Do eye glasses distort the world or do they provide a perfect accurate vision of the world?

Question

As a geography student, I know that maps distort the world (ie. a map that keeps accurate shapes of land masses may invovle distortion in the relative sizes).

When I hold a magnifying glass over a book, the words on the side of the glass appear skewed. Do eye glasses distort the vision of the world in a way (not just in the sense of correcting our vision, but as in shape, detail, relative sizes, etc.) or do they give us an accurate vision of the world (as someone whom has 20/20 vision)?

Answer 1

Not so much in the low end powers, but the stronger the lenses are, the more possible distortion there is.

High + power lenses make oblects look a bit larger and closer than they are. High - lenses do the opposite...but the brain adapts and compensates quite well in most cases.

Your example of the magnifying glass was a problem for many years in spectacles until the invention of aspheric lenses which because of the flatter curvature eliminate the edge distortion. If your magnifier had an aspheric lens in it, the words would stay clear and in straight lines right to the edge.

The vast majority of eyeglass wearers achieve 20/20 or better with only the field of vision being more restricted because of the frame,  compared to someone who doesn't need glasses.