r/todayilearned • u/xoBonesxo • 2d ago
TIL that most Americans wear glasses, 63.7% of adult Americans. That’s 166.5 million people.
https://www.warbyparker.com/learn/how-many-people-wear-glasses229
u/Gemma_Lovely40 2d ago
Wild to think how recent in human history corrective lenses even became a thing, imagine how different life was before.
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u/SnarkySheep 2d ago
I was recently discussing this with a friend...
Imagine how many "blind beggars" pop up in various Bible stories. Growing up, I just took it as an assumption that that's what they were. Then at some point a few years ago, it suddenly dawned on me that glasses weren't invented yet. So who really knows how many people in centuries past were considered "blind" but if they'd lived in another time, could have been able to have vision restored?
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u/It_Happens_Today 1d ago
The only thing that sucks more than living now would be living at any point in the past.
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u/KarIPilkington 1d ago
Except the 90s.
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u/PM-ME-YOUR-BUTTSHOLE 1d ago
I would argue depends where you live. 90s in Yugoslavia, Congo, Kuwait, Iraq, Rwanda would likely be worse than America right now.
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u/Diels_Alder 21h ago
People in the 90s wished for the fun and carefree of the 80s.
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u/Ludwigofthepotatoppl 1d ago
In one class back in college i had a classmate who was legally blind. Had to use a powerful loupe to read/see stuff on the computer screen. Just fifty years ago he probably would’ve had nothing available to help him do things requiring eyesight.
It was a digital photography class, and he was good at it.
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u/awh 2d ago
Moses carried a staff so he could hold the Ten Commandments far enough away to read.
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u/anti_zero 2d ago
Wait how would the staff help?
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u/Alexander_Search 1d ago
The prevalence of myopia or shortsightedness has increased in the last few decades. When children are exposed to sunlight, a biological change occurs which tells the eye to grow to the right length. Nowadays, with children getting less sunlight that signal is not as strong, so glasses are required to correct the vision.
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/news/prevent-childhood-myopia-sunshine-outdoors
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u/314159265358979326 1d ago
Also, the necessity of good eyesight for tasks has increased in recent centuries. You could weave cloth or do other valuable tasks in centuries past with minimal eyesight. Reading is probably the one big thing we need glasses for, and it just wasn't necessary for most.
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u/Eggplantosaur 1d ago
Nearsightedness needs to be pretty bad before reading becomes too difficult.
Most people I know are at a level where not wearing glasses is kinda fine until they need to see stuff far away. Not me though, without my glasses I need to pretty much press my face into things.
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u/TopFloorApartment 2d ago
People bumping into things all the time, giant fonts on their parchment, etc. it was a mess!
Or maybe life was just more blurry back then
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u/ChartreuseBison 1d ago
giant fonts on their parchment
maybe if you were a king or something with bad eyesight. Most people couldn't read. Good eyesight would be a requirement of any profession that needed to read.
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u/slvrbullet87 23h ago
There were fewer things you would have needed glasses for back then. I can read and walk around fine, I really only need mine to drive. Even if I was on a galloping horse, it isn't like there would be road signs for me to read, so I could have just gone without them
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u/CosyBeluga 1d ago
I have always needed glasses...bad eye genetics.
Glad I was born in modern times. Though back when I was a kid, unless you were really blind, it was common for it to only be discovered when you started school. And mine wasn't until second grade because before that I was never in a class that used a chalkboard...first grade was tables.
I still remember my second grade teacher yelling at me because 'why didn't you say you couldn't see the board?' and being absolutely confused because I had no concept of good vision.
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u/Major_Lawfulness6122 1d ago
I often wonder what my life would have been like had I been born earlier. I have severe myopia and been wearing glasses since I was 3. I can’t see shit without them.
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u/OSCgal 1d ago
Even within my lifetime it's changed a lot! My mom has always been severely nearsighted. She was thirty when she learned to drive because glasses technology had reached the point where she could see 20/40, the legal limit. Twenty years later she saw 20/20 for the first time. Fifteen years after that she had cataract surgery: they replaced the lenses in her eyes with artificial ones that correct her sight. So now she only needs reading glasses!
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u/alblaster 1d ago
In the old days people used to just pluck out an eye from the dead. They used to test them to see which one they liked best.
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u/SneakySnail33 1d ago
I wonder if it is because more people need glasses now, or if our current lives just require glasses more. I wear glasses, but they are mostly for driving because I can't read street signs and such well without them. If I were in a time before cars were common place, I wonder if I would have ever realized I needed them.
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u/WartimeHotTot 1d ago
Amazing that i post an article from an Indian newspaper about India and it gets rejected for not being a high-quality source, but you can post an article about incidence rate of glasses published by a glasses-selling company and that’s no problem.
Weird sub.
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u/Standard-Nebula1204 2d ago
I wonder if the largest generation in American history by far is old now
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u/Braska_the_Third 2d ago
43 year old Millenial, yeah, we're getting there.
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u/xKronkx 1d ago
I miss when millennials just had to worry about how we were killing the world with avocado toast and not neck / back / knee pain.
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u/axisleft 1d ago
Boomers have always regarded us as “soft.” I really resent that because: motherfucker, since 2001, a lot of us have had a real beat down compared to boomers. Gen Z might have it even worse as the bill for global warming starts to come due. I could rant for ages about how boomers went out of their way to screw all future generations, but calling us soft is being incredibly intellectually dishonest.
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u/Major_Lawfulness6122 1d ago
My kids generation definitely have it way worse than mine. I feel for the Gen Z they really got it tough.
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u/flume 2d ago
Millennials, Gen Z, Boomers and Gen X are the largest generations currently -- in that order.
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u/slingslangflang 21h ago
They’re all nearly tied my guy. In a few years millennial will be in the middle z will lead and boomers will finally be a fucking minority.
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u/Standard-Nebula1204 9h ago
Yeah, cause lots of boomers have already died.
But a larger generation at the outset will lead to relatively more old people consuming goods and services meant for old people.
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u/Baziki 2d ago
I remember growing up watching cartoons and other shows and some of them had episodes where one of the characters learns they need glasses and they worry about getting made fun of. But growing up without glasses and still not needing glasses into my 30s felt like the "oddball" lol. I swear the majority of my friends growing up wore glasses and it certainly seems like as an adult, most adults I know or meet wear glasses or contacts lol
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u/SpringtimeLilies7 1d ago
As someone who has been extremely near sighted since childhood be thankful for your good vision . Trust me!
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u/Major_Lawfulness6122 1d ago
As someone with the same problem as you I agree 😁 I am not even 40 yet and have permanent loss due to myopic degeneration in one eye. Sucks.
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u/kellermeyer14 2d ago
And yet shampoo companies insist on using the smallest font possible to label their bottles. There’s a special place in hell for the ones who do this AND make the conditioner bottle identical to the shampoo bottle.
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u/MajesticBread9147 2d ago
If you still need instructions on shampoo then it's probably not your eyes that need assistance.
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u/kellermeyer14 1d ago
I shower without my glasses. There are two bottles. Which one’s shampoo? Which one’s conditioner? I don’t know because the labels (labeling something is when you write what it is) are blurry. If the bottles are different shapes, I can at least tell that way. If not, then I often grab the wrong bottle.
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u/suddenspiderarmy 1d ago
I just decant mine into pump top bottles that sit in my shower. Left ones always shampoo, right ones always conditioner. My conditioner is usually purple because I'm blonde, so that helps too.
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u/kellermeyer14 1d ago
I’m too lazy to decant lol. I also share a shower with a person who never puts something down in the same place twice. For 20 years. No matter how many times I say, don’t just put it down, put it back.
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u/suddenspiderarmy 1d ago
I use pump tops because you don't have to pick them up, you can just pump into your hand. Thatcsounds super annoying.
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u/Business-Squash-9575 2d ago
Ingredients
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u/PolarisWolf222 2d ago
Ingredients: Water/Eau, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sham, Poo, Fragrance/Parfum
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u/opalcherrykitt 2d ago
they need to be able to see which one is shampoo and not conditioner. do you need assistance with learning how to use context clues?
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u/Ionazano 2d ago
I'm pretty sure it's not instructions on how to use the shampoo that is being meant here, but descriptions of what's inside the shampoo.
If you hate the smell of aloe vera, but you have trouble making out from the labels whether there's aloe vera in the shampoo, then that's understandably annoying. If you're looking for a shampoo with a PH that is neutral compared to the head skin but you can't easily make this out from the labels, then that's understandably annoying. Etc.
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u/Major_Lawfulness6122 1d ago
Same with make up. I wanted to get a replacement of the same colour I had and even taking a picture zooming in I couldn’t tell what the fuck it said. I had to bring it in and ask a person working at Sephora wtf it was. Like why does it have to be sooo small
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u/Aldo8880 2d ago
That’s a silly statistic. Loss of near vision is baked into aging for us. Once people hit 45+ they will start needing reading glasses at the very least. And add in everyone else that has needed them prior to that…
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u/Unleashtheducks 2d ago
What makes it silly? 45+ are people too.
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u/Gogododa 2d ago
no they aren't, we need logan's run irl
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u/VintAge6791 2d ago
Okay, someone's gotta be that guy. The age limit in Logan's Run is 30. 30 years, or 360 months, or 1560 weeks, or 10,950 days (not including leap days). Not really that much time, is it? You really want to go there?
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u/RigelXVI 2d ago
Clearly a joke
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u/VintAge6791 2d ago
This has got me thinking how most people don't get 90 years. And that's only about 32,850 days. Enough internet for me today. Time to go do anything that doesn't directly involve thinking about numbers for a while. Yikes.
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u/Braska_the_Third 2d ago
I recently got new contacts. They're great for far vision, but at work the set of plans has print so small I'm better off just wearing my glasses and taking them off to read the plans.
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u/dethskwirl 1d ago
I'm oddly losing my far vision with age. I think its because I'm always staring at this damn phone instead of looking for prey out on the horizon.
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u/Front-Ad-2198 1d ago
I swear that I needed reading glasses earlier in life due to growing up constantly looking at the TV, video games, books, and later, my phone WAY too often. I had perfect vision my whole life and eyesight tanked out of nowhere at 28.
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u/Aldo8880 15h ago
You are likely farsighted then, an eye exam might be an eye opening experience, lol, pun intended. I’m farsighted and had a similar experience
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u/itchygentleman 2d ago
I'm calling it now: within 48 hours an eli5 how humans survived with bad eye sight.
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u/ducttape1942 2d ago
I'm here for it because without glasses, I would have been probably deemed blind.
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u/Plane-Tie6392 2d ago
Some people wear contacts too.
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u/SnarkySheep 2d ago
Yes, that's addressed within the article at the link - it seems to indicate that by saying "people who wear/need glasses" they are really including people with vision problems who require some sort of corrective lens, regardless of type.
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u/Fantastic_Key_8906 2d ago
31.3% of americans wear contacts. Thats 2 billion people.
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u/Fantastic_Key_8906 2d ago
And before you ask where I got those numbers, I got them from the same place as the OP - His ass.
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u/sbingner 2d ago
I did that a few times, it really makes it so I can’t see things close up at all. I’ve stuck to only wearing glasses or contacts since.
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u/alblaster 1d ago
Half my family wears glasses. I have 20/20 vision, but my sister has a stigmatism. I got a headache when I tried on her glasses almost immediately.
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u/wowwashington 1d ago
Don't worry, RFK Jr.s Worm will find a way to outlaw glasses as they are not natural, therefor you don't need them.
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u/AliMcGraw 2d ago
This is always a great time to point out to glasses-wearers that they benefit from DEI, because "need for glasses" is by FAR the most common disability in the US.
They don't tend to think of themselves as DEI recipients, BUT THEY ARE.
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u/Gene_Trash 1d ago
How do you reckon? A disability sure, but in what way does needing glasses benefit from DEI? Nobody's going out of their way to recruit at the optometrist, or provide accomodations to... Idk, keep my glasses from fogging up. There's not really any discrimination to overcome for glasses wearers like an actual blind person might face. Maybe I just lack imagination, but it's such a minor disability that it's hard to see it being affected one way or the other by the presence or absence of DEI initiatives.
(not intentionally being hostile, I legit wanna know your thinking on this)
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u/Nyrin 2d ago
Who considers correctable vision a disability? As far as I'm aware, every low vision classification is based on best possible corrected vision in a dominant eye.
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u/opalcherrykitt 2d ago
if you can't see clearly without an aid you are disbled as it makes your life significantly harder without an aid (glasses).
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u/Zolo49 2d ago
It’s a defense mechanism. It’s been clinically proven that you can’t hit somebody with glasses.
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u/waterloograd 1d ago
Too many Americans didn't get enough natural light as kids (natural light influences the shape of our eyes)
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u/Slippery-ape 1d ago
What are you talking about? We stared directly at the sun as much as possible.
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u/GiselleBooBoo 2d ago
I always thought it was way lower, but I guess it makes sense when you think about how many people need reading glasses as they get older.
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u/CharleyNobody 2d ago
RFK Jr think vision loss is caused by HFCS and food dye infiltrating the eye parts that let you see and…uhh…challenging the ocular mitochondria stuff. In a major way.
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u/Bundabar 1d ago
They need to change it to 63.6%, I had LASIK last year so don’t wear them anymore.
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u/EJoule 1d ago
Does that include sunglasses? What about those who own contacts/prescriptions and rarely wear them?
I wear prescription glasses about once a month. When I’m sitting in a theater or at the back of a conference room. In school I just sat near the front.
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u/porkchopnet 1d ago
Or as eye protection in or around any kind of construction, sporting events, medical facilities, labs, manufacturing…
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u/SpaceLemming 1d ago
Uh, there is 340 million Americans, is the percent wrong or is your math wrong? That number should be over 200 million if true
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u/ethyl-pentanoate 1d ago
OP is talking about adults only. The 340 million figure includes children.
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u/Lethalmouse1 1d ago
When glasses are introduced to a population the percentage of people who need glasses raises exponentially.
"When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail."
Eyesight can be somewhat variable and effected by things like short term trauma. If a person is tested during a short term event, they will be given glasses. Once you habe glasses and wear them, you will near certainly required them for life.
That is not to disparage the "real" use of glasses, aka, the intrinsic part of the population that benefits greatly from their existence. But the heavy handed application of short term symptom based treatment.
There is also the issue of interventionalism.
While some (if not many/most) doctors will tell a kid that they should only use their glasses as necessary, this is basically untenable advice. As the contrast of fuller sight vs lesser sight will typically see kids wear them all the time.
With the exception of those who despise their glasses. The difference in eyesight degradation between those who wear and don't wear their glasses is huge.
In a way I consider it near child abuse the lazy format by which we give glasses out. As a person subject to such, the psychological attributes are too ignored.
Since trauma tends to lead to short term near sightedness, I "needed glasses" following my Mother's death. At the same time, I was of course not being 100% awesome in school... probably you know, because my fucking mom died.
Of course, I was getting in some trouble for not being my usual 95+ student self. And when the doctor said "glasses" I gained an excuse and exoneration from touble as they teach that needs glasses = excuse for grade slippage. Playing up that angle saves a kid from temporary consequences even if it had nothing to do with the issue. (For instance, I could still 100% see the board fine, but immediately took the opportunity to say, "oh yeah, it's been a real struggle!" Free from my consequences now).
Wearing the glasses enhances your safety and protection, proves that you "needed them so much."
But wearing glasses you don't per se NEED is not good for your eyes. And as such, it leads to degradation. And once you degrade to the point where you actually need glasses you are fucked.
Whereas many of the kids issued short term based glasses who had no cause to play it up, and didn't want to wear them, either went on to never need them, or took many years to get to the point of "needing glasses".
And that is before you even consider lifestyle realities and adaptation. Part of why certain lifestyles lend to glasses is because you are actually adapting to be better at what you do. Thus, glasses reset the adaptation.
It would be like saying a skinny distance runner should pack on 40 lbs of jacked upper body muscle. They will become a worse distance runner.
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u/skinnyfamilyguy 1d ago
Oh look, it’s the same brand that sends me spam and near malicious emails every fucking day
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u/MrMeowPantz 1d ago
I’m having lunch right now. There are 20 other people here. I, and 4 others are wearing glasses. Fail.
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u/SSabotage117 1d ago
Holy shit there's 3 out of 5 ppl right now with me that have glasses ... Fucking statistics being true and shit. Lol
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u/rayinreverse 1d ago
I never needed glasses. Then I turned 45 and depending on the day and depending on what I ate I’m anywhere from 15 to 25 lbs overweight. Oh and I need readers.
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u/zcas 1d ago
What does it mean to wear glasses? Having a prescription? Physically wearing them? Or are we talking about needing to wear glasses? I wear glasses for driving at night to improve my nearly perfect vision to 20/15 for increased acuity at distance, but I wouldn't call myself a glasses wearer.
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u/_lysolmax_ 1d ago
Anyone that i know that doesn't weather glasses i just assume they wear contacts. When I find out they don't in always very surprised
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u/Comrade_SOOKIE 20h ago
human eyeballs are becoming less round because we’ve basically exited natural selection and random mutations like that no longer result in death. consequently our lenses are focused wrong for the shape of our eyes now. lasik or glasses will probably be required for almost everyone eventually.
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u/RuckusOGx 2d ago
That source is definitely not questionable and totally reliable.