The "Magic Glasses" Argument

The "Magic Glasses" Argument
we get this scenario from time to time:

new patient comes in having broken or misplaced their glasses. we dont know what they were wearing, they dont either. so we both start from scratch, taking all new measurements and making all new glasses.

the new glasses come in and...the patient says they're blurry. ok, this happens...lots of possible factors & reasons. we make a few adjustments, maybe change the Rx a smidge...the patient still thinks the old glasses were "better". in fact sometimes no amount of Rx changing and/or adjustment ever makes the new glasses as good as the old ones.

which, of course is improbable. its much more likely that the patient's recollection of the vision from their long-gone specs wasn't really as good as the patient remembers. its just that in the absence of what they are accustomed to looking through... and given the new problems they are facing with the new glasses, they've made the memory of the old glasses out to be better than they actually were. I call these the "magic glasses".

so if you have a pair of glasses that is just not quite as good as some old & comfortable pair you once had and you are wishing for the "good ole days" when you had your old standbys...consider the possibility that the "magic glasses" really weren't all that magic.

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