Max Plenke writes in this article how we could soon be having SuperHuman Vision. The bionic eye can help the person see better than the average human: they can see clearly upto 30 feet. After the simple 10 minute operation to insert the bionic eye is done the person need never wear glasses or contact lenses. The bionic eye replaces the natural lens in the eye. This is not a far off pipe dream: the bionic eye could become a reality within 2 years!
This is great news indeed! With a clearer vision everyone can do better and more in life. Further, with our penchant to make things faster, better and cheaper we can also include night-vision capabilities in the bionic eye. Soon we will be walking around with high definition microscopic vision, much like Superman! Things are looking much better already (pun intended)!
Let’s also look at the flip side. Nature has given us a visual capability by which we can see exactly what we need to see. When our eyes become weak due to some reason, we become less effective in all areas in our life. But when we have better eyesight than we need to, we start seeing things which could be disturbing!
The human body is the natural habitat for millions of other living entities. A close up of the organisms that live on the human skin itself makes the human body highly unattractive to behold; some may even find it repulsive!
Now, imagine looking at our spouses with our ‘SuperHuman’ visual capabilities and seeing the microbes and bacteria on their skin! We would start abhorring the person and would not like to go anywhere near them. Even looking down at our own hands could make us cringe with disgust! We would be seeing microbes all around us: on the furniture, on our laptop and cell phone screens. Within no time we will be developing full blown microphobia!
It is a dark night. You suddenly wake up thirsty. You have to go to the refrigerator to get that glass of water. You do not feel the need to switch on the light as you are equipped with night vision capabilities. As you enter the kitchen, you can see the green shapes of the kitchen cupboards and the sink and the refrigerator. And the as you make your way to the fridge you notice the hundreds of insects and roaches under the sink, behind the fridge and furniture. If you have entomophobia you may decide to spend the night in the relative safety of your bedroom, thirsty!
Nature is perfect. When there is a problem in our bodies we try to rectify it. Surgery is a method which we have mastered to a great extent. We have used prosthetic limbs and now with bionics we are extending the capabilities of the body. But now we are going a step further: we are trying to improve upon nature! That is dangerous and our experience of tinkering with nature has not been always a happy one! There is a fine balance in nature and when, in our efforts to be one up, we upset that balance, we create newer problems for ourselves!
So while the optometrists would soon be out looking for jobs they would do well to take courses in psychiatry!
Image: QualityStockPhotos.com
This is great news indeed! With a clearer vision everyone can do better and more in life. Further, with our penchant to make things faster, better and cheaper we can also include night-vision capabilities in the bionic eye. Soon we will be walking around with high definition microscopic vision, much like Superman! Things are looking much better already (pun intended)!
Let’s also look at the flip side. Nature has given us a visual capability by which we can see exactly what we need to see. When our eyes become weak due to some reason, we become less effective in all areas in our life. But when we have better eyesight than we need to, we start seeing things which could be disturbing!
The human body is the natural habitat for millions of other living entities. A close up of the organisms that live on the human skin itself makes the human body highly unattractive to behold; some may even find it repulsive!
Now, imagine looking at our spouses with our ‘SuperHuman’ visual capabilities and seeing the microbes and bacteria on their skin! We would start abhorring the person and would not like to go anywhere near them. Even looking down at our own hands could make us cringe with disgust! We would be seeing microbes all around us: on the furniture, on our laptop and cell phone screens. Within no time we will be developing full blown microphobia!
It is a dark night. You suddenly wake up thirsty. You have to go to the refrigerator to get that glass of water. You do not feel the need to switch on the light as you are equipped with night vision capabilities. As you enter the kitchen, you can see the green shapes of the kitchen cupboards and the sink and the refrigerator. And the as you make your way to the fridge you notice the hundreds of insects and roaches under the sink, behind the fridge and furniture. If you have entomophobia you may decide to spend the night in the relative safety of your bedroom, thirsty!
Nature is perfect. When there is a problem in our bodies we try to rectify it. Surgery is a method which we have mastered to a great extent. We have used prosthetic limbs and now with bionics we are extending the capabilities of the body. But now we are going a step further: we are trying to improve upon nature! That is dangerous and our experience of tinkering with nature has not been always a happy one! There is a fine balance in nature and when, in our efforts to be one up, we upset that balance, we create newer problems for ourselves!
So while the optometrists would soon be out looking for jobs they would do well to take courses in psychiatry!
Image: QualityStockPhotos.com
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