does vision improve on its own?

probably not. time for glasses and contacts.

Yes, it should. This happens to me also. Especially frustrating since I've had LASIK. Actually, there is a method, I forget what it is called, where you can actual retrain your optic nerves to better vision. It isn't too widely available because it has been suppressed for obvious profitable reasons. I've been meaning to try it though.

Sitting too close to a computer, reading in the dark and wearing someone else's prescription glasses will generally have no effect on your own vision. These are widely believed myths. You can get a headache, but long term damage will not occur. There may be some exception to this in growing children (through puberty). There was one article that I read in New Scientist that gave some credence to the idea that too much close up work during the growing years may increase the risk of myopia. I don't really think of New Scientist as a "journal", but this particular article did site a journal reference. I will try to find it when I am at work and have access to the UCSF library online.

There have been various "eye exercises" promoted since the beginning of the last century for curing all manner of visual defects including myopia, hyperopia and presbyopia. They have been pretty much discredited, but not before they have made lots of money for those promoting them. One of the first (perhaps THE first) was the Bates method; it was popular in the 1920's. You can find things online about it with a google search. One of the recent "methods" was called the See Clearly method; there was a late night infomercial on that one not too long ago. I think they finally got closed down completely. Here is a link to some info on it: http://www.allaboutvision.com/buysmart/see_clearly.htm
You can put all of those methods of improving vision right there with Longitude; the tablet "guaranteed to increase the length and girth of your penis or your money back". If you believe that one too, I have lots of bridges here in the SF area to sell you!!

I wore glasses as a young man, then stopped wearing them because i hated the way they made me look. During my first military exam they told me I had 20/20 and I went on to become a pilot. So I my family was either ripped off or my vision improved. I tend to believe my vision improved.

I "needed" them when I was like 8-13 but never wore them, however my vision apparently improved anyway and I don't anymore.

btw I'm now like 20/25 which is okay by me.

I had to wear them for very minor far sightedness, but very strange, far sightedness. Basically reading glasses for far sightedness.

Now I really seem to only really need them for seeing across the classroom and such. So I suppose my vision did improve.

Almost anything is possible biologically.

There is some controversy in treating hyperopia (farsightedness) in the pediatric population and several studies on this are ongoing. This condition often corrects itself as the child grows either with or without treatment. My own nephew wore corrective lenses in preschool through 2nd or 3rd grade; he no longer needs glasses. One of the concerns with not treating is possible increased risk of developing strabismus (eyes not properly aligned) and amblyopia (suppression of vision in one eye; sometimes called lazy eye). There is conflicting data as to effectiveness of corrective lenses in preventing these disorders. Hopefully new studies will answer these questions.

My nearsightedness improved a little a few years ago; my prescription decreased.

It is common to be a hyperope as a child and then eventually having it "cure" itself.

Hyperopia means the image is being focused behind the retina. As you age, the eye gets larger and the image may eventually focus on the retina, thus you no longer need corrective lenses.

There's also the possible headaches for the child if hyperopia goes untreated as the child has to strain his eyes to focus the image onto his retina instead of beyond it.