In people, the condition in which the brain does not recognize that an eye is seeing is amblyopia, and it sometimes referred to as “lazy eye.” Cave fishes of the family Amblyopsidae have the condition in the extreme; they have even lost part of the brain’s vision centers and functioning eyes. It is an ailment for people; for fish, it probably serves an evolutionary purpose, as Damian Moran and others explain in “The Energetic Cost of Vision and the Evolution of Eyeless Mexican Cavefish” (Sci. Adv.,1:e1500363, 2015).
In some people amblyopia means having monocular vision, a condition that responds in part to various therapies, including making the “good” eye blurry to force the “bad” eye into seeing better. There’s no hope for Astyanax mexicanus, the fish in Moran’s study. But no worry. The other senses in the fish have taken over the job of seeing in a lightless cave. Astyanax has larger taste buds and greater pressure sensitivity. Moran and his colleagues even suggest that the adaptations to a dark environment save the fish unnecessary expenditures of energy.
Back to people. Have you noticed that some people are monocular when it comes to seeing others? Is it a matter of energy? It does, of course, take energy to “see” others as they really are, complexes of philosophies, behaviors, and personalities with both strengths and weaknesses. I certainly hope you aren’t suffering from amblyopia just to save energy. That would put you on a level with blind cave fish whose vestigial eyes serve no purpose. Lazy eyes never see others as they truly are.
In some people amblyopia means having monocular vision, a condition that responds in part to various therapies, including making the “good” eye blurry to force the “bad” eye into seeing better. There’s no hope for Astyanax mexicanus, the fish in Moran’s study. But no worry. The other senses in the fish have taken over the job of seeing in a lightless cave. Astyanax has larger taste buds and greater pressure sensitivity. Moran and his colleagues even suggest that the adaptations to a dark environment save the fish unnecessary expenditures of energy.
Back to people. Have you noticed that some people are monocular when it comes to seeing others? Is it a matter of energy? It does, of course, take energy to “see” others as they really are, complexes of philosophies, behaviors, and personalities with both strengths and weaknesses. I certainly hope you aren’t suffering from amblyopia just to save energy. That would put you on a level with blind cave fish whose vestigial eyes serve no purpose. Lazy eyes never see others as they truly are.
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