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:
“When the doctrine of allegiance to party can utterly up-end a man’s moral constitution and make a temporary fool of him besides, what excuse are you going to offer for preaching it, teaching it, extending it, perpetuating it? Shall you say, the best good of the country demands allegiance to party? Shall you also say it demands that a man kick his truth and his conscience into the gutter, and become a mouthing lunatic, besides?”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“The generations of men run on in the tide of time,
But leave their destined lineaments permanent for ever & ever.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)