lähinäköä

Lähinäkö is a Finnish term used in discussions of vision and perception to describe a tendency to perceive or attend primarily to objects at close range, sometimes at the expense of distant information. It can refer to both a physiological condition related to refractive error and a broader, metaphorical tendency in cognition or design.

Etymology: The word is a compound of lähi- (“near”) and näkö (“vision” or “seeing”). It is not a standardized medical term but a colloquial construction that has appeared in Finnish-language discourse since the late 20th century.

Medical usage: In ophthalmology the formal diagnosis for reduced distance vision is myopia (miopia in Finnish). Lähinäkö is sometimes used informally to describe the same symptom, but it is not an official synonym.

Cognitive and design usage: In psychology and media studies, lähinäkö is used metaphorically to denote a bias toward local, near-field information or details, and a neglect of broader context. It is compared to cognitive or visual myopia.

History and variation: The term appears most often in popular science writing and online discussions rather than scholarly articles, and its meaning can vary by author or field.

See also: miopia, myopia; cognitive bias; attention to detail.