I don’t know why it is, but we are all extremely eye-conscious. We can tell when someone is looking directly at us. When two people have their gaze locked on each other, we call it eye contact. If, for example, someone diverts their stare to your forehead or your nose, just millimeters off of the locked in position, you wonder if you have a grease mark, an ink stain, or a zit popping out. It takes no special training to know when another has their eyes focused on yours. Perhaps that is why it s so disconcerting to speak with someone who has a “lazy eye” – you know, one of those eyes that won’t behave. During a conversation, it is hard to tell which eye to look at. One eye is looking at you, but what is the other one doing?
Lazy eye is a condition that goes by the technical name “amblyopia” and is the most common cause of poor vision in children, affecting about three out of every 100 children. The lazy eye can either turn in or out because of muscle imbalance. Because the muscles in one eye are stronger, the two don’t track together. Ignored too long, the condition can lead to permanent vision failure. Treatment is simple and usually corrects the problem.
Observe how someone’s eyes track when they are reading. The two eyes move as if they are one. The minute, instantaneous changes in eye position are amazing to watch. No wonder people call the eyes the windows to the soul.
Notice how often we give directions or communicate important messages with our eyes. Someone asks where you left your keys. Without saying a word or even moving our head, we can easily gesture with our eyes, letting them know exactly where the keys are. Should someone make a ridiculous comment or question, we can let them know how stupid it was simply by rolling our eyes. Our eyes inform others whether we are excited about an idea or bored silly. By watching someone’s eyes, we can detect if they are telling the truth or lying to us. Some express love or become intimidate with their eyes. In all these cases, however, people have to be close to each other and actually in eye contact with each other for us messages to be successful.