According to Dr Bates, wearing
glasses adds to the strain which underlies poor
vision: however, until one learns more relaxed
ways of using the eyes simply taking glasses off
can also make matters worse. Since when wearing
pinhole specs the dioptrics of the eye are
irrelevant, it follows that at the very least one
can be freed from the need to conform to the
pattern of strain for which the glasses were
fitted, while enjoying vision sufficiently clear
to largely eliminate the urge to strain to see
better. This does not in itself promote
improvement, but by reducing the 'need' to strain
and the time spent wearing glasses, increases the
chances of success by other means.
It is fundamental to the Bates
approach that vision is a constant learning
process based on the feedback of information
between eyes and brain. The traditional Bates
practices are designed both to increase the sense
of contact with what is seen and the awareness of
variations in vision. This line of thought is
developed further by at least one manufacturing
company who design their holes to limit rather
than eliminate the 'blur circle'. The idea is
that, at the worst, the vision is good enough to
make it easy to maintain relaxed interest and to
improve the basic flow of information, but that
it is possible for improved function to bring
about noticeable improvement so that there is
also a flow of feedback about the behaviour of
the eye (which would not be so with true
pinholes): in this way the eyes are constantly
encouraged and good behaviour is rewarded. This
idea is certainly plausible and broadly in
agreement with Dr. Bates' principles. It can
perhaps be developed yet further by the use of a
modular kit incorporating different sizes of hole
and grid spacing for different purposes: small
holes to maximise the vision: larger ones to
emphasise the learning curve, and a small to
medium size for general purposes, perhaps.
The multiple array encourages two
important aspects of normal visual behaviour,
shifting and centralisation. In turn it is found
that these can only be achieved if the use of the
eyes is basically relaxed, so palming before use
and attention to the principle of relaxation
during use are recommended.
Multiple Pinhole Glasses page 4
