I think i've realized why we asians have some awful vision.
as gnomik said, myopes (most common among asians) tend to obsess.
and that is the wholesome truth. we obsess over grades, english, all things american, anime etc.
and we have VERY strict parents that beat us quite frequently, which frankly doesn't help on the positive world outlook, or keeping the world perception undistorted.
i think there's a pychological factor that says " i don't want to see this going on" etc. and our mind takes it literally. think of affirmations, just opposite. seeing how scary, horrible things tend to stick better than ponies and rainbows dancing in sunshine, it makes sense that our mind twists itself around these things and distorts our feelings and health inside.
then these messed up people just repeat the whole vicious cycle until i never ends.
and even if they don't do it, they teach their bad visual habits to their children, who can't help but learn what they are doing
i just saw a preschooler at chinese school ( i'm american chinese, i have relatives in china), where i learn chinese on the weekends outside of regular ENGLISH school, and he was wearing glassess. already. it made me want to cry and rip them off his face. he seemed so cute and innocent, and only so little in stature, and already plagued.
It's because Asians have a cookie cutter lifestyle. Due to the pressure from parents/society etc. they force themselves to do things they have no desire to do.
Education should be pursuing what your interested in. That's only when you want to see. (As Bate's said previously)
Do you want to eat rotten food? No. To force it in your mouth will upset your stomach and make you ill. Likewise with education if you forcefully 'learn' things you have no desire in, it upsets your eyes.
It would be interesting if we could go back in time and visit Japan and China at 1900's, 1800's and older times when there where no glasses to wear.
Societies where more strict in the past, as they where in the whole world. So, if the same amount of people had refractive errors, there people would been eliminated, or enslaved. But that didn't happened. Japanese where able to defeat the Mongols and Chinese had strong armies all the time as all the other countries in the world had.
Even ancient Rome was highly urbanized, but the Roman army had conquered most of the known world at the time. Even in middle ages, domesticated Europeans had enough men to fight all the time, and Asian countries had strong armies as well. Turks, who's expansionism was not topped sooner than when they where outside Vienna, originated from Asia.
Except Knights or Samurais or equivalents, most of the soldiers where form lower classes and they had all the reasons to develop refractive errors.
So, if harsh conditions, strict parents, and social factors, all existed long before. But people where not so bad as we are today. Today, in many armies, a great percentage of European, North American(All the races who live up there), Chinese and Japanese soldiers are spectacle-wearers!
But in more poor countries, like those in South America, Africa, and many countries in Asia, only few privileged from the higher classes are wearing glasses.
So, telling that Asians and Caucasians tend to have refractive error is wrong. There is no "nationalism" or "racism" in refractive errors. Everyone can be effected the same way. Look for example at persons from the Black Race in North America and Europe. These persons may live in these places form 200 or more years. Those who are "assimilated" and they do not live in "ghetto" conditions, tend indeed to have refractive errors as the Whites do.
That is natural, they gone in White-made schools, they work in White-made models, they probably eat and drink in White-made models, and to sum it up. the have assimilated behavioral patterns as the natives in the case of Europe and the European-Americans in case of the North America that build their Nations based on European "styles" had and still have.
(Sorry for the white this white that, but color discrimination is far more precise than the first place of origin that is actually hypothesized.)
Asian countries like Japan developed their own system in destroying their eyesight maybe and most probably because of European influence.
In the same time, its hard to find Black wearing spectacles in Africa, specially where they live in "primitive" or "developing". On the contrary, their eyesight will far greater than any European or American city dweller and even better than the eyesight of African-Americans who have assimilated a different life style.
Also Whites in the countryside and villages tend to have greater eyesight that city dwellers and the same is true for All the races.
What i am saying, is that something gone wrong is Europe at a time, and it acted like a virus. It infiltrated the White way of life (i am speaking for old times so in Europe there where only a handful of representatives from other races). We spread that virus to the White Americans first, and then it passed to Blacks and Chinesse that they lived there. Then with the Colonial systems we spread it the colonies and we possibly spread it in Japan, China and India, countries that where under heavy European Influence.
Today, this virus lives in every cell of American and European life styles. Japan was a long time under Americna occupation to be fair with history, so they took a good dose of this virus.
So, that Asian are myopic, is a non-true stereotype. They can be as much myopic as any other race living under the same conditions.
Maybe they indeed messed what adopted from other with their own stuff and created a strainfull mess, but this is only something that effects people psychologically and can effect all the people as i have already explained.
So, sunlight456, be a little more American mate... 8)
Be proud you have Chinese roots, Chinese are a great people, be proud of what you are. Anyone must be proud of what he is. But do something American, you have to if you have a citizenship.
Just think about it. If you want to be American and you are not thinking about going back in China, then you should embrace the freedom of the American life style.
Yes, these is a lot of stress, and i admitted that we, the Whites did a mistake and we keep doing mistakes because we didn't learn and we are maybe responsible for spreading the bad eyesight globally (Hellas was under Ottoman occupation at the time so i am excluded ), but in the American lifestyle there are many good things along with the bad ones.
European lifestyles are getting crappy and more crappy if you wonder.
So be a little American and enjoy the freedom you have.
oh no! i'm way proud to be asian! lol. i think it's pretty awesome. my point wasn't that as a race chinese have predisposition to bad eyesight: it just seems we have quite a pressure as a culture from our parents. i think that it is a bit viral. we do create these problems ourselves, but we can usually revert back. i think it's a cycle of habit and learning from the people around us.
bad habits. period. that is the key to all that ails us. i tend to be misconstrued, but that is ok. i would never intend to steal one's right to personal conception
the think abt the kid was sad
No, i wasn't answering to you directly, i just mentioned many things i have in mind long ago, and i believe i spoken to many people who believe in the Myopic Asian stereotype, or believe that they are "doomed" to have bad eyesight because of their race... :
I agree with you, but look at older times when people just didn't had the luxury to be myopic. Also Asian didn't only gave strict parents and other strain causes, but they gave meditation and relaxation techniques, martial arts, warfare tactics (Like the Art of War), Katana Swords and Bruce Lee!
If anyone is Familiar with "Chuck Norris Facts", then i guess is clear what i am saying. Bruce Lee was Chuck Norris' master!
So, there are many things in the culture of your ancestors that the whole world wants to learn.
What i am saying is, go back in time and do what the young people as you did. I am sure they had good eyesight even with very strict parents. And remember, in most societies, children had to be at least a bit better that their fathers. Specially the kids from Families with authority like Governors, King's Court men and anything that gave them status. In modern world, all these kids would be near blind with all that strain.
Don't know if China was like that, but C'mon, we are humans, they where probably just like anyone with social status.
And really i understand you, but if i have the opportunity to speak about wrong thoughts like "Racial Refractive Errors" then i will for the good of majority and also you may are effected by this wrongful stereotypes. I don't know if you are but i have to say it just in case.
MY OPINION:
Neonatal eye antibiotics are gradually robbing the world of intelligent, sociable, indoor-oriented, normal visioned people and replacing them with less intelligent, less sociable, nearpoint fixation disordered people.
Neonatal eye antibiotics are also gradually robbing the world of intelligent, sociable, outdoor-oriented, normal visioned people and replacing them with less intelligent, less sociable, one day farpoint fixation disordered people.
It's a Human Rat Race on Steroids.
It's an Idiocracy in the making. :o O0
the thing is i think it's all about bad habits and although we can cause ourselves to have temporary worse eyesight, it usually isn't forever.
this is interesting because my mom has good vision and she says sometimes it'll be worse, and then it'll get better/back to normal.
thething is everyone is hopping around with these magical quick fix things called "GLASSES!!!" woOoOOhoooOOO! right? NO. it just stabilizes the unfavorable and mind you TEMPORARY condition and then other people aroundyou start picking up the staring etc. and bam! it's a vicious cycle.
Indeed.
We learn mostly by mimicking others. My parents whore glasses and so i learned to have bad eyesight. Relatives anf friends and know people and co-workers, even strangers in the train or bus can be effected unless they have strong good vision habits.
But you see it and you did mentioned it.
Glasses and bad habits are guilty.
Visual disorders in Asians are caused the same way they are caused in anyone. Now if there are strict family/society rules that feed the strain thats another story. In my country people are supposed to be free and unrestricted and modern families are trying to be as modern, free and open as possible, but if you pick 100 random Hellenes from the street, 90 of them will have an error of refraction. So what i am saying for our Asian friend all over the world to hear, is what sunlight456 already said.
Strain is not discriminating races, religions, believes, sexes, or anything. It can effect us the same way.
Your Mom reminds me my Aunt. She is tressed and she has crappy eyesight, and she has many pairs of glasses of different prescriptions, but somedays she relaxes and she sees just fine. Don't how the doctors manage to keep her believe what want though...
), but in the American lifestyle there are many good things along with the bad ones.
my point wasn't that as a race chinese have predisposition to bad eyesight: it just seems we have quite a pressure as a culture from our parents. i think that it is a bit viral. we do create these problems ourselves, but we can usually revert back. i think it's a cycle of habit and learning from the people around us. 
