Who Has Better Vision: Men or Women?
This is not an easy question to answer. Surely, there are some obvious differences between men and women when it comes to vision. However, there are many aspects of vision and perception, so we have to analyse them separately to be able to come to a good conclusion. Seeing well can mean a lot of things. Some people may be able to perceive details better than others. Some may see colours in more shades, while others may be completely colour-blind. While some people can see during night, others are as good as blind after the sun comes down. Therefore, here are some of the factors of good vision and how they relate to men and women.
How Well Do We See Colour and Why?
Genetics plays an important part when it comes to colour perception. X chromosome contains the gene that allows us to perceive the colour red. Evolution made sure that this gene comes in many variations. That happened due to the exchange of variations with the gene that allows us to see green. Since women have two X chromosomes, their ability to perceive shades is greater than the same ability in men. Some say that this happened because women were gatherers and it was important for them to distinguish foliage, ripe and green fruits and similar things. Therefore, describing and interpreting the meaning of colours is definitely a girl thing.
Peripheral Vision Is Just as Important
The same evolutionary idea about vision tells us that women are more likely to have better peripheral vision. Men were hunters and their ability to focus their vision on one thing, without being distracted, was essential for them. Women, on the other hand, had to be able to gather the food, keep their eye on their children and watch for possible dangers.
Spotting the Details
The hunting instincts made men colour blind in order for them not to be distracted by the colours and camouflage. Their vision is more focused and they are better at spotting details. Additionally, they are better at spotting details in moving objects. These were all helpful things for somebody who was about to find their prey and catch it while it is trying to run or hide.
What About the Vision Once It Gets Dark?
Some researchers say that women have better night vision. While those manly eyes will be better during the day, women will be able to see more at night. Therefore, if you are a guy and you want to enjoy some night paintball or hunting, you better read some night vision goggles reviews. You will need them more than your significant other will.
Myopia and Hyperopia: Numbers and Statistics
Myopia is a scientific name for short-sightedness. Statistics show that women are more likely to suffer from myopia than men. On the other hand, hyperopia – the farsightedness, equally affects men and women. Moreover, medical experts claim that there is a greater number of women who are visually impaired than men. Some of the factors for this are longer life span and a larger number of untreated refractive errors in women. Many eyesight defects come with age. Therefore, with a longer lifespan comes a bigger number of such cases.
It seems that it is impossible to claim that men or women have better vision. It is safe to conclude that they simply see the world differently and that they excel in different aspects when it comes to vision. Therefore, make the most of what the nature gave you and enjoy in all those details that you can spot easily or in all those wonderful colours.
Got wisdom to pour?
The article is somewhat unclear. You talk about light perception, but there are quite a few studies where there are no differences. The fact that women have two X chromosomes does not mean that they see more colors. Among women, color blindness is less common and there is a tiny chance of being a tetrachromat (although this is extremely controversial yet). But if you take healthy people, there is no difference. Peripheral vision, too, there are no special differences. At the same time, I do not understand why to refer to Abramov’s research, she did not make such a conclusion. A woman’s night vision is better, but a man’s daytime vision? Perhaps there were old studies on this subject and there were studies of scotopic vision in the periphery of 20 degrees. In women, the vertical was better, but these are isolated cases. By and large, there are hardly many differences in night vision, probably it can vary from person to person, but not from gender to gender. It is true that women are more likely to suffer from vision loss.