How on earth do you describe...

[Bbbananas]

... colour to a blind person?

(This is not an insensitive question - something someone has just said made me wonder.....)

[McMouse]

Last year I posted a "blind person" question and got reported and it was removed. I think yours is a perfectly reasonable question but I bet someone will complain.

[Bbbananas]

Really?
I know I have a reputation for being a bit of a joker, but this question was in all seriousness. I mean - how on earth do you even begin to describe colour?

[mccfluff]

stumped

[jackthehat]

There is a scene in the film 'Mask' where Eric Stoltz shows a blind Laura Dern how different colours 'feel'....................unfortunately, YouTube have removed it :o(

[ChuckFickens]

Do we all perceive colours the same way though.

we all know that trees are green, but they are only called green because at some point in our life somebody has pointed to a tree and told us that is green but the actual colour could appear totally different to different people and nobody would ever know.

[rowanwitch]

Don't try, house mate works with visually impaired students, explained this to me so you don't say the brown door you say door on the left with a panelled surface and it has a lever handle/knob/just push/pull so they know what to feel for etc... colur in this sortof context is irrelevant

She said trying to explain colours doesn't work with someone blind from birth apart from a a few basics which could be things like red is the colour really hot feels , pink is like a smell soft and sweet like flowers, green is like the smell of fresh cut grass, not really effective but you can develop a 'colour volcabulary with someone you spend a lot of time with

[Bbbananas]

You see - this is an interesting post. And not a typical smutty one. I hope it's not banned.

But surely chuck, we must all see green similarly? Or how do optometrists distinguish those who are colour blind?

[merciasounds]

In the film Jackthehat mentioned, Mask, Eric puts the girls hands on something very cold, ice i think, and tells her that's blue then he does it with a hot mug and tells her that's red...i thought it was brilliant. Film makes cry though....

[mccfluff]

chuckie have emailed you

interesting post salla!

[Bbbananas]

Why thank you mcfluff - quite different from my usual banter ;-)

[rowanwitch]

This sort of thread is really good as it gets people thinking and challenging assumptions... more please Salla

[Bbbananas]

Ok -
how do you describe sound to the deaf?
Or taste to those with no tastebuds?

Unless you have experienced these senses personally - how can you imagine what they are?

[rowanwitch]

sound can be felt as vibrations, so is probably the easiest to explain,, my sister has a very limited sense of smell Trying to explain a smell that took me back to when we were kids I had to try to get her to visualise the image that went with it at the time but I don't think you can ever convey that jolt when a smell throws you for split second into your past

[mollykins]

salla with some colourblindness, you can show a person a red and green card and they look the same to them but completely different to us.

Its uncomprehendable, like my post about being able to sense other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, beyond ultraviolet and infra red the other parts of the spectrum could consist of uncomprehendable colours that our eyes simply cannot comprehend, so it might be like an alien trying to describe the colour of microwaves to us (aswell as the language barrier).