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For a long time, I felt wearing spectacles were cool. I went to the extent of buying zero power glasses just to look cool. I guess I was influenced by pop culture where glasses equated to curiosity and intelligence. Though I bought the glasses, I did not carry it around as it was not useful to me. When I eventually had to start using reading glasses, that is when it hit me that using glasses for refractive error is about losing something to gain something.

Reading glasses can’t be worn at all times, as the name suggest it is only for reading at a hand held distance. Rest of the times I had to remove them. This constant on and off was annoying, also very often I used to forget the reading glasses at home and struggle to read fine print. When I reached out to a doctor, I heard the term ‘Emmetropic presbyope’. It means someone who needs reading glasses but had perfect vision all along their life.

The doctor suggested to go for a progressive lens so that I do not need to take the glasses off and on. I was overjoyed when I figured out that it worked well. But the joy was short lived because the rule “You gain something, you lose something kicked in”. When using computers, which is my major activity in a day, progressives makes it harder for you see through a narrow portion of the lens, thereby creating posture problems in the neck and the back. If you use a single vision prescription then either the desktop or reading a mobile device becomes a problem.

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I went to many of the optician chains in search of the right spectacle setup, my recommendation is to avoid them at all costs as they suggest only what is profitable for them and not what is right for you. One of the chains requires you to buy a membership and insurance, another one had only in house poor quality lenses. Many of these chains are also poorly staffed, so they do not assist you in figuring out the right lens, instead they are trained to sell not to treat.

After almost a year of searching for the right solution, I stepped into a non chain optician and explained them the problem. They asked me to demonstrate my working position and took measurements for nearly 10-15 minutes to give an exact prescription that works. I was given an office degressive lens with a maximum viewing distance of 200 cm. It solved my desk usage and handheld device problem in one go, no unnatural tilting and squinting. The only reason I was able to figure out a solution was that I was not willing to go for a one size fits all approach, where I need to adapt to the glasses to do all my day to day work.

Here is my setup for emmetropic presbyopes

Reading a book, browsing mobile phones, fine print – Best is a single vision glass, if you read at bed time keep a cheap pair next to the bed handy. Degressive office lens and progressive also works well but with blurring at the edges and they are expensive to replace if they are carelessly handled. I bought regular off the shelf ones for less than 500 a pair.

Working at a desk with computer – Best is a degressive office lens as you need to alternate between writing, reading print and computer usage. These are occupational lenses and always get it done from a good optician and very reputed lens brands. Using regular progressive lenses will cause a lot of neck strain, go for zoom in of the fonts and many other hacks to make the narrow intermediate zone work for you. I bought Zeiss office lens with individual customisation option and max viewing distance of 200 cm.

Driving and outdoors – You don’t need glasses for distance vision, but if you find yourself outdoors too often and have to use mobile phones a lot then a good mid range wide corridor progressive lens suited for driving is the best choice. Entry level progressive will cause a massive swim effect which can disorient and make you fall. I bought Essilor varilux comfort max with photochromic option to double up as sunglasses.

Cost – Always go for a mid range solution, you will need to replace your glasses every 2-3 years due to increase in reading power and multiple pairs will add up significantly to the cost. The difference between a mid range and top range is typically 3x-4x and you get the benefit of top range only if your distance vision has a complex prescription.

Let me know what works for you, let us share notes

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A lot of CEOs are openly misanthropic, they dehumanise people as another expense in their sheet. Very open statements like the ‘New tech is going to do all the jobs, we do not need to hire humans anymore” are presented to drive insecurities among people. Historically, every revolution has required lesser and lesser humans for an activity thereby contributing to more people to higher order work. One single farmer can easily feed another 10 while a hunter-gatherer could not feed beyond their family; which meant farming communities had a lot of people available to figure out to do more than just try to figure out how to eat day in and out.

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What if everyone loses their job to AI? It will lead to extreme poverty and zero buying power leaving the companies with no buyers which is nothing but a self destruction. Another issue is with the thinking, every other leader I come across, hate humans and see them as expenses. A very bad mindset where the very nature of human existence is questioned. Society truly advances when there is boredom, not enough work to do while still being able to afford a living. When an executive only thinks about a cheaper present and not an advanced future, it is not anything about progression but regression disguised as progress.

If the executives still push for a cheaper present in a misanthropic manner, then governments have to turn to being socialist. Pay people a living wage, healthcare and basic shelter which will build boredom in people’s life to do something meaningful to create a higher order future that results in progress. If that does not happen and no one takes any step against misanthropy, there will be a collapse in the society to reach a breaking point, before misanthropists are dethroned but not before extreme regression resembling feudal societies.

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During my school holidays, I used to visit my hometown and also the nearby villages. In the 80s and early 90s farms were dominated by use of animals for transport, ploughing, milling etc. I used to jokingly refer to as being in a self driving car as the bulls when leaving the farm will always go by default to the home without anyone controlling them. On narrow roads, the bulls drag the cart to the side and give way for the oncoming traffic.

Human and animal power was so intertwined in the life that when mopeds and tractors became affordable and available, a few people started switching to it once they gave a try and saw the promise. Mopeds helped to ferry small loads very far and frequently, helped supply on demand mobility. Tractor’s raw power was visible when it was able to till big swathes of land in the first of half of the day.

It was a dream to adopt technology and reap the benefits, but it was often short-lived. A majority of the village population lived a cycle of food – work – entertainment until they became too ill. They visited a doc only when major ailments arise, often getting very late treatment for preventable diseases. This mindset went into use of vehicles. No one cared to do pre-emptive maintenance, rampant misuse of kerosene as fuel because it was cheaper due to rationing.

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When I visited a farm one summer, I noticed a tv program on how to get the best out of your tractor and a few people watching very eagerly. The tips were simple, it was educating on using the right gears. A good portion of them were selecting a high gear and keeping it that way instead of starting low and shifting up when needed. A more shocking thing I learnt was on the maintenance, no one was informed enough that coolant, brake oil and engine oil needs change or topup. The list went on, not a single person in the village fixed their tractor until it ground to a halt just like how they were using animals on the farm. Using a tractor meant slowing down in many areas whereas it was supposed to speed up and ease things.

The next generation picked up these issues and fixed it; I thought that is it, until I visited a farm in Europe later that used tractors that had features like GPS navigation and auto steer for precise tilling and planting reducing a lot of human labour needed to take care of large farms. This came with an even steeper learning curve, but with far greater productivity. Technology isn’t usually additive like a telephone enabling anyone to make calls; it is sometimes a multiplier which requires the baseline capabilities to be higher to reap large benefits.