Why Does Squinting Help You See Better?

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 31 лип 2024
  • If you've ever tried to make out something that was really far away, odds are you squinted while doing it. It's basically involuntary! But does narrowing your field of vision really help you see things better?
    Hosted by: Hank Green
    SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It's called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at www.scishowtangents.org
    ----------
    Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: / scishow
    ----------
    Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever:
    Kevin Carpentier, Eric Jensen, Matt Curls, Sam Buck, Christopher R Boucher, Avi Yashchin, Adam Brainard, Greg , Alex Hackman, Sam Lutfi, D.A. Noe, Piya Shedden, Scott Satovsky Jr.Charles Southerland, Patrick D. Ashmore, charles george, Kevin Bealer, Chris Peters
    ----------
    Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
    Facebook: / scishow
    Twitter: / scishow
    Tumblr: / scishow
    Instagram: / thescishow
    ----------
    Sources:
    www.ccmr.cornell.edu/faqs/why-...
    journals.lww.com/optvissci/Ab...
    www.nature.com/articles/ncomm...
    meded.ucsd.edu/clinicalmed/ey...
    www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-e...
    scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.ph...
    jkms.org/DOIx.php?id=10.3346/...
    iovs.arvojournals.org/article...
    www.casewatch.net/ftc/news/19...
    journals.iium.edu.my/ijahs/in...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 494

  • @namless4508
    @namless4508 4 роки тому +274

    Weird somehow all the weird things I’ve thought of before but never know the answer to...I find here

    • @kevintan5497
      @kevintan5497 4 роки тому +2

      well thats cuz the questions that get asked are those things

    • @randomdude9135
      @randomdude9135 4 роки тому

      @Dr Gutowski Bro, Destin from Smarter every day has made a video on that.

    • @nenidetic
      @nenidetic 4 роки тому +1

      @Dr Gutowski I've also noticed that happens often with soap and soapy water, where tiny dots of them can stay separate from the rest of it. I've had that question for a while too.

    • @abouttogiveyasomefacts5574
      @abouttogiveyasomefacts5574 4 роки тому +1

      Dr Gutowski I’m pretty sure it has to do with I forgot what it’s called but I’m guessing on impact it’s charged enough to stay on the surface for a bit and it looses it charge so it goes back in the water

    • @sdfkjgh
      @sdfkjgh 4 роки тому +1

      @Dr Gutowski, @UselessTrash #22, @bob lazuli: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibubble

  • @stuffinaboxguy
    @stuffinaboxguy 4 роки тому +661

    I am commenting so that you gain favor with the algorithm

  • @user-hp4vg3ek2y
    @user-hp4vg3ek2y 4 роки тому +66

    I always wondered why looking through a hole i made with my fingers made me see as well as i could with my glasses. This has been bugging me for SO LONG. thank you for finally answering this. Lol

  • @foobar1735
    @foobar1735 4 роки тому +79

    SciShow: squinting all the time is bad for your eyes.
    Clint Eastwood: *squinting intensifies*

    • @sanitysquota937
      @sanitysquota937 4 роки тому

      title should have been : Clint Eastwood Explained

    • @turkosicsaba
      @turkosicsaba 4 роки тому

      Not sure if you've forgotten about the Philip J Fry squint or you just like Clint Eastwood better.

  • @JoergWessels
    @JoergWessels 4 роки тому +337

    SciShow: "Squinting helps, but not in the way you think it does."
    Me: "I think it's the pinhole effect."
    SciShow: "It's the pinhole effect."

    • @boarder2k7
      @boarder2k7 4 роки тому +14

      Jörg Wessels Except then they totally glossed over how cool that is without really explaining it 😕

    • @kmbell22
      @kmbell22 4 роки тому +4

      Jörg Wessels my reaction too. LOL.

    • @johnbelli9390
      @johnbelli9390 4 роки тому +4

      So exactly the same as how stopping down a camera lens increases depth of field.

    • @Markle2k
      @Markle2k 4 роки тому +1

      @@johnbelli9390 Or how a camera obscura or a pinhole camera works.

    • @gerardmonsen1267
      @gerardmonsen1267 4 роки тому

      I’ll be honest and say that somewhere someone told me it had to do with light refraction around our eye lashes. I can’t say I fully bought that explanation as I could see several problems with it, but I was expecting him to say “eyelashes” and explain how it actually worked.

  • @seatbelttruck
    @seatbelttruck 4 роки тому +43

    I learned the pinhole trick from an episode of "Home Improvement." It's far from perfect, but it was better than nothing on days when I couldn't find my glasses before school.

    • @girlofanimation
      @girlofanimation 4 роки тому

      My brother taught me to make a pinhole with my finger for the days when I forgot my glasses and couldn't read the board at school.

  • @GiM_Retrospect
    @GiM_Retrospect 4 роки тому +18

    I just tried the pinhole thing and woah that's crazy how well it works. I can actually read stuff across the room without any correction. Super cool!

  • @d4mdcykey
    @d4mdcykey 4 роки тому +2

    Many, many thanks for a year of fantastic thought-provoking content, you've made this crazy year a bit more tolerable.

  • @ryn.999
    @ryn.999 4 роки тому +1

    Learning new things is how I brought in my new year. I absolutely love this channel. Thank you guys very much for all the hard work you do to produce such quality content

  • @saddieahsan
    @saddieahsan 4 роки тому +2

    Loved this! Your science topics are unique and not played out. Really love that.

  • @oliviacarter2917
    @oliviacarter2917 4 роки тому +2

    This might be one of my favorite SciShow videos ever - it's just so cool!

  • @criskity
    @criskity 4 роки тому +13

    As long as we're talking about vision: Happy 2020!

  • @Sage-hl5ir
    @Sage-hl5ir 4 роки тому +1

    I hope you guys get more views and subsequently encourage you to make more videos like this to constantly educate us. Thank you.

  • @Tom-ev4rg
    @Tom-ev4rg 4 роки тому +1

    Love this channel. Thanks for your great 2019 content!

  • @kylieeeeep
    @kylieeeeep 4 роки тому +1

    Ok so I need y’all to start churning out episodes even faster bc I have binged almost all of sci show and sci show psych and my brain *craves more*

  • @eviljods
    @eviljods 4 роки тому +1

    Happy New Year to all at SciShow and fellow viewers. Great channel, keep up the good work :)

  • @GizGaz52
    @GizGaz52 4 роки тому

    Happy New Year SciShow et. al. And many returns! Cheers!

  • @janetchristian
    @janetchristian 4 роки тому

    Thanks! I've wondered this for so long and your answer was thorough and understandable.

  • @mewmew8189
    @mewmew8189 4 роки тому +1

    Thank you Scishow and Dr. Stone!

  • @aashikdharmaraj
    @aashikdharmaraj 4 роки тому

    Happy new year scishow... Keep up the interesting work

  • @CailisCritterCrib
    @CailisCritterCrib 4 роки тому +1

    That test at an eye Dr.'s office with all the pinholes in it is truly amazing! I just happened to go to the eye Dr. yesterday and was totally astounded by how much better it made my vision! That's cool there's glasses out there like that... it's very tempting to get a pair.

  • @bengoodwin2141
    @bengoodwin2141 4 роки тому +20

    I’ve always wondered this! I’m very nearsighted so I have to do that when I’m looking at far away things and don’t have my glasses

  • @Sttuey
    @Sttuey 4 роки тому +8

    Squinting really helps me, I had my eyes ruined by Lasik eye surgery some years ago and squinting makes things much clearer, for the reason mentioned with the pinhole effect, and also because the very slight pressure on the eyeball is enough to move the ghosting effects caused by my buggered cornea to leave a clearer main image!

  • @Tribble_Mama
    @Tribble_Mama 4 роки тому +1

    I used to clean an eye doctor office and wondered why they had those tools with the small holes in them. That makes sense! I don’t recall ever having them used when I would go to get my eyes checked. 🤷🏼‍♀️

  • @kidmohair8151
    @kidmohair8151 4 роки тому +8

    in the, perhaps, vain hope that it will come true,
    may I wish a happy new year to all
    who stop here

    • @bubblyluv95
      @bubblyluv95 4 роки тому

      Kid Mohair lmfao definitely in vain.

  • @katiekane5247
    @katiekane5247 4 роки тому

    I've got tons of eye problems from corneal wrinkles to retinal damage. Glad you teach this stuff, it sucks when it goes bad. Don't ignore eye problems & work for better access to healthcare!

  • @PeaceLoveAndGuns
    @PeaceLoveAndGuns 4 роки тому +1

    Fascinating about the pinhole focusing!

  • @KitagumaIgen
    @KitagumaIgen 4 роки тому +1

    Same effect as stopping down the lens on a camera - reducing the f-number in general improves the focus and increases the depth of focus.

  • @Someday_Maybe-pn3th
    @Someday_Maybe-pn3th 4 роки тому +21

    SciShow: Answering questions I never thought I had

    • @Someday_Maybe-pn3th
      @Someday_Maybe-pn3th 4 роки тому

      AxxL if you ever find the answer please update us. Very curious myself

  • @krisguntner4805
    @krisguntner4805 4 роки тому +1

    I LITERALLY was squinting just now to write a comment so GOOD TIMING! :)

  • @beautifulsunset4071
    @beautifulsunset4071 4 роки тому +1

    As someone who's warn glasses for 30 years, it was fascinating to see the pictures at the beginning showing normal, nearsighted (what I am) and farsighted vision based on how the light rays go thru your eyes! 😁🤓

  • @arturia7978
    @arturia7978 4 роки тому +147

    Dr stone already taught me this

  • @jebediahwolf1205
    @jebediahwolf1205 4 роки тому

    Very interesting! Thanks.

  • @rottweiler107able
    @rottweiler107able 4 роки тому

    Happy year to everyone

  • @clutchyfinger
    @clutchyfinger 4 роки тому +54

    "You wouldnt want to squint all day, it sounds unpleasant."
    Snoop Dogg: Hold my blunt

  • @DrBeardfaceh
    @DrBeardfaceh 4 роки тому

    Great video! You're right that the benefit is related to light rays passing through the center of the lens. But, saying that the apparent resolution increase is due to that light being directed toward the fovea is a little misleading. Limiting your vision to only rays that pass through the center of the lens (either by squinting or looking through a pinhole) reduces the effect of optical aberrations of the cornea and lens (refractive error), whose impact scales with the size of the pupil. Also, you're effectively slowing down the optical system, which increases your depth of field. The result is a marginal improvement to the quality of the image formed at the fovea. Of course, this is much less effective than correcting your refractive error with glasses.

  • @odiedog
    @odiedog 4 роки тому +1

    Happy new year y'all!

  • @theRealRindberg
    @theRealRindberg 4 роки тому +2

    For me this was released in 2020! Take that time difference!!!!

  • @sg581
    @sg581 4 роки тому

    Love your videos 💜

  • @leila771
    @leila771 4 роки тому

    Happy that my first video of 2020 is a scishow video ❤️ #geteducated2020

  • @KidArkx
    @KidArkx 4 роки тому +5

    Here I was of the group that thought it was to as you said "strong arm" the lenses in your eyes into shape.

  • @josesammut9396
    @josesammut9396 4 роки тому

    Happy New Year 😍

  • @kentario1610
    @kentario1610 4 роки тому

    There was a video of a person trying different homemade glasses (like ice) and one was holes, which worked somewhat. Very cool.

  • @TheTravelVal
    @TheTravelVal 4 роки тому

    Great question!!

  • @XvShadowsvX
    @XvShadowsvX 4 роки тому +7

    Hey this was in Dr. Stone too, the fuzzy eyes.

  • @Hello-by1fl
    @Hello-by1fl 4 роки тому

    Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

  • @jerrywhidby.
    @jerrywhidby. 4 роки тому

    That hand thing, just WOW. That'll come in handy.

  • @rolandodr98
    @rolandodr98 4 роки тому +131

    Therapist: “Glasses-less Hank isn’t real and can’t hurt you”
    Hank: 2:11

    • @gustavgnoettgen
      @gustavgnoettgen 4 роки тому +11

      Optician: "Number five... number six..."
      Hank: "No... But closer"

  • @Subparanon
    @Subparanon 4 роки тому +1

    When you decrease the aperture of a lens, you increase the depth of field that is in focus. This is how a pin prick camera can take sharp photos without a lens. The larger the diameter of light entering through the lens, the brighter the image, but the narrower the focus. The area of vision that is in focus changes depending on the amount of light because our eyes open or close to let in more or less light, which also changes the depth of field. Bright light allows you to see a greater depth of field than dim light.

  • @wbrito8617
    @wbrito8617 4 роки тому

    Like the new cut Hank (Thumbs up)

  • @garyf3470
    @garyf3470 4 роки тому

    You should connect this to f-stops on camera lenses, why smaller apertures give greater depth of field, and why pinhole cameras work - all the same idea.

  • @wonderwend1
    @wonderwend1 4 роки тому +2

    Hank has an unusual way of talking with his hands that is so engaging

    • @the80hdgaming
      @the80hdgaming 4 роки тому

      You've obviously have never a French-Canadian speak... 🤣🤣🤣

  • @Hardeststyler
    @Hardeststyler 4 роки тому +19

    Damn I was about to get pinhole glasses too

  • @Obsessedandstuff
    @Obsessedandstuff 4 роки тому

    Ive always wondered about that!!!

  • @kaloyanstoychev872
    @kaloyanstoychev872 4 роки тому

    great video

  • @Jonathanwebb100
    @Jonathanwebb100 4 роки тому +1

    Eyeballs both fascinate and terrify me. They are so cool but also sooo much can go wrong.

  • @DenkyManner
    @DenkyManner 4 роки тому

    It's fun looking at things through tiny holes. You need more light but you can get so close to objects and still see them it's quite surreal, closer than you're ever normally supposed to get. Letters appear giant on a page.

  • @Sylkis89
    @Sylkis89 4 роки тому

    when I was a kid I always used to make a small triangle hole with 3 fingers - one thumb and 2 index fingers. Works like a charm till today

  • @margaretbaker6609
    @margaretbaker6609 4 роки тому

    Literally read my mind! I just asked myself this the other day

  • @BillySugger1965
    @BillySugger1965 4 роки тому

    Like stopping down a camera’s aperture, it increases depth of field which makes focus errors less of an issue.

  • @sonan4311
    @sonan4311 4 роки тому +13

    Me a Weeb:
    *Is this a Dr. Stone reference?*

  • @Suko120
    @Suko120 4 роки тому

    ha, I already knew this, because I'm a hobby photographer and the aperture in cameras work the same way. By making the aperture bigger or smaller that area that is in focus get's bigger or smaller too.
    There is a point though, where the picture as a whole starts to get blurry, because of light refraction. So there are limits.

  • @brianmiller179
    @brianmiller179 4 роки тому +2

    This is the new thread I promised.

    • @rainbowsnake1108
      @rainbowsnake1108 4 роки тому +1

      I dutifully searched for this promised thread and I am therefore commenting to flatter the algorithm

  • @BradenBogdan
    @BradenBogdan 4 роки тому

    Awesome! Now I am looking forward to seeing 2020! Lol

  • @RamArt9091
    @RamArt9091 4 роки тому

    That principle is also used in some types of rifle sights.

  • @RickDekkard
    @RickDekkard 4 роки тому

    This is paraxial optics. Happy new year!

  • @Jp-ue8xz
    @Jp-ue8xz 4 роки тому

    Random comment to boost your video because this one was actually good

  • @alberton.1601
    @alberton.1601 4 роки тому +15

    2:10 I do that when I don´t have my glasses with me and it usually works (for the time being)

    • @bibarrel5111
      @bibarrel5111 4 роки тому

      I used to do it too it's surprisingly effective, but what I noticed was that the thing I'm looking at would get substantially smaller, but maybe that's because you can't see your surroundings so there's no context for you to gauge the scale of the object.

  • @yovizx
    @yovizx 4 роки тому

    Wow didn’t know about that pinhole trick. It actually works.

  • @equasia24
    @equasia24 4 роки тому +1

    I knew this as a kid without actually knowing it. Before I got my glasses, I would make a tiny hole with my fingers so could see the TV/whiteboard at school/etc.

  • @sMASHsound
    @sMASHsound 4 роки тому +2

    i usually just let my eyes relax INTO the thing i want to look at. then it naturally gels into focus

  • @bushcraftbasics2036
    @bushcraftbasics2036 Рік тому

    Pinhole effect is kind of cool. When I was younger I was doing competition smallbore target shooting. In the summer heat my glasses would slide down my nose. My father, (a science teacher), told me to take my glasses off and crank the adjustable iris aperture of the rear sight as small as it would go and I could still see well enough.
    Was it perfect? No, but it did work well enough I would place first or second in my competitions.

  • @tembotok
    @tembotok 4 роки тому

    You said it's not what I'd have thought, but that just exactly was what I thought,
    without any information out of another source, just the raw knowledge about eyes anatomy.
    I WANT MY MONEY BACK!

  • @SHOTbyGUN
    @SHOTbyGUN 4 роки тому

    And I thought I was crazy for thinking this :D Especially in total darkness if you want to see the digital clock. Squint is a Calibration cue, for our optical system, eg. wake from sleep signal.

  • @coin5207
    @coin5207 4 роки тому +2

    2:09 i used to do this when I was like 10 and didn't want to wear my glasses. People thought that I was going insane but you can't deny that it works.

  • @papuanewguinea7596
    @papuanewguinea7596 4 роки тому +256

    I thought this said "How Does Squirting Help You See Better".
    Needless to say I am disappointed.

    • @argenys8
      @argenys8 4 роки тому +34

      ay if any ladies need better eye sight i can help out tho

    • @Cyber_Kriss
      @Cyber_Kriss 4 роки тому +12

      Bad eyes bro

    • @phsopher
      @phsopher 4 роки тому +1

      same

    • @ferguson8143
      @ferguson8143 4 роки тому +1

      Haha same here

    • @zack7122
      @zack7122 4 роки тому

      nice

  • @stephenbenner4353
    @stephenbenner4353 4 роки тому

    The best part about this episode is that you can tweak the script a little and make another episode about camera aperture.

  • @timothygreer188
    @timothygreer188 4 роки тому

    Teleprompter? I thought you knew all of this off the top of your head. Such a crushing way to end 2019

  • @nugenki
    @nugenki 4 роки тому

    I noticed this worked when I was looking through a jersey during football practice as a waterboy without contact lens.

  • @soupbowl2750
    @soupbowl2750 4 роки тому

    I feel like squinting has never helped me, but this is still super interesting!!

  • @SPUDog
    @SPUDog 4 роки тому

    (Ha! I actually did expect that reason!)

  • @DutchLabrat
    @DutchLabrat 4 роки тому +4

    I always thought it is for the same reason a small aperture in photography gives more sharpness and a larger field depth: Every point in your picture is a projection of the aperture and when those are too big they overrun, hence unclear boundaries.
    Make them small and even less focussed regions are sharper.

  • @Restilia_ch
    @Restilia_ch 4 роки тому +2

    Already knew the answer to this one. Thank you Dr. Stone anime and manga!

  • @omermagen824
    @omermagen824 4 роки тому +1

    Same reason why closing the aperture in a camera lens increases the depth of field.

  • @troyclayton
    @troyclayton 4 роки тому +1

    Before I had corrective surgery, I could make my vision better by pushing on an eye. When I squint, I don't just close my eye some- I'm tensing to squeeze my eyeball.

  • @StephanieSomer
    @StephanieSomer 4 роки тому

    When I was a kid, we used to take bottle caps, paint them silver, punch a small hole in the middle, and wear them as monocles. It looked "cool" to have large silver eyes. I found something very useful about them too. I am very near sighted, and have been wearing glasses since 1st grade, probably should have gotten them sooner. While wearing our homemade monocles, I could see perfectly clearly without my glasses. I have used a similar technique numerous times through my life whenever I have lost my glasses. Being so nearsighted, I can't see my glasses unless they are VERY close. So, I would put my fingers as close to my eyes as I could and position them together in such a way as to create a very small "pinhole" betwen them through which I could see well enough to find my glasses. It looks rather comical to see me do it I know. But, it works for me.

  • @chelsey8737
    @chelsey8737 4 роки тому

    Ive always wondered this

  • @davidgustavsson4000
    @davidgustavsson4000 4 роки тому

    The optics reason was the obvious reason for me. When you said "but not for the reason you think" I was like "wait, do you actually change the shape of the lense by doing that or something?"

  • @isabelhuang_1
    @isabelhuang_1 4 роки тому

    Fascinating. So telescopes made with your hand actually work

  • @poosasaikumar4856
    @poosasaikumar4856 4 роки тому

    Its working😍😍😍

  • @karolinemathildeaasen26
    @karolinemathildeaasen26 4 роки тому

    Is temperature and radioactivenes independent scales for molecules? Can you theoretically make a molecule radioactive if you apply enough heat?

  • @theoverseer393
    @theoverseer393 4 роки тому

    I freakin KNEW IT

  • @suntanironman
    @suntanironman 4 роки тому

    Anybody else remember this science lesson from Wilson (Home Improvement) all those years ago? That’s the first thing I thought of when clicked on this video.

  • @AmandineYlan
    @AmandineYlan 4 роки тому

    yes

  • @argoneonoble
    @argoneonoble 4 роки тому

    Published on NYE 2019 and no mention of 20/20.

  • @IceMetalPunk
    @IceMetalPunk 4 роки тому

    I thought it was due to diffraction, like diffraction grating slits, helping to bend the light before it hits your lenses as a kind of "helping hand" towards getting the rays in the right place. Huh. Today I learned.

  • @PATRICKJLM
    @PATRICKJLM 4 роки тому

    I was very young when I realised that it works underwater too. With amazing results!

  • @meldog7925
    @meldog7925 4 роки тому

    Can you do a video on facts about shingles and how you can get them? There are a lot of misconceptions about it from what I can tell.

  • @chance_ooo5663
    @chance_ooo5663 4 роки тому

    awesome

  • @RavinKaito
    @RavinKaito 4 роки тому +1

    Also, Happy New Year! I'm already squinting at it lol