If you usually wear glasses do/did you still wear them if you go clubbing or go without (no contact lenses)?

Posted by gintokireddit@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 25 comments

Been a couple years since I went clubbing, but I almost always went without glasses (without them I can't read a book at arm's length or recognise someone's face from several metres away, but I can do kickboxing say). It's better for confidence and people definitely treat me differently, in a good way (makes sense as glasses do affect how someone is perceived and they block the face, and people subconsciously use perception of the face and eyes to read someone. The human mind is evolved to read faces a little or even much better in particular circumstances better than in others. For example, human brains are considerably less adept at noticing changes in facial expressions of an upside down face, aka the Thatcher Effect) - but the downside is not being able to read non-verbal cues from further away, so you'll only be able to interact after getting physically close to someone (their conscious doing, your conscious doing or random chance). Obviously there's a reason people often wear contacts for a night out - I'm guessing it's mostly about the social perception of glasses (other considerations may be better peripheral vision and no need to clean them). Maybe it depends on how bad your vision is (are there any blind people here? Did you go clubbing?), the size of the venue or who you're with? Mostly I'd go clubbing alone (nobody to go with and I like dancing so don't find it boring), but with friends/friends of friends I'd be more likely to wear glasses, and if I didn't the I'd have a hard time finding whoever I went with, even if they were only several metres away ("Where are they, they've just walked off! Oh they're right here").