There are some things we know not to do. Crossing the road without looking, not wearing a seatbelt…and looking at the sun. A fairly intrinsic lesson we all learned at some unidentifiable point in our lives.

 

But some people throughout history have rallied against this fundamental human law. One of them is an orange quack who ruled America for a brief, nightmarish period of time. 

 

Another is an eyeball guy (an actual ophthalmologist) William Horatio Bates, born in 1860. But did this guy start out as a rule-breaking, sun-staring charlatan?

 

It seems Master Bates had a fairly normal life until 1902 when he went missing for six weeks. He was found not on his home continent of North America but across the ocean in England, claiming no recollection of his former life. 

 

Later in his life, he went missing for eight years (EIGHT years!). This was back in the days when it was still possible to completely fall off the face of the Earth.

 

After these curious episodes, Bates' life resumed a rhythm of somewhat normalcy, at least to the untrained eye (see what we did there?). But in his field of ophthalmology, where he had once been considered a luminary, Bates stepped off the deep end.

 

This well-revered ophthalmologist developed a distinct hatred of glasses. 

 

That’s basically eye doctor blasphemy! He’s lucky a mob didn’t come to raid his house Simpsons style.

 

Now, at this point in his career, Bates authored an entire book centred around his rejection of glasses. His mission was to cure people without them. And regardless of how noble of a mission this was, Bates had a couple of theories that, to be crystal clear, were absolute garbage. 

 

Our friend Bates was convinced that eyeball exercises such as palming (yes, that term makes us nervous too) could cure eyesight… mkay.

 

And the final exercise he recommended for 20/20 vision, sans glasses? Oh yes, have a bit of a stare at the sun. Just stare right into the centre of that laser beam old boy, you’ll be fine. 

 

It’s like something out of an old-school Batman episode where the evil villain has finally captured Adam West.

 

I mean, this solution is just as bad, if not worse, than other eye treatments that have been suggested across history. Ground up sapphires anyone? Some amniotic fluid perhaps?

 

Even better, his theory asserted that if you went blind using his methods, it was all just a mental illusion. Couldn’t possibly be the giant laser beam you were staring into. It’s all in your head!

 

So, what happened to Bates’ methods? Did he manage to seduce people with the promise of a return to 20/20 vision? And what actually happens to your eyeballs when you stare at the sun?

Previous Episode mentioned:

 

The History and Science of Raw Food!

 

SOURCES:

• A unifying experience, The Guardian 

• Dr W H Bates Dies, An Eye Specialist, New York Times 11 July 1931

• Science Says Why We Can't Look at the Sun, Scientific American 

• Staring at the Sun (U2 song), Wikipedia

• The cure of imperfect sight by treatment without glasses, by William H Bates

• The Mysterious Disappearance—and Strange Reappearance—of Dr. William Horatio Bates, Mentalfloss

• The optical theories of W H Bates, Journal of the American Medical Association 81:2

 

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