Seeing Different Colours...

**Brilliand** · 03-31-2007 04:06 AM

Originally Posted by Universal

I think it's a really interesting idea. I also think it actually is how things are. I don't know if you see red the way I see yellow, but I would bet that we don't see any color exactly the same way. My right eye and my left eye don't even see exactly the same color when they look at the same object.[/b]

Could be because of their difference in location, or that one is better quality than the other.

I think our eyes are all the same, unless something is wrong with them. That's genetic. Of course, genetic things don't have to be the same for everyone.

The Wikipedia article on cone cells tells me that eyesight is the same for most people. However, I think this only applies to the eye. In the brain, every color is most likely mapped to a different location in every person, and it would probably be difficult to find two people who mapped one color the same way, let alone all colors. Of course, the location of set of neurons in my brain that tell me what red is could easily be the location of the set of neurons in your brain that tell you who your dad is. (or some of them, since you probably need more neurons to identify your dad)

On the other hand, that article mentioned tetrachromacy, which is a rare condition in women that makes yellow a completely separate color from green and red. This would mean, among other things, that she would see a color in real life that the computer would not be able to represent. This is testable by showing her a pure yellow object vs. showing her a mixture of green and red light - she will be able to tell the difference, while normal people won't.

**Super Duck** · 03-31-2007 09:20 PM

Thank God for that.

Most of you understand. Yeah, there is no way to prove it except maybe cell transplants.

**Merlin38** · 04-03-2007 03:21 AM

Even so, the way that the genes adapt to each body may affect that person's color perception differently.

**wasup** · 04-03-2007 04:01 AM

On a philosophical perspective this is certainly plausible, but the problem is more or less solved when thought of with a scientific perspective, by understanding the process by which colors are created and furthermore how the eyes pick up colors and how the brain percieves them. Clearly, we pretty much consider reality to be a constant and therefore, colors have specific wavelengths (remember that color is a result of the type of light that reflects of an object), which is a constant. This is assuming that different people pick up the aforementioned wavelengths differently. However this generally results in pretty clear color blindness, which we can test for (for the most part).

An analogy for people who don't understand what he is saying...
Say that this is true, and what he is saying is true between two people. Notice that everytime I reference a color here I am talking about what "your" version of the color is, i.e., what you see.

You can look at a picture of a barn during the day. The grass is green, the barn is red, the sky is blue. The hay is yellow, etc.

Now, say you suddenly "switch bodies" with someone who has this changing colors thing going on. YOU might see a purple barn, a yellow sky, red grass, and green hay. You think "what is wrong with his colors?" However, he thinks that your yellow is actually his blue. Remember that because the words are really just associations that you form, he forms them to different colors because he sees them differently.

But generally you can't extend the idea too much further. I'm not doubting the possibility of it, because I don't know, but if perceptions just "switched" (i.e., your hot was my cold), then survival of the fittest wouldn't have worked so well, right? I would have put on a coat in the summer and passed out from heat stroke. Jumped in a pool during winter. Etc.

**wasup** · 04-03-2007 04:03 AM

by the way I am just coming off a caffeine high and that post might not have made any sense, in fact I don't know why I posted. Just FYI

**Merlin38** · 04-03-2007 10:49 PM

Your scientific explination concerning wavelengths was sound.

**Super Duck** · 04-12-2007 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by ataraxis

On a philosophical perspective this is certainly plausible, but the problem is more or less solved when thought of with a scientific perspective, by understanding the process by which colors are created and furthermore how the eyes pick up colors and how the brain percieves them. Clearly, we pretty much consider reality to be a constant and therefore, colors have specific wavelengths (remember that color is a result of the type of light that reflects of an object), which is a constant. This is assuming that different people pick up the aforementioned wavelengths differently. However this generally results in pretty clear color blindness, which we can test for (for the most part).

An analogy for people who don't understand what he is saying...
Say that this is true, and what he is saying is true between two people. Notice that everytime I reference a color here I am talking about what "your" version of the color is, i.e., what you see.

You can look at a picture of a barn during the day. The grass is green, the barn is red, the sky is blue. The hay is yellow, etc.

Now, say you suddenly "switch bodies" with someone who has this changing colors thing going on. YOU might see a purple barn, a yellow sky, red grass, and green hay. You think "what is wrong with his colors?" However, he thinks that your yellow is actually his blue. Remember that because the words are really just associations that you form, he forms them to different colors because he sees them differently.

But generally you can't extend the idea too much further. I'm not doubting the possibility of it, because I don't know, but if perceptions just "switched" (i.e., your hot was my cold), then survival of the fittest wouldn't have worked so well, right? I would have put on a coat in the summer and passed out from heat stroke. Jumped in a pool during winter. Etc.[/b]

Originally Posted by ataraxis

by the way I am just coming off a caffeine high and that post might not have made any sense, in fact I don't know why I posted. Just FYI[/b]

no no no. it was good...

but did you actually say that or was it the caffine talking?