Editing Myopia (section)

== Society and culture ==
The terms "myopia" and "myopic" (or the common terms "short-sightedness" or "short-sighted", respectively) have been used [[metaphor]]ically to refer to cognitive thinking and decision making that is narrow in scope or lacking in foresight or in concern for wider interests or for longer-term consequences.<ref>Brooks, David (19 March 2009). [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/opinion/20brooks.html Perverse Cosmic Myopia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107021551/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/opinion/20brooks.html |date=7 November 2015 }}. ''New York Times''.</ref> It is often used to describe a decision that may be beneficial in the present, but detrimental in the future, or a viewpoint that fails to consider anything outside a very narrow and limited range. [[Hyperopia]], the biological opposite of myopia, may also be used metaphorically for a [[value system]] or [[motivation]] that exhibits "farsighted" or possibly [[visionary]] thinking and behavior; that is, emphasizing long-term interests at the apparent expense of near-term benefit.<ref>{{cite news |magazine= Wired |url= https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/magazine/17-08/by_work |access-date= 14 August 2009 | vauthors = Thompson C |volume= 17 |number= 8 |date= 17 September 2009 |title= Don't Work All the Time |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090817183257/http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/magazine/17-08/by_work |archive-date= 17 August 2009 |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

Keeping children indoors, whether to promote early academic activities, because urban development choices leave no place for children to play outside, or because people avoid sunlight because of [[Discrimination based on skin color|a preference for lighter skin color]], causes myopia.<ref name=":2" />  [[Taiwan]] has developed an aggressive program to identify pre-school-age children with pre-myopia and treat them with [[atropine]], and to have schools send students outdoors every day.<ref name=":2" />  The ''Tian-tian 120'' program ("Every day 120") encourages 120 minutes of outdoor time each day.<ref name=":2" />  Compared to the cost of lifelong treatment for myopia with glasses, and in some cases, preventable blindness, the US$13 spent on screening young children for pre-myopia is considered a good investment in [[public health]].<ref name=":2" />

Because myopia can be mitigated through lifestyle choices, it is possible that being myopic will become a marker of an impoverished or neglected childhood, with wealthy families ensuring that their children spend enough time outdoors to prevent or at least reduce it, and poor families, who rely on lower-quality childcare arrangements or not having access to a safe outdoor space, being unable to provide the same benefits to their children.<ref name=":2" />

===Correlations===
Numerous studies have found correlations between myopia, on the one hand, and intelligence and academic achievement, on the other;<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Williams KM, Hysi PG, Yonova-Doing E, Mahroo OA, Snieder H, Hammond CJ | title = Phenotypic and genotypic correlation between myopia and intelligence | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 45977 | date = April 2017 | pmid = 28383074 | pmc = 5382686 | doi = 10.1038/srep45977 | bibcode = 2017NatSR...745977W }}</ref> it is not clear whether there is a [[Correlation does not imply causation|causal relationship]].<ref name="IQ2015rev">{{cite journal | vauthors = Verma A, Verma A | title = A novel review of the evidence linking myopia and high intelligence | journal = Journal of Ophthalmology | volume = 2015 | pages = 271746 | year = 2015 | pmid = 25653868 | pmc = 4306218 | doi = 10.1155/2015/271746 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Myopia is also correlated with increased [[microsaccade]] amplitude, suggesting that blurred vision from myopia might cause instability in [[fixational eye movements]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ghasia FF, Shaikh AG | title = Uncorrected Myopic Refractive Error Increases Microsaccade Amplitude | journal = Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science | volume = 56 | issue = 4 | pages = 2531–5 | date = April 2015 | pmid = 25678690 | doi = 10.1167/iovs.14-15882 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Alexander RG, Macknik SL, Martinez-Conde S | title = Microsaccade Characteristics in Neurological and Ophthalmic Disease | journal = Frontiers in Neurology | volume = 9 | pages = 144 | year = 2018 | pmid = 29593642 | pmc = 5859063 | doi = 10.3389/fneur.2018.00144 | doi-access = free }}</ref>