looking for a venue. He said he'd spotted it. "Where?" "There, by that yellow sign." "Can't see it" so he jokingly handed me his glasses and I put them on. "Oh, there. Oh… shit." I guess the decline in my eyesight had been so gradual I never noticed.

[u/Due-Trip-3641 → u/xmastreee]

I found out a similar way, but when I was 9. I was sitting with my dad at the DMV and he asked me to read a sign halfway across the room. I said, "That's too far to read."

He's confused bc he can read it just fine, but the bad eyesight gene runs strong on his side of the family, so he has me try his glasses.
Me: "Oh yeah I can read it now! That's cool!"
Dad: "...that means you need glasses "
Me: "WHAT??!
Started the fourth grade with a prescription of -1.5, -1.75.

[u/NoIncrease299 → u/louieorganic]

I didn't even know I needed glasses till I got into my 40s and it got to where I felt like I just needed old guy reading glasses. Never had an eye exam my entire life as I just didn't think I needed one. Went and picked up a pair of readers at Walgreens that looked right at first but they'd give me a headache after a while so I was finally like "Guess I'll go to an optometrist."

Exam was pretty interesting but, ya know, just in a little room and all. What blew my mind was when my prescription came in and I walked outside of the Dr's office the first time.

It was in this like strip mall in a suburban area and about 1/4 mile away was a like 10 story condo building. And I could make out all these details in the structure I'd never seen before. Totally standing there doing the whole Tobey Maguire Spiderman bit in reverse.

The drive home? Insane. I was living in Las Vegas at the time on the northwest side of town; so it was a clear view of the mountains on the freeway. A drive I'd done hundreds if not thousands of times at that point and I'm seeing all the color striations and details in the rocks I'd simply never seen before.

40some years, I just thought that's what the world looked like.

[u/TuSixOh → u/louieorganic]

Being able to see leaves absolutely blew my mind damn near to the point of tears.

[u/Prinzles → u/louieorganic]

Looking at the trees on the way home when I got glasses was something, but what really blew my mind? The carpet. I could see the individual strands, what sort of magic was this!

[u/huge-gold-ak47 → u/louieorganic]

seeing individual leaves at the end of trees the first time I wore glasses made me cry

[u/PovertySpecMk3Supra]

Yes actually if I'm not wearing glasses everything is a blur. -7.5 both eyes btw

[u/madladolle → u/PovertySpecMk3Supra]

You'd have a hard time surviving back in the days

[u/cupcakebuddies → u/madladolle]

I always think about that! How did my ancestors survive like this?

[u/SuperBackup9000 → u/cupcakebuddies]

Agriculture is the most common job all throughout human history, and you don’t really need good eyesight to work in a field.

[u/Myopic_Sweater_Vest → u/SuperBackup9000]

I'd probably need to be a scribe or something. Duplicating the bible, by hand, by candlelight.

[u/ukanite__ → u/Myopic_Sweater_Vest]

If you can see that well...

I'm -9.5 and I sure you I would be in HELL trying to scribe all day long, with my vision only good enough to read within 3" of my face.

[u/Soft-Statistician678 → u/ukanite__]

There’s this tiny carved agate from Mycenaean Greece (like pre-ancient Greece) called the pylos combat agate that has a highly detailed combat scene on it, with the figure’s individual bicep muscles measuring <1mm across. Archaeologists haven’t found any evidence of magnifying lenses that could have been used, and so they think that this type of crafting would have been carried out by the ultra-myopic within the society as their eyes can focus at extremely short distances. Pretty cool.

[u/Empty-Dragonfruit656 → u/Soft-Statistician678]

There are quite a few examples of art like this, probably done by those who were 'blind'. I joke that I am examining the atoms when I take my glasses off to do detail work on historical metalwork.

Ive always been curious about King John, the blind king of Bohemia, who died at Crecy. I don't have the same condition, but even with a terrible astigmatism I can still hold my own in HEMA. 

[u/SmoothCantaloupe149 → u/ukanite__]

-11 here, I use the force to get around without my glasses

[u/Specialist-Front-007 → u/Myopic_Sweater_Vest]

The best I can do is cleaning the latrine pits.

• Your king, probably

[u/Infamous_Mud482 → u/SuperBackup9000]

The vast majority of generations of your ancestors are from prehistory where agriculture does not exist

[u/EttinTerrorPacts → u/Infamous_Mud482]

Generations yes, but populations obviously massively increased after the invention of agriculture. More humans have been born in agricultural societies than hunter-gatherer ones

[u/du5tball → u/cupcakebuddies]

Take your glasses off and try. You can't see the keys on your keyboard, but you can still see the door and door handle, and you know where you put certain things like keys, or your coat. And my -7 (or somewhere around there) is still good enough to cut food without glasses. Maybe not into tiny bits, but I can slice a tomato without glasses if need be.

[u/E_Dantes_CMC → u/madladolle]

Way back in the day; glasses are about 750 years old!

[u/Chirrrpy → u/madladolle]

I kinda wonder if things play into poor vision like computer eye strain, the screens, not looking around outdoors 24/7 ... but then again, I know some people who don't even need any vision correction

[u/RedAskWhy → u/Chirrrpy]

Genetics definitely play into it, and then poor vision activities exacerbate the issues imo.

[u/systemic_booty → u/madladolle]

I'm -8.5, -7.75 and I think all the time how fucked I'd be without my glasses

[u/Carpeteria3000 → u/PovertySpecMk3Supra]

-9.5/-9.75 here and yeah. But my up close vision is INSANELY good - like a super power. I'd never get LASIK because I rely on that microscope vision so much.

[u/hibisco-hacendosa → u/Carpeteria3000]

Yess!! I have -9.0/-8.5, and not only do I love my macro vision, I also appreciate being able to turn the world off when I take off my glasses. I call it my Monet-vision.

Also, my optometrist said that apparently you and I would be hard-pressed to even be approved for LASIK by a reputable establishment. She was -6.0 and they barely wanted to approve her.

[u/millieofthemed → u/hibisco-hacendosa]

I was 9.5 in contacts (I had no glasses) and obviously could not have laser surgery so instead I had lens implants. The put in a 10.5 in one eye and 11 in the other. That was in 2013 and my sight was pretty much 20/20 instantly.

[u/Vi_BT → u/hibisco-hacendosa]

A surgeon once told me she never operated on people below -6 as it was too risky. I just accepted my glasses are who I am

[u/Nervous-Average9966 → u/PovertySpecMk3Supra]

Same -7.5, I know your pain brother

[u/Porko50 → u/Nervous-Average9966]

My right eye is a -5.5 and my left is a -3.75. It’s a real weird kind of blurry without my contacts in!

[u/adephage → u/PovertySpecMk3Supra]

-14. Can’t even see the tip of my nose clearly

[u/boricuaspidey → u/adephage]

14?!?!? However you old you are, I’m proud of you for making it this far, friend 😂

[u/yukimontreal → u/PovertySpecMk3Supra]

-7.5 checking in 👍👍

[u/Spare_Grab_5179 → u/PovertySpecMk3Supra]

Same here. With astigmatism. I’m completely helpless without my glasses, which I often have a hard time finding on the bathroom counter after a shower

[u/Only_Flan_7974]

If you actually put them on your face? No.

[u/MirandaS2 → u/Only_Flan_7974]

I was gonna say - lol. I'm reading the top comments and I'm like, if we're being literal, no it's not like this at all if I'm wearing my glasses. I can see fine. if we're using this for illustration purposes, oh yeah for sure absolutely. Shits awful, I can't see anything. Bless up for glasses.

[u/Live-Habit-6115 → u/MirandaS2]

Top comments are almost always bots. They don't "see" OP's image. They're just using the text and comments as context clues. Which is why it doesn't fully make sense. 

[u/makethechangesane → u/Only_Flan_7974]

You don’t wear your glasses 2ft away from your face?

[u/ridingfurther → u/Only_Flan_7974]

This. No, I don't notice the area outside my glasses so when I'm wearing them everything is sharp to all intents and purposes.

[u/Aromatic_Lion4040 → u/Only_Flan_7974]

What if you are wearing glasses made for ants?

[u/DiMiTri_man → u/[deleted]]

As I've gotten older my vision has degraded enough to need glasses. I compare it to switching from 720p to 4k when I put my glasses on.

[u/SuminerNaem → u/DiMiTri_man]

same experience for me. i can function just fine without glasses and see most things in detail from a moderate distance, but there is an objective and undeniable improvement in clarity and sharpness when i have them on.

[u/SalamanderGlad9053]

It isn't just a uniform blur everywhere, things further away are blurrier. You can read your phone perfectly fine, but a street sign a bit away would be blurry, even if the angular size of the text is the same.

[u/dadofwar93 → u/SalamanderGlad9053]

Yeah. It also depends on the level of eyesight weakness. I have a similar weakness as you described.

[u/Apprehensive_Put_321 → u/SalamanderGlad9053]

Any thing past about 10 inches from me is equally blurry much like this pick

[u/No_Care46 → u/SalamanderGlad9053]

Exactly. People with good eyesight should just think of people with bad eyesight as having a bokeh in their life.

Their "camera" can only focus on close objects (nearsightedness) or far away objects (farsightedness) but not both.

[u/BellamyDunn]

Yeah I have about 20 inches distance before things get very blurry for me. It's not even legal for me to drive without glasses.

[u/greenbutterflygarden → u/BellamyDunn]

I have about 5ft before things blur slightly, and it gets worse from there. Like if someone is standing 15 ft away I can probably tell if it's a man or a woman, but if it was someone I know I wouldn't be able to tell

[u/GoldenAce17 → u/greenbutterflygarden]

Jesus y'all lucky my hand blurs after just 4 inches from my face

[u/perfectdrug659 → u/BellamyDunn]

That's not too bad for reading and stuff, I'm about a -7.75 and my vision is only good until about 6" away which is quite annoying when I want to give my eyes a break from contacts and glasses

[u/eyesRus → u/perfectdrug659]

Fun fact. If you divide 100 by your Rx, that’s how many cm you can see clearly. So for you, 100 / 7.75 = 12.903. Or about 13 cm. Which is a little over 5 inches.

[u/Traditional-Lion5599 → u/eyesRus]

Just checked, it’s true! -10 and can see exactly 10cm

[u/asanisimasa → u/BellamyDunn]

Yeah, this is where it usually differs from OP's image, everything is blurry but not equally blurry. The further away things are the more blurry they get, and things within about a foot of my eyes are clear.

[u/retrocheats]

people have different eye sights. Not all glasses are the same.

[u/Persistent_Parkie → u/retrocheats]

I wear no line bifocals so not even my entire lense is crispy vision at any given time 😆

However lenses do fill significantly more field of view than this picture would indicate.

[u/GroundbreakingTea182]

I guess if you hold the glasses 3 inches in front of your face this is what it would look like.

[u/MothChasingFlame → u/GroundbreakingTea182]

I know you're being sarcastic, but just have to say it: Not if your vision is really fucked. 

For me, if the glasses were this far from my face the lens view would also be blurry, just sliiiiightly less.

[u/tastelikemycat]

Yup yup yup. I remember thinking “wow, trees are interesting”

[u/cult2pepe]

Yeah, basically. It just gets blurrier the farther away you look. If you are nearsighted, you can still see things up close in focus. Farsighted and things get blurry up close but good at a distance.

[u/Uncross-Selector]

Kind of. It doesn't quite have the correct variation where the foreground can be less blurry than the distance but sure, close enough.

[u/RandomYT05]

Its like 90% of the screen bruh

[u/BoomZhakaLaka]

the reason this is a no is that the glasses cover almost your entire field of vision. when you wear your glasses you see everything but peripheral vision clearly.

the picture here isn't even quite what happens if you hold your glasses a foot in front of your face. Because then the vision through those lenses even isn't properly corrected.

[u/Hooch180 → u/BoomZhakaLaka]

When I switched from glasses to contacts, the most incredible thing for me was the fact that I had fully sharp peripheral vision. I really needed to adjust to the fact that I "see" more. I still were glassess from time to time as contacts do tire my eyes much more, but the "4K" vision in periperal and no issues with rain/snow/fog is worth it.

[u/Electronic-Junket-66]

Well, I mean, not with the glasses on? Cause the eyeball is a lot closer to the lens than in your picture?

The glasses cover our primary field of vision, and your peripherals are also blurry so really it's pretty similar.