Jack Sprat would eat no fat, and his wife would eat no lean, so their different dietary preferences avoided food waste. Similarly, my two eyes have different visual strengths but cooperate to help navigate the body that carries them.
Mr Sprat and Mrs Sprat
Would go to any lengths
To make good use of what they had –
From differences come strengths!
My right eye’s good for distances,
My left does better nearer;
And so, between them both, you see,
They make the world much clearer!
As Sprats exchanged their bits of meat
Before their tums received them,
So my optic nerves get swopped
Before my brain perceives them.
My brain then does the clever stuff
Of handling what they see
And painting pictures in my head
In glorious 3-D.
The Sprats had food enough to live,
And I’ve got quite good sight.
The moral’s clear: use what you’ve got,
And you’ll get by all right.