Temporary Vs. Permanent
Is flash blindness temporary or permanent?
- Some sources such as NATO and the U.S. Department of Defense state that "flash blindness" can be temporary or permanent.
- Other sources restrict the use of the word to temporary, reversible vision loss: "...These are, in order of increasing brightness: dazzle, after image formation, flash blindness, and irreversible damage." The US Federal Aviation Administration in Order 7400.2F (now cancelled) defines it as "Generally, a temporary visual interference effect that persists after the source of the illumination has ceased."
Because there appears to be no consensus definition, one should be especially clear about which sense(s) of the phrase are meant. For example, using the phrase "temporary flash blindness" when discussing everyday flash photography emphasizes that the condition will disappear without ill effect.
Read more about this topic: Flash Blindness
Famous quotes containing the words temporary and/or permanent:
“It is the custom of the immortal gods to grant temporary prosperity and a fairly long period of impunity to those whom they plan to punish for their crimes, so that they may feel it all the more keenly as a result of the change in their fortunes.”
—Julius Caesar [Gaius Julius Caesar] (100–44 B.C.)
“In reality, in love there is a permanent suffering which joy neutralizes, renders virtual, delays, but which can at any moment become what it would have become long earlier if one had not obtained what one wanted, atrocious.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)