What's your favorite colour?

[Arkendale]

Oh my God, here we go again

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Yeah. Hope you have fun. :D "

[213374U]

I'm not going to argue with you about whether or not black and white are colours (because they're not) but there's nothing random about the brain's interpretation at all... in fact much of our perception is in fact based on subconscious assumptions made by the brain

No, the relations between colours and how they are established by our brain are probably not random, but this is more of a philosophical question and it's not what I meant. Basically, the interpretation of the brain is random, since the only relation between a colour and the wavelength it's produced by is in our brain. It's not a universal property of radiation and it's restricted to us. In fact, how can you assure that by "red" I think of the same perceived colour as you do? Most likely I do, but that probably has more to do with the fact that we share a common genome than to an inherent property of light.

 

 

Black and White aren't colours?

Yep, they are. You see them as different colours, which makes them colours by definition, regardless of the causes why you see them (that is, they don't have specific wavelengths assigned to them).

[thepixiesrock]

I'm no artist or anything, but when I took art class in middle school, I was told white is when you see all of the colors, and black was when you see none of the colors...

 

But what numbersman said about the two being colors because you see them as different colors I agree with.

[Walsingham]

Thanks 213374U, you're the *****.

 

He also has a point in terms of perception. viz colour-blind people, and synaesthetics. Synaesthetics get cross-wired effects. For example they sometimes see sound, or hear smell.

[Darth_Schmarth]

I always wondered whether all people perceived different colours differently.

[Reveilled]

Are people who are red/green colourblind capable of distinguishing between colours in between red and green on the spectrum? Like, can they tell the difference between red and orange?

 

I wonder what colour red/gree looks to a colourblind person. Does it look red, or does it look green? And does a spectrum look all screwed up to them?

[Dark Moth]

Are people who are red/green colourblind capable of distinguishing between colours in between red and green on the spectrum?  Like, can they tell the difference between red and orange?

 

I wonder what colour red/gree looks to a colourblind person.  Does it look red, or does it look green?  And does a spectrum look all screwed up to them?

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I talked to a colorblind person and to him green looked like a dark gray, and red looked yellowish. But it varies from person to person depending on their type of colorblindness. That's always seemed depressing to me because every time they step outside they'll see gray grass and trees instead of green.

[thepixiesrock]

Yeah, thats really something to be depressed about...

[213374U]

But what is "green"? Each person perceiving colours differently would go a long way toward explaining why different people find different colours more pleasant than others.

[Walsingham]

But what is "green"? Each person perceiving colours differently would go a long way toward explaining why different people find different colours more pleasant than others.

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Now THERE walks a PhD thesis...

[Darth_Schmarth]

But what is "green"? Each person perceiving colours differently would go a long way toward explaining why different people find different colours more pleasant than others.

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My point exactly.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Green is light within a certain area of wavelength, like so:

 

 

 

 

the odds are that everyone percieves green in exactly the same way.. unless your colourblind fo course

[213374U]

Green is light within a certain area of wavelength, like so:

 

 

 

 

the odds are that everyone percieves green in exactly the same way.. unless your colourblind fo course

Uh, no. That is not green. "Green" is a random interpretation our brain gives to that light. The idea itself of "green" is as random as is calling it green.

 

While I agree with you that odds are that everyone perceives it the same way (due to genetic reasons, I guess), right now there is no way to know for sure.

[Darth Launch]

There are many things we have to take into consideration when trying to understand colour perception, such as colour constancy, but there's no point in me reciting my colour perception lecture on here.

 

While I agree with you that odds are that everyone perceives it the same way (due to genetic reasons, I guess), right now there is no way to know for sure.

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This is known as Qualia, but the only way they can test this is by observing whether similar neurons fire at the same time for different people at the perception of a certain colour, but of course, this is more of a philosophical question.

 

DL

[Darkside]

How? How do you manage to spark an intellectual debate from something as mindless as "favorite colors"? It's like finding enlightenment from a can of soup.

[Darth Flatus]

The debate is not really intellectual, don't let the long words fool you! It is people butting heads over semantics.

 

Talking about colours is not mindless.

[Darkside]

Talking about colours is not mindless.

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Perhaps not, but it doesn't require this much thought to name your favorite color. Unless you love them all.

[thepixiesrock]

I smell conspiracy...

[213374U]

The debate is not really intellectual, don't let the long words fool you! It is people butting heads over semantics.

No, it's not really an intellectual debate. But it's not just semantics either. Don't dismiss what you don't understand.

[Darth_Schmarth]

I agree that calling it a mere semantic argument is unfair and completely wrong for that matter.

[Arkendale]

My brain hurts.......Ow.

[Darth_Schmarth]

Brains are overrated. I sold mine to a science project.

[metadigital]

...electronic orbitals are quantized...

I don't have a clue what this means, but I think I understand the general thrust of your post. Fair enough.

Since a photon is an energy "packet" released by an excited electron that returns to a lower state of energy, there can only be as many different packets as differences in energy there are between possible orbitals in a given element (an orbital is a region of space where the chance to find an electron is max). Since orbitals are specifically predicted and calculated by Schr

[213374U]

Ah, but just because the brain cannot differentiate between two different types of yellow, doesn't mean they don't exist.

That is based on the wrong assumption that "colour" is an inherent quality of radiation. I'm not discussing wavelengths, but the definition of a colour. Two radiations may have a slightly different wavelength, but if the brain can't tell the difference, then as far as colours are concerned, there isn't one.

 

 

So, although your quantum mechanical explanation is accurate (to today's knowledge), you have forgotten that different colours can be made by accumulating, too. This means that it is still possible to have our infinite number of colours, we just need a lot more photons.

No, I haven't forgotten. But as I said in a previous post, regardless of the wavelength, a light intense enough will be perceived by the brain as white. A perfect example of this are stars. There are quite a few different colours, but close enough you can only tell their colour by observing the corona, and that's impossible unless there is something blocking the bulk of the light, as in an eclipse. While mathematically I would agree with you, the limits are placed by biology.

[metadigital]

Curse this metal body, I wasn't fast enough, R2!