29 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
29 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Bates method"
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chunk: 3/4
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source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method"
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category: "reference"
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tags: "science, encyclopedia"
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date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00"
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instance: "kb-cron"
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---
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Perhaps the most famous proponent of the Bates method was the British writer Aldous Huxley. At the age of 16, Huxley had an attack of keratitis, which, after an 18-month period of near-blindness, left him with one eye just capable of light perception and the other with an unaided Snellen fraction of 10/200. This was mainly due to opacities in both corneas, complicated by hyperopia and astigmatism. He was able to read only if he wore thick glasses and dilated his better pupil with atropine, to allow that eye to see around an opacity in the center of the cornea.
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In 1939, at the age of 45 and with eyesight that continued to deteriorate, he happened to hear of the Bates method and sought the help of Margaret Corbett, who gave him regular lessons. Three years later, he wrote The Art of Seeing, in which he related: "Within a couple of months, I was reading without spectacles, and what was better still, without strain and fatigue.... At the present time, my vision, though very far from normal, is about twice as good as it used to be when I wore spectacles." Describing the process, Huxley wrote, "Vision is not won by making an effort to get it: it comes to those who have learned to put their minds and eyes into a state of alert passivity, of dynamic relaxation." He expressed indifference regarding the veracity of Bates' explanation of how the eye focuses, stating, "my concern is not with the anatomical mechanism of accommodation, but with the art of seeing."
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His case generated wide publicity, as well as scrutiny. Ophthalmologist Walter B. Lancaster, for example, suggested in 1944 that Huxley had "learned how to use what he has to better advantage" by training the "cerebral part of seeing", rather than actually improving the quality of the image on the retina.
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In 1952, 10 years after writing The Art of Seeing, Huxley spoke at a Hollywood banquet, wearing no glasses, and according to Bennett Cerf, apparently reading his paper from the lectern without difficulty. In Cerf's words:
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Then suddenly he faltered—and the disturbing truth became obvious. He wasn't reading his address at all. He had learned it by heart. To refresh his memory, he brought the paper closer and closer to his eyes. When it was only an inch or so away, he still couldn't read it, and had to fish for a magnifying glass in his pocket to make the typing visible to him. It was an agonizing moment.
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In response to this, Huxley wrote, "I often do use magnifying glasses where conditions of light are bad, and have never claimed to be able to read except under very good conditions." This underscored that he had not regained anything close to normal vision, and in fact never claimed that he had.
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=== Modern variants ===
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"Natural vision correction" or "natural vision improvement" continues to be marketed by practitioners offering individual instruction, many of whom have no medical or optometric credentials. Most base their approach in the Bates method, though some also integrate vision therapy techniques. Also, many self-help books and programs, which have not been subjected to randomized controlled trials, are aimed at improving eyesight naturally. Purveyors of such approaches argue that they lack the funds to formally test them.
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The heavily advertised "See Clearly Method" (of which sales were halted by a court order in November 2006, in response to what were found to be dishonest marketing practices) included "palming" and "light therapy", both adapted from Bates. The creators of the program, however, emphasized that they did not endorse Bates' approach overall.
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In his 1992 book The Bates Method, A Complete Guide to Improving Eyesight—Naturally, "Bates method teacher" Peter Mansfield was very critical of eye care professionals for prescribing corrective lenses. The book included accounts of 12 "real cases", but did not report any information about refractive error.
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Czech native John Slavicek claims to have created an "eye cure" that improves eyesight in three days, borrowing from ancient yogic eye exercises, visualizations from the Seth Material, and the Bates method. Although he has testimonials from his neighbor and others, several of his students indicate that he has greatly exaggerated their cases. Slavicek's self-published manual, Yoga for the Eyes, was rejected by an ophthalmologist who evaluated it, and evinced no interest from the World Health Organization and St. Erik's Eye Foundation in Sweden, as he had not conducted double-blind tests.
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== Possible reasons for claimed improvements ==
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Some eye conditions may naturally change for the better with age or in cycles (ophthalmologist Stewart Duke-Elder suggested that this happened with Aldous Huxley's keratitis). A cataract when first setting in sometimes results in much improved eyesight for a short time. One who has been practicing the Bates method will likely credit it for any improvement experienced regardless of the actual cause.
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When corrective lenses are removed, vision can adapt to lessen the initial perceived blur, sometimes by more than two lines on an eye chart. This phenomenon is known as blur adaptation. Some studies have suggested that a learned ability to interpret blurred images may also account for perceived improvements in eyesight.
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== General research == |