Glasses..................

    The year 1900 ushered in a new century as well as an entirely new life for Bucky.  Late in 1899, his nearsightedness was diagnosed, and eyeglasses were prescribed.  Following that momentous transformation, the five-year-old was able to view a new world beyond his wildest dreams.  Prior to receiving glasses, Bucky had believed everyone was confined to the same blurred environment he experience.  So when his sister Leslie described the world as she saw it, he thought he was listening to the output of a fanciful imagination.  With his newly discovered, normal vision Bucky embarked on a journey of outward exploration, questioning, and experimental learning which would continue throughout his life. . . .
     In typical Fuller fashion, he turned his apparent visual problem into a benefit over the years.  Rather than regarding his myopia as a handicap, Bucky considered himself fortunate to be able to remove his glasses at times and consciously shift his attention inward, using his imagination and intuition, rather than his sight for guidance.  At those times, he could effortlessly recall the inner, imaginative environment he had lived within and explored prior to receiving glasses, and that "in-sight" provided him with many of his extraordinary ideas.

-Lloyd Steven Sieden, Buckminster Fuller's Universe:  His Life And Work