What does a color blind person see.? Is brown a gradiation of yellow .I can’t see how they would just have a smaller pallette to work with.The brown object would still exist but would it look like a yellow one or would it look sort of yellow?
That’s what they said about Galileo.
I suppose the potential use of knowing whether or not people see the same colors would be to advance out knowldge of brain functions a little bit. I think the correspondence between that and Galileo’s paper on three new sciences or his application of the telescope to astronomy is pretty tenuous.
This is a very literal interpretation of my comment. Many of the questions posted to this forum could be dismissed with, “What difference does it make?” To readdress David Simmons’s comment a bit more acutely, in fact, many of the great questions of science could be similarly dismissed. Physicists have spent entire careers reconstructing the birth of the universe. NASA has spent billions on space exploration that yield in practical results, what, Astronaut Ice Cream? Most scientific effort is not driven by the desire to find some practical use, although that is often the justification for funding and such use does arise. But humanity asks questions and so it is on the General Questions forum.
Why I’m spending the time to respond to what is probably a drive-by is another question altogether. . . . :smack:
Gonzo,
A red-green colorblind man would see brown as brown, unless he saw it as green. Certain shades of green would be gray (Krispy Kreme box, for example). Lavender and baby blue frequently appear identical. That’s reflective colors (painted or printed). For transmissive colors, such as on the computer screen, certain yellows and greens are almost identical; damn Microsoft for placing them right next to each other! Blues and purples are big problems, too.
Here’s a great real-world example. Last year, I, the colorblind man, decorated my office door for the holidays. “The 12 Alaskan Days of Christmas” was my theme, consisting of photos illustrating the saying of the day. Day 9 was “9 chunks of halibut.” An optometrist, after passing my door, asked why the breaded fish was green instead of brown. Turns out one of the ink cartridges ran out. I reprinted the photo after replenishing the ink. The 2 photos looked identical to me; almost everyone else could tell the difference.
Brilliant, saturated colors, like were popular in the 1970’s, are no problem. Pastels, on the other hand, are a nightmare; for instance, I can’t tell the difference between the gray and the rose carpeting in a friend’s house.
As someone who has to ask people what color things are on an almost daily basis, I gotta tell you, Mr Floppy, that I typically get as many different colors as people I ask. Not just differing shades of the same color, such as purple or violet. Completely different colors. Granted, this isn’t a scientific study, but it’s my experience over the years. So my answer is, “No, people don’t see colors the same.”
That page needs to be Wittgensteined! Well, he’s mentioned, but it should be deleted in his honour.
Absolutely true. Many, if not most, scientific breakthroughs are accidental. However, this question about color vision has been around for a long time and can also be asked of all other brain functions. Do you and I see the same thing when we see a chair, or a dog, or a tablespoon? I don’t see a lot of intense scientific activity resulting from the question having been asked many times.
It doesn’t help that colorblindness manifests in more than one way.
I’ll let Dave speak for Dave - this only refers to my own experience as someone who officially doesn’t see the same exact colors as “normal” people.
Pure hues don’t give me trouble - even most pastels don’t give me problems. What gives me problems are secondary/tertiary colors with a slight green component.
Getting back to brown - something you see as brown I might see as a red-brown or yellow-brown. Or, as a specific case, I have had a coat that for years I’ve called brown because to me it’s brown. I have since been informed it is actually green. A brownish green, but green - but not to me. Some greens are green to me, but as you shade over towards other colors I’ll start saying “yellow” or “blue” before you do. Or “brown”. Or “grey”.
So, in a sense, I still have a full pallette, but the lid on my green paint is difficult to open and therefore that color doesn’t show up as frequently in my landscapes as yours.
The precise name (although I’ll probably trash the spelling) is deuteranomolous trichromacy - sometimes referred to as “colorweak” or “color deficient” as opposed to “colorblind”. There are some people who don’t see green at all - in which case yes, they would have a smaller palette to work with. But, of course, to someone born with that condition their vision would appear perfectly normal since that’s all they’ve ever known.
Getting back to OP - clearly at least some people perceive color differently than others, and this is traceable to actual biological differences in visual equipment. As to whether or not people with comparable visual systems see the same colors or have just agreed to use the same term for different things - well, we’re back to chasing philosophy and science around the room again.
Very informative answer. thank you