Is it harmful to look at the solar eclipse bare eyed

My teacher just said that it's not harmful so it must then be a myth i guess. any ideas??

People often get confused by this, as there are two different things going on. First of all, a TOTAL solar eclipse, when the Moon is completely covering the Sun, is completely harmless to look at, and is in fact one of the most beautiful sights in the world. The danger comes during the PARTIAL phases of an eclipse, while the Moon is only partly covering the Sun. The Sun is always dangerous to look at, but usually we have an aversion reflex which keeps us from looking at it. During a partial solar eclipse, people try to look at the Sun in spite of this reflex, and the bare Sun damages their eyes. The proper procedure for observing an eclipse is to use a dense solar filter (type 14 welder's glass) during the partial phases, and then look directly at the total phase. At any eclipse observing site, one person is designated to announce when to stop using the filters, and when to start using them again.

It is harmful to look directly at the Sun any time. It is easy to understand when the Sun is not eclipsed, because it hurts to even try. And when the Sun is partially eclipsed, like mayb half covered, it is still bright enough to hurt. But when the Sun is *almost* totally eclipsed, like maybe 99% covered, you may not feel pain when looking directly at it, but your eye is STILL BEING DAMAGED and you may end up blind a few hours later!. If any part of the Sun is not hidden by the eclipse it is HARMFUL to look directly at it. But when the Sun is TOTALLY eclipsed, it is safe to look at directly. Just for the minute or two that it is TOTALLY eclipsed though.

The difference between bullshit and lesser spotted bullshit is the a mount of methane given off.

Contrary to a previous poster, looking directly at the Sun does not expose the eyes to more radiation that would normally be the case, you often look directly at the Sun, for example if you are walking toward a Sunrise or Sunset, This will have no effect on your eyes whatsoever.