After a lifetime as a reporter and editor I am as cynical as anybody and have always demanded proof and kowtowed to the "authorities." Skeptics who say there are no double-blind studies proving the method works are missing the boat. Something like this is impossible to prove absolutely. How do you objectively measure how a person is using his or her imagination? How do you select people for research that have gumption and intention and persistence. The candidates who show up for research will say they want to see better, they want to participate, but as soon as time and concentration is demanded every day they slack off. Even if you supervise them you can't supervise the inside of their mind. Arnold Schwartzeneger said you can do the barbell stuff for hours but if your mind is out to lunch you will get little benefit. The Bates technique has been around for a 100 years. Are all those thousands of claims to better vision just delusional? Even if the refraction of the eye does not change a person can train his mind to see better. That is, the mind will learn to better interpret the information it is getting through the optic nerve. And what a boon it is for a person who has kept his eyes tense all his life to learn how to relax them.
