Re: Medical Error/Negligence

I didn't read into your message what wasn't there. My comment was
actually directed to those who claim the eye-mind connection can make
up for image that is not on the retina, i.e. that the brain (or
"mind", as they call it) can see without receiving the proper input
from the eye thru the optic nerve.

No, when the mind is at the normal state, the retinal image also
becomes normal. But surely you are not challenging or denying the
EXISTENCE of illusions? Perfect sight or imperfect, there are many
illusions in vision. These illusions are all created by the mind. Look
read this, it might interest you -

"Illusions of Normal Sight

By W. H. Bates, M.D.

AN illusion is defined by the dictionary to be something which does
not exist. Illusions are not seen, they are imagined. One cannot have
perfect sight without illusions.

CENTRAL FIXATION.-When the sight is normal one is always able to
demonstrate that things regarded are seen best while those not
regarded are always seen worse. With Central Fixation if one
recognizes or sees a letter correctly, all other letters are seen
worse. With the best vision that can be obtained it can be
demonstrated that one cannot see a letter or any other object
perfectly without seeing one part best. No matter how large or how
small the letter or object may be, it is impossible to see it
perfectly without Central Fixation. Many people believe that when they
look at a small letter or a. small period that they see it all at
once; but, when you notice the facts, one finds that to see or to try
to see a letter, a number of letters all per-fectly, the vision
becomes modified or imperfect. Some persons with unusually good vision
can read the Snellen Test Card so rapidly that they have the
impression that they see all the letters perfectly at the same time.
It requires, in some cases, considerable trouble to demonstrate that
this is impossible. In some obstinate cases it has required not only
some hours but some days to prove that this is a fact. The letters of
the Snellen Test Card are equally black. To see one blacker than the
others, or a part of a letter blacker than the rest of it, is seeing
something which is not so. The large letters and the small letters are
printed in the same ink and all are equally black and although one
cannot read the letters unless they see them by Central Fixation it is
still, nevertheless, an illusion. One should emphasize the fact that
it is possible to have illusions or that one cannot see perfectly
unless the illusion of Central Fixation can be demonstrated.

SWINGING.-When a small letter of the Snellen Test Card can be seen
perfectly and continuously it can be demonstrated that the letter is
moving from side to aide about its own width or less or that it is
moving in other directions. To look fixedly at a letter and try to
imagine one point of the letter is seen continuously, can be
demonstrated to be impossible. One cannot obtain perfect sight by
staring or trying to see things or imagine things as stationary. I
have never seen this truth stated in any publication. It is just as
important an illusion as is CENTRAL FIXATION in order to have perfect
sight continuously. It can be demon-strated that all persons with
imperfect sight stare, concentrate or try to see letters stationary.
The illusion that the letter is moving, when the sight is normal, is
brought about by the normal eye to avoid the stare and the strain of
seeing things imperfectly. The point of fixation changes continuously,
easily.

When one looks to the right of the letter, the letter is to the left
of where you are looking. If you look to the left of a letter the
letter is to the right of where you are looking. Every time your eyes
move to the right, the letter moves to the left. Every time your eyes
move to the left the letter moves to the right and by alternately
looking from one to the other side of a letter one becomes able to
imagine the illusion that the letter is moving from side to side. When
reading rapidly one does not have time to demonstrate that each
individual letter is moving. Here again the imagination is respon-
sible for the illusion of the swing. The letters do not really move,
we only imagine it; and, unless we can imagine a letter moving
continuously we are unable to see it with normal sight continuously.
This is a truth; it has no exceptions. It is a necessary part of
normal vision, and yet it has not, to my knowledge, been pub-lished in
any book or periodical. People who write works on physiological optics
have much to learn. So many of my patients who have been benefited by
my methods have asked me: "Why didn't Helmholtz, Donders and all those
other authorities publish the truths that you have discovered?" Nearly
all ophthalmologists put glasses on people because that is all they
know. I can recall the time when that was all I knew. If a patient
left the office without a prescription for glasses it was not my
fault. Now when persons with imperfect sight, wearing glasses, become
able to practice CENTRAL FIXATION and the OPTICAL SWING in the right
way, their vision becomes normal without glasses.

HALOS.-When the sight is normal and when one regards a letter of the
Snellen Card with a white center, the white part of the letter appears
whiter than it really is and whiter than the rest of the card. I use
the word Halos for this illusion. This is an illusion which can be
demonstrated quite readily by covering over the black part of a letter
with a screen with an opening slightly smaller than the white part of
the letter, which permits the center of the letter to be observed.
When this is done the white center of the letter is the same shade of
whiteness as the rest of the card. Some people can imagine the
illusion when it is described to them. When reading fine print the
spaces between the lines appear whiter than the rest of the card, but
only when the vision is good. As a general rule when one can imagine
these white spaces between the lines are whiter than the rest of the
card, Halos, the black appears more perfectly black and the letters
can be read with normal vision. Halos are imagined, not seen.
Imagination of the illusion of the Halos is a quick cure of myopia and
astig-matism, as well as other cases of imperfect sight.

I am annoyed with myself when I realize how many years it required
before I had brains enough to notice the Halos. It seems to me that I
must have been awfully stupid to have failed to have noticed them for
such a long time. All persons who have normal sight are always able to
demonstrate the Halos. All persons with imperfect sight are cured,
temporarily or permanently, when they become able to imagine the
Halos.

BLINKING AND RESTING THE EYES.-By blinking is meant frequent closing
of the eyes.. It is usually done so rapidly that it is not
conspicuous. Many persons with normal sight have the illusion that
they do not blink. They believe their eyes are always at rest and that
their eyes are continually open all the time. When their attention is
called to the facts it is usually readily demonstrated with persons
with normal vision. In one case the patient was able to distinguish a
small letter on the bottom line at twenty feet, 20/10. He was positive
that he saw the letter, continuously. It was found by observing the
movements of his eyes that he did two things. First: He closed and
opened his eyes frequently, without being conscious of the fact. Sec-
ondly: He looked some distance away from the letter and back again and
did it so quickly that he was not aware that he did it. The facts can
also be demonstrated, perhaps more accurately, with the,help of moving
pictures. In all cases where the sight was normal, blinking occurred
almost every second. In some seconds the eyes were opened and closed
five times. Blinking occurs more frequently with the normal eye when
the light is imperfect or when the conditions are unfavorable for
perfect sight. When the light is good or the conditions most favorable
for good sight, blinking occurs at less frequent intervals. Persons
with imperfect sight do not rest their eyes as often as those with
normal vision. When they are encouraged to blink more frequently their
sight usually improves."

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