Seeing colours differently

[LeedsRhinos]

Is is possible (in theory) that we all see colours differently. What's to say that my blue is somebody else's red. The only way we can describe colours is by describing something that is that colour.

[bernardo]

Yes it is possible, and probably true. There are various types of colour-blindness, so there are probably lots of slight vartiations in the colours which people perceive - this would be due to the relative strengths of the cones and rods in the eye. The painter Claude Monet gradually painted his paintings more and more red during his life, and this is thought to be due to the gradual deterioration of his colour perception.

[andy hughes]

I used to work with a guy, and part of our duties involved packing boxes of computer punch cards, which had coloured borders. Several hundred of these cards stacked together made a coloured strip, and they were really bright day-glo flourescent colours. My colleague couldn't be left to pack them alone, because he saw pillar box red as a mucky green, and buttercup yellow as dark blue!

[DOB]

So we really can argue that black is white

[WoWo]

I have always considered this Chrisd. I totally know what your saying.

[omblod]

I remember having a similar conversation with a friend a few years ago. I suggested that as perception was a relative concept that perhaps some people might also perceive colours as sounds as well as perceiving colours differently. He dismissed the idea; probably because I'd had a few jars at the time! However, I've since heard of the term, "Synaesthesia" which, although not directly answering your question, provides similar examples. Check out http://www.uksynaesthesia.com/ - I think it might've been founded by a reletive of Ali G's!

[omblod]

Oh man! TYPO!

[robber1]

Good question. I dont think we will ever know the answer. The same applies to smell and taste. Describing doesnt work either. Its impossible to describe a colour because red is ...er...red. But is it? My red may not be your red. My brain hurts! Bye :o)

[Wisebird]

My son has a form of dyslexia. Black print on white sends his vision into a turmoil and he sees various colours on the page, which obviously hampers his reading. Wearing dark turquoise lenses helps this. He also cannot see green against red and cannot distinguish navy blue from black. Something to do with brain perception rather than his eyesight. It didn't get picked up for years because he didn't realise he was seeing different from anyone else.

[JohnPPotts]

We can define colours in terms of the wavelengths of light they emit, although there will be considerable fuzziness over the borders (eg. when purple becomes blue, or yellow green), though it is still possible (if highly unlikely) that you see as blue what most people see as green and have just learned to call it green. Incidentally, if Monet started painting "redder" paintings in his later life this is unlikely to be as a result of his changing eyesight since he would ALSO see the paint as being redder to match.

[bernardo]

JohnPPotts - yes, that's what I thought as well when they mentioned it on whatever TV programme it was. But I presume what they meant was that he had more difficulty in distinguishing the whole range of colours.

[Smiley]

Oh my God, I'm so glad you brought this up. I am fed up with trying to explain to people in dabates that this can happen! If a person is colourblind, then they could be seeing red as blue. But there is no way in the world to describe it, because whatever test you give them, they are seeing the same thing as you. Man this is hard to explain, but i know what I'm trying to say anyway!!

[kezia_88]

omg I always think this to but i think about this for food saying like is the chocolate I taste the taste of sweets for someone else if u know what i mean!lol