Aldous HuxLey

[dragon28]

Aldous Huxley, the famous writer... Here is the story about him:

"One of the most prominent converts to the Bates system was Aldous Huxley.  The corneas of his eyes had been scarred since childhood, but he believed the Bates exer­cises had repaired them.  He wrote a book about it, The Art of Seeing.  Huxley was a vindication to the Bates sympathizers try­ing to fend off criticism from eye doctors.  But sometimes Huxley was an embarrass­ment, such as the time he addressed a Hollywood banquet.  This account is by Bennett Cerf in the April 12, 1952, Satur­day Review.  “When he arose to make his address he wore no glasses, and evidently experi­enced no difficulty in reading the paper he had planted on the lecturn.  Had the exer­cises really given him normal vision?  I, along with 1200 other guests, watched with astonishment while he rattled glibly on . . . . Then suddenly he faltered—and the disturbing truth became obvious.  He wasn’t reading the 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 he had to fish for a magnifying glass in his pocket.  It was an agonizing moment ."
(from http://skeptically.org/thinkersonreligion/id19.html)

However, I didn't even find a thing about this story in any of his biographies.

[David]

Ah yes, I've heard that story many a time. The funny thing is, it was only one person who reported the event in that way, and it's the people who call themselves "scientific" and claim to dismiss all anecdotal evidence who hypocritically jump right on this single account as if it proved the Bates method wrong. It's that type of thinking that makes you seriously question the subconscious drives of some people. 

Even so, I don't have any reason to really doubt the account. What would it mean? He had a relapse? A weak moment? Everyone does. Vision is a sensitive thing. Beyond that, I don't see what it would prove, because the fact remains he was nearly blind and unable to write until he went through the process and restored his vision enough to go onto be a successful writer.

Dave

[chris hansen]

I can't help thinking: If his vision was that bad, how could he go through life convinced that he could see? It seems that either he was lying about the whole thing or maybe the stress of being in front of an audience caused enough strain to affect his vision. I think the second possibility seems more likely though.

[dragon28]

I think this story is somehow true, but is very exaggerated. I think his vision wasn't 20\20, he was nearsighted, and you can see it in his photos, in most of them. However, he wasn't nearly blind.

I know people with 60\6 sight or even worse that can walk around without glasses and see pretty well.

I also agree that he could have a weak moment. When a person that originally has a poor sight and is in progress of improvement has a weak moment when he\she is nervous, the sight ,might go back to the original or even worse because of losing the balance.

[David]

You also have to consider where Huxley started from. He talks about it in the preface to his book. Some disease that left him blind.

Dave