088: October 1926 with Nathan Oxenfeld and Barry Auchettl

So, yeah, why don't we go through these articles this month? As always, we start with a demonstrate article, which is kind of practical.

So do you want to go ahead with our first article today, Barry?

Better Eyesight, October 1926. a monthly magazine devoted to the prevention and cure of imperfect sight without glasses.

Demonstrate that a strain to see at the distance reduces nearsightedness.

Look at a Snellen test chart at 20 feet and read it as well as you can.

Now strain or make an effort to see it better and note that instead of getting it better, it becomes worse.

Two, that a strain to see at the near point does not increase nearsightedness, it always lessens it.

Look at a card of fine print at six inches from your eyes and read it as well as you can.

Now make an effort to see it better and note that your vision for the near point is lowered by the ability to read the fine print at a greater distance is improved.

Three, that when a mental picture is perfect with the eyes closed for part of a minute or longer, a perfect mental picture can be remembered, imagined or seen for a second or less with

the eyes open.

Remember a black kitten.

If your mental

picture is grey or in perfect black with the eyes closed, Imagine that you're pouring black ink or black dye over it.

Note that the clearness of the mental picture improves.

Look at a page of fine print, then close your eyes and imagine the white spaces between the lines to be perfectly white.

If they appear to be greyish white, Imagine that you are painting the white spaces between the letters, inside the letters and between the lines with the white paint or whitewash.

And open your eyes for a fraction of a second and note that the white spaces between the lines will appear whiter if you do not make an effort to see either the black letters or the white spaces.

The interesting thing with the first one on the demonstrate is really so much he always talks about is really about relaxing the eyes.

You know, do not strain.

And, you know, every article I read with Dr. Bates is always do not strain, do not strain.

And so there's one thing you get out of this entire article and even the entire series is to look at things, if you like, in a new way, rather than trying to force it, is to allow it to happen.

The interesting one he talked about there was the mental image of a kitten.

Yeah.

I know when I work with people and we talk about a mental image, and I'd be curious of your interpretation of this as well, Nathan, but...