Thread: Is it possible to dream a new color?

Didn't I just say that?

Originally Posted by slash112

i cant remember if its 24 or 32, so maybe i meant 32, but i thought it was 24.

and im not talking about seeing other things in the electromagnetic spectrum, im only talking about visible light, and if our colour depth was raised, we would see more inbetween colours (more RGB combinations), not more types of light.

p.s. i dont actually know if a brain is this similar to a computer, it just makes a lot of sense, so this is what i will believe unless you prove me wrong.

Ah, I was talking about seeing things outside of the "visible" spectrum. I agree that color depth going up = colors in between strict RGB being more separately definable.

Originally Posted by guitarboy

Don't, you'll crush it. Our dreams are based off of real life, and I don't even think, besides the fact that we can't see beyond our spectrum, that we would be able to prove or even know if we see a new color. It's like trying to explain color to a blind man.

We can't see beyond our spectrum. In a dream you don't use your eyes, your brain comes up with its own input. I agree that its impossible to prove to others than you have seen a new color, its impossible to prove you did ANYTHING in a dream. I think we would know for ourselves if we saw a new color, by the merit that we would be seeing a color we haven't observed yet.

but things outside the visible light part of the spectrum arent colour, they are different types of light, and that has nothing to do with the fact its invisible, they are just totally different. infact someone said this earlier (i think it was slayer) and i didnt understand at the time, i do now.

Okay so since this is all in theory, here's a theory that I have with regards to this. Somebody earlier posted about an idea that they have had about peope's interpratations of colors being possibly different (i.e. what i see as red may appear to you as blue by my own interpretive definitions of red and blue, based off of what we are taught as children). However, let me take this idea one step further. Here is my theory, which I have had for quite some time as well which is kind of an elaboration on this theory. Lets say we both look at a leaf in the middle of summer. We come to an agreement that it is green. But, maybe what appears as "green" to me, appears to you in a color which is not even possible in my waking brains interpretations of wavelengths of light.

So, with this in mind let's address this issue of seeing a new color in a dream. It is agreed that there is a finite number of wavelengths of light that our eyes can pick up and we can see in waking life. I am not arguing this. I am saying instead that the ways in which our various brains interpret these wavelengths may be entirely different. Therefore, who's to say that when I am asleep and I look at a leaf, it is not possible for it to appear to me as the "impossible" color of green? I would simply be my brain working outside of its regular way of operating, interpreting something differently than it normally would be able to.

As for people saying, "oh, you can describe it as an orang/grey, therefore it is an orange grey and already exists" is not a very compelling argument. The example of the indians calling horses dogs is a perfect example. Are horses dogs? Of course not. If you saw a thing jump out of the woods and it looked like a 7 foot tall man with green fur and a trunk, that is how you would describe it, correct? Was it a seven foot tall man with green fur and a trunk? Of course not. However, if you have never seen something before, the only way to describe it to somebody who hasn't experienced the same phenomena is through words andideas which have already been defined, whether or not they accurately convey it or not.

If this is confusing, which I have no doubt that it may be as I have never tried to verbalize this theory to anybody before, let me know. I would be glad to try and clear up any confusion.

Oh, and I guess what I am saying is that yes, I believe it would be possible to "see" a "new" color in a dream.

Of course that is JUST a theory. Whos to say its true! Although theres no way to prove whether it is or not at the moment. Otherwise everything you said there is possible.

Originally Posted by Lucid fanatic

Of course that is JUST a theory. Whos to say its true! Although theres no way to prove whether it is or not at the moment. Otherwise everything you said there is possible.

I refer you to the thread title... "Is it possible to dream a new color", meaning is there the possibility of doing it. And besides, the fact that multiple people claim to have done so is good enough for me. Just because we (us who haven't seen other colors, not everybody)haven't or don't have the ability to doesn't mean that they are mistaken or lying. I feel that pretty much any evidence for or against this is theoretical anyway. Pretty much everything that I have read short of the fact that our eyes pick up red, green and blue has been speculation.

Originally Posted by mrweiner

I refer you to the thread title... "Is it possible to dream a new color", meaning is there the possibility of doing it. And besides, the fact that multiple people claim to have done so is good enough for me. Just because we (us who haven't seen other colors, not everybody)haven't or don't have the ability to doesn't mean that they are mistaken or lying. I feel that pretty much any evidence for or against this is theoretical anyway. Pretty much everything that I have read short of the fact that our eyes pick up red, green and blue has been speculation.

And i was refering to your first paragraph with the, its just a theory bit

Originally Posted by slash112

but things outside the visible light part of the spectrum arent colour, they are different types of light, and that has nothing to do with the fact its invisible, they are just totally different. infact someone said this earlier (i think it was slayer) and i didnt understand at the time, i do now.

Color is a psychological phenomenon of perception existing, arising from the physical properties of the waves of electromagnetic radiation we call light.
We are unable to see outside of the visible spectrum due to the limited variety of cones in the human eye(3, sometimes 4). If we were to gain sensory input from a different type of cone, our brain would have a new, unique wavelength to interpret and would come up with a new color to describe this.

Originally Posted by guitarboy

Didn't I just say that?

My bad