The Vice of Concentration
- From: Lelouch Lamperouge <misa426@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:11:42 -0800 (PST)
[...]
The Vice of Concentration
By W. H. Bates, M.D.
——
Most patients who come to me for the cure of imperfect sight think
that they have to "concentrate" in order to improve their vision. When
told that they should see nothing but black when their eyes are closed
and covered, they think that they can arrive at this state by
"concentrating" on the black. When they look at a line of letters and
see it imperfectly and all alike, they think it is because they cannot
"concentrate." If they see better after closing their eyes or palming,
they think it is because these things have helped them to
"concentrate." It is very hard to get these ideas out of their heads,
even though, after "concentrating for all they are worth," as they
express it, they invariably find their sight is worse instead of
better.
By concentration they seem to mean the ability to do, see, or
remember, one thing at a time, for as long a time as they want to, and
to stop doing, seeing and remembering everything else; and they are
quite convinced that this can be accomplished by effort. As these
ideas are almost entirely erroneous, it is not strange that their
sight should fail to improve under their influence.
It is physiologically impossible to see one thing at a time and
exclude everything else from sight, because Nature has given us a
visual field of considerable range. It is true that we can see even a
very small object continuously, but only if the attention shifts
constantly from one part to another; because the eye is in constant
motion, and any attempt to stop this motion lowers the vision and
causes the object to blur or disappear. When the vision is normal the
movements of the eye are short, rhythmical and easy, and each
successive point fixed is seen better than any other point. In the eye
with imperfect sight the movements are longer, irregular and
accompanied by strain. The points fixed are not seen best, so that the
object may be seen all alike at one time. In neither case is it
possible to stop the motion; but the eye with imperfect sight tries
unconsciously to do so, and to look at each point for an appreciable
length of time. This unconscious effort to concentrate upon a point is
an invariable accompaniment of imperfect sight, and is always produced
by an effort to see. When, therefore, patients try to "concentrate"
upon a letter, the eye attempts to stop shifting, and the vision is
made worse. Even in the case of an eye with previously normal sight,
such an effort will quickly cause the letters to blur or disappear.
Although the physiological reasons for it are not so plain, the
mind is subject to the same law as the eye. It cannot think of one
thing to the exclusion of all other things. Nor can it think
continuously of an unchanging object without continuous shifting of
the attention. The attempt to do these things is accompanied by a
strain which is reflected in the eyes and always produces abnormal
conditions there.
It is often hard to get patients to realize these facts, because
the shifting of attention may be and usually is unconscious. At points
where the vision is good patients may shift normally and easily from
one part of a letter to another without being aware of the fact, and
without noticing the swing produced by this motion. Therefore they
often imagine they see it all alike at one time for an indefinite
period. In the same way they think that they can remember or imagine a
letter all alike at one time continuously. One patient looked at an F
for the better part of an hour, seeing it all the time perfectly black
and distinct, and, as he thought, all alike and stationary.
He was directed to imagine, with his eyes closed, that a small,
black spot on the upper corner of the ten-line F was the blackest part
of the letter. Then he was told to remember a similar period on the
bottom of the letter and to forget the top period. Next he was
directed to shift between these two periods, remembering each one
alternately as the blackest part of the letter. He did this easily,
and noted that every time he thought of the top period the letter
appeared to move downward, and every time he thought of the lower one
it appeared to move upward. When he tried to concentrate on one
period, however, he immediately lost it and lost the whole letter with
it. To imagine two or more periods, or the whole letter, equally black
at one time was even more difficult. Having demonstrated with his eyes
closed that it was impossible to think continuously of one point, or
to think of two or more points equally well at the same time, but very
easy to shift continuously from one point to another, he became able
to realize that he could not see the letter on the test card perfectly
and continuously when he saw it all alike at one time, and could not
even see one point perfectly black continuously.
Most patients, when asked to remember or imagine a letter of
diamond type state that they can do it continuously, and that they see
it all alike at one time. When asked to concentrate on a point, or
imagine one or more points equally well at one time, however, they
find it, as in the case just mentioned, impossible, while they have no
difficulty in shifting from one point to another. After having
demonstrated these facts they find it impossible to remember a letter
all alike at one time, and realize that when they seemed to do so they
must have been unconsciously shifting and swinging.
It is strange that physiologists and psychologists have never
published these facts. The normal shifting of the eye is so short and
easy that it is scarcely perceptible. The apparent movement of objects
regarded produced by this motion is also inconspicuous; yet it is
sufficiently marked so that when patients are asked whether the
letters they are looking at are moving or stationary they often answer
that they are moving. When asked to stop the movement, or imagine that
the letters are stationary, they reply that they cannot and that the
attempt to do so causes discomfort or pain. One patient even noticed
the phenomenon without any hint from me, and came back to me several
months after I had cured her to ask for an explanation. The movement,
which she noticed only when she looked at a letter continuously, not
when she read a few of the letters more or less rapidly, did not
trouble her, she said; in fact, when she tried to stop it she felt
uncomfortable and her vision was lowered; but having never heard of
it, she was afraid it might indicate something wrong with her eyes.
Psychologists tell us that it is impossible to attend continuously
to an unchanging stimulus. This is true, but some of the proofs
adduced in support of it are open to criticism. James says that if you
try to attend steadfastly to a dot on a piece of paper, "you will
presently find one or the other of two things has happened; either
your field of vision has become blurred so that you now see nothing
distinct at all, or else you have involuntarily ceased to look at the
dot in question, and are looking at something else. But if you ask
yourself successive questions about the dot—how big it is, how far,
of what shape, what shade of color, etc.; in other words if you turn
it over, if you think of it in various ways, and along with various
kinds of associations—you can keep your mind on it for a comparatively
long time."[1]
It is probably true that in most cases, the person who looks at a
dot under the conditions in question would find his vision blurring,
or his attention shifting to something else, because he would make an
effort to see it. He would stare at it, or "concentrate," upon it. But
a person with normal, or nearly normal vision, who looks at such a dot
easily and naturally, can regard it indefinitely, because his eyes
unconsciously shift from one part of it to another. Other persons, if
they shift consciously and realize the apparent motion thus produced,
will often find it impossible to hold their attention on the dot for a
considerable time, but will not see it as distinctly as persons who
shift unconsciously. As for asking one's self questions about the dot,
I have often tried this experiment with patients, but never found that
it corrected the tendency to stare.
The idea that the attention can be forced is a very common one and
is very bad for the eyes. It is greatly encouraged by popular writers,
but contrary to the teachings of more reliable psychologists, who know
that forced attention can only be momentary, and that it is a great
strain upon the mind and the whole body. Ladd records that the subject
of experiment to determine reaction-time under concentrated attention
often "though sitting quiet, sweats profusely."[2]
I can parallel this from my own experience. A patient was left in
a room and told to rest her eyes by closing and covering them until I
came back; but another patient had unfortunately told her that she
must "concentrate on the black." So when a series of colors began to
intrude themselves in her field of vision she tried to ignore them.
The more they were ignored the more insistent they became, and when I
returned the patient was in convulsions. She had to be carried into
another room, and only after resting for an hour or two was she able
to go home in a taxicab. It was a month, during which time she was
under the care of her family physician, before she was able to resume
the treatment.
Since attempts to force the mind are reflected in the eyes, the
popular ideas of concentration must be responsible for a great deal of
that strain which is the cause of imperfect sight.
[1] Talks to Teachers, 1915, p. 104.
[2] Elements of Physiological Psychology; 1900, p. 543.
——
Stop Concentrating
Better Eyesight
A monthly magazine devoted to the prevention and cure of imperfect
sight without glasses
Vol. V - July, 1921 - No. 1
Copyright, 1921, by the Central Fixation Publishing Company
Editor—W. H. Bates, M.D.
Publisher—Central Fixation Publishing Co.
Doctors are needed all over the world to cure people without glasses
$2.00 per year, 20 cents per copy
300 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y.
——
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