Wearing glasses equals being smarter?

I’ve never heard “embroidery stitch” used as that euphemism before.

I always guessed that if you spent your formative years without good vision (until the time you were old enough to communicate to your parents that you’re vision wasn’t very good) then you’d naturally be forced to be more introspective.

+1 This is the origin of the trope.

People who had bad eyesight that were laborers didn’t wear eyeglasses. This isn’t true anymore, as eyeglasses are no longer considered a luxury.

yeah, what if

I wonder if, in addition, short sighted people with glasses are less likely to indulge in sports and the like and are thus perceived as “non-athletic”, which translates in many peoples’ minds as “intellectual”.

Not long ago, glasses were really expensive and only people who had a good reason to would wear them- which meant that a scholar would have to, but a farmer would probably just let things be a bit blurry.

Hell, even today you can see it. I think we’ve all known someone who really needs to be wearing glasses, but chooses not to out of vanity. I remember in high school there would be girls who actually really just couldn’t read the board, but they never wanted to put on the glasses they had in their backpacks.

Someone who is actually really in to their school work probably wouldn’t make those choices, and would prioritize being able to see clearly over cosmetic concerns.

Totally agree with you, eyeglasses are no longer considered a luxury. Nowadays there are many professional online eyeglasses stores, such as Zenni Optical and Eyebuydirect where you can find the eyeglasses from $6.95. I have bought 5 pairs of glasses from Zenni this year. The total amount is less than $150.

This is an absolutely true stereotype. The underlying notion is of course nonsense. But I do keep a pair of really weak reading glasses around to wear when I want people to think I’m smart.

Do we know that myopes have existed for that long? Or even in the same proportion as today? If so, I honestly would love to read more. Also, I seem to recall reading that in Neandertal societies it was found that the weak and infirm were still taken care of, despite being a liability. While someone who was near-sighted wouldn’t necessarily be as good a hunter, there’s no reason to assume that he wouldn’t be able to pass on his genes. Or if it was a woman, there’s no reason to assume that near-sightedness would have been avoided by potential mates (if nothing else, the woman might think her husband to be was more attractive - at least until she got up close).

Marc

It’s my understanding that a number of studies have shown a genuine correlation between intelligence and myopia, but no one is sure why.

Well, I understand that there are vision tests (based on what stars you can make out) dating back to ancient Greece.

I think that wearing glasses at lets others see the maturity and responsibility in you of manning up and putting them on instead of some others that need them and don’t wear them because of plain irresponsibility or being embarrased because it’s uncool or something stupid like that.

Concur.

I have encountered people who need to wear glasses but refuse because “glasses are nerdy”. There are people out there with seriously bad eyesight who are way more concerned with their image than with actually being able to see.

Obviously that attitude pretty much precludes the person being particularly smart.

To put it another way, being stupid doesn’t guarantee good eyesight, but it often means no glasses anyway.