WHY ARE WE RULED BY SHORT-SIGHTED MEN WITH A GOOD HEAD OF HAIR?
WHY ARE WE RULED BY SHORT-SIGHTED MEN WITH A GOOD HEAD OF HAIR?

Summary/Abstract: The world is ruled by short-sighted men with a good head of hair. A longitudinal study of British children has shown that the best single predictor of a child rising up the system from humble beginnings to high office is being shortsighted as a child. Laser beam surgery has now made it possible to correct many common eye defects caused by irregularities in the shape of the lens of the eye, relative to the size of the eyeball. For those with severely impaired eyesight this means a welcome escape from a serious handicap. However, for children who are only mildly short-sighted, the operation could provide problems as well as benefits, for myopia is a source of success and social mobility. Some have argued that there is a correlation between myopia and innate intelligence which are simultaneously caused by two related patterns of genes. It has even been suggested that the manifest success of spectacle wearing peoples such as the Japanese and the Jews, and the relative failure of members of ethnic groups with good eyesight merely reflects this correlation. Whether the latter hypothesis is true or not will never be determined, for it is far too politically incorrect a theory to receive the research funding necessary to test it.

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