how far away can elderly people see?

Answer 1

Right through you.

Answer 2

The answer to this is as variable as individual people are. Some elderly people have uncorrected vision that is 20:20 or better, some are legally blind.

In general, aging affects the eyes by making it harder for the muscles that control the lenses to enable the eyes to see things that are up close very clearly. This is why as most people age, they eventually require reading glasses. This doesn't really affect a person's far sight; a person with good visual acuity at distances will continue to have good visual acuity at distances as they age, assuming that there are no disease processes or injuries that affect their sight.

As we age, we are also more prone to have cataracts of the lenses. Cataracts cause fogging of the vision and in extreme cases can lead to blindness. Fortunately there is corrective surgery available for most people to remove cataracts. Of course without cataract surgery, a person would not be able to see very far at all.

Diabetes also can affect eyesight. Sadly, it is one of the most common preventable causes of blindness. As people age, their risk of acquiring adult onset (Type II) diabetes increases. So this could be another factor affecting the sight of elderly people.

On the plus side of things, with regard to the elderly and their ability to see at a distance: eyesight involves our ability not just to see (i.e., focus on something and discern it accurately), it involves our perceptual ability. When we see something, we don't just take a picture of it, with the eye as a camera. We use our mental powers to perceive it: we understand, recognize, classify and interpret what we see.

The older people are, the more experiences they have, the greater their perceptual abilities can be. An example: take an elderly grandfather who has had a lifelong interest in aviation, standing with his 6-year-old granddaughter at an airport watching the airplanes take off and land. They are both looking at the same airplane approach for a landing. The 6-year-old granddaughter sees a red-and-white airplane heading towards the airport. The elderly grandfather sees a red-and-white Cessna 172, 1958 vintage, coming in too high on final and having to do a sideslip to lose altitude.

The grandfather's visual acuity may be no better than his granddaughter's, it may even be less; but his much greater experience enables him to perceive far more, looking at the same thing, than his granddaughter can. So it's possible that an elderly person with compromised eyesight may still be able to "see" better at a distance than someone with sharper eyesight but less experience or insight into what their eyes are showing them.

Answer 3

It depends on how bad or how good the elderly persons eye sight is..
Some elderly people have better eye sight than many younger people do..
Many still do not need to use eye glasses or other seeing aids for as long as they live..

Answer 4

Some can see very far, others, not far at all, just like the rest of the human race.

That depends on their eyesight and what corrections have been made such as glasses, in addition to any diseases or other conditions that may affect their eyesight. Just like the rest of the human race.

Answer 5

Further than you Mr Short-sighted !!!!