Seeing the world through rose coloured glasses?

[kawasakirider]

Hey everyone, the title has nothing to do with the topic, just a play on words. I have a question that I'd like you guys to ponder and reply with your answers. This is something that has bothered me for years, since I was little actually. OK so here's the question...

How do we know that we all see the same colours? For example, the colour red is universally known as red. We are all brought up seeing a certain colour and being told that it's red, but how do we know that everyone sees each colour the same?

Sorry if I haven't conveyed this properly, I put the same question to someone and they couldn't wrap their head around what I was saying for a while. This might sound like a silly question, but it's something that has always made me think.

It also has some relevance to our reptiles. If we cannot definitively say that we each see the same colours, then how can we be certain that our reptiles see in thermal vision? Sure, they have heat pits and they flick their tongues, but how do we know they can't see in similar ways to us? I'm quite certain after watching my snakes that they have keener eyesight then some "experts" lead us to believe. I've put room temperature things in front of them, and witnessed them move away from it with no tongue flicking whatsoever.

Just something to think about

 

[Firedrake]

I know what you mean, I've thought about that alot. Nobody understood what I meant when I asked them either haha. Surely snakes would have better eyesight than just relying on their sense of taste/smell or heat sensing? Why would they not have good eyesight too? What about burrowing species like BHP and Womas? They spend alot of time in the dirt, so would they not need as good eyesight as say a GTP or Jungle?

 

[viciousred]

*brain explodes* Thats going to bug me for the rest of my life.

 

[kawasakirider]

*brain explodes* Thats going to bug me for the rest of my life.

So you understood me then? That's great!

I know what you mean, I've thought about that alot. Nobody understood what I meant when I asked them either haha. Surely snakes would have better eyesight than just relying on their sense of taste/smell or heat sensing? Why would they not have good eyesight too? What about burrowing species like BHP and Womas? They spend alot of time in the dirt, so would they not need as good eyesight as say a GTP or Jungle?

Yeah, all good things to think about. I think the snakes undoubtedly use their heat detecting skills, but I also believe they can see properly.

I'm really keen to see if many people think the way "eye" think about human sight, too

 

[viciousred]

Yes I get it lol I will not trip out, I will not trip out..... ;p

 

[vampstorso]

I studied this quite some time ago...so my info is gonna be quite sketchy haha, so don't take it for gospel so much as a starting point for your own research

colour is created by how light is absorbed or reflected by materials/objects, isnt it?
and hence our eyes don't create colour so much as interoperate it...

when someone is "colour blind" they don't see black and white...but instead we have two sets of colours we see through (can't remember them...it's something totally random though like orange and blue etc etc)
so they may only see two colours but in different shades for everything. e.g. Once I thought a boy a babysat was colourblind...because he called EVERYTHING "orange" no matter what.
They once injected bacteria into monkeys eyes allow them to start seeing colours the way we do... (I'd link you but I can't remember and cant be stuffed googling)

as for how we see colour, it's species based. Obviously whatever we consider red, is how our eyes see the way a material absorbs light, and hence may not be red to other species.. (but why do we even care what colour an animal see's? it's still uniform..everytime we show them the same shed of red...it'd still be the same shade of whatever they see too them)


i could've phased all this better and gotten more scientific...but I'm halfway through feeding my fat teenage face haha

assuming you're "normal" within the species, you'd see colour the same...e.g. we don't all breath or smell differently.

 

[viciousred]

Yeah, all good things to think about. I think the snakes undoubtedly use their heat detecting skills, but I also believe they can see properly.

Deffinattly agree with that. My snakes can distinguish between me and my partner through glass

 

[kawasakirider]

Yes I get it lol I will not trip out, I will not trip out..... ;p

Speaking of tripping out, another thing to take into consideration is LSD. When people take it, they have a variety of different experiences, from tasting colours to smelling numbers, etc. So if our brains can get muddled up with our senses, it's not too far fetched to think that we may all see colour differently.

I studied this quite some time ago...so my info is gonna be quite sketchy haha, so don't take it for gospel so much as a starting point for your own research

colour is created by how light is absorbed or reflected by materials/objects, isnt it?
and hence our eyes don't create colour so much as interoperate it...

when someone is "colour blind" they don't see black and white...but instead we have two sets of colours we see through (can't remember them...it's something totally random though like orange and blue etc etc)
so they may only see two colours but in different shades for everything. e.g. Once I thought a boy a babysat was colourblind...because he called EVERYTHING "orange" no matter what.
They once injected bacteria into monkeys eyes allow them to start seeing colours the way we do... (I'd link you but I can't remember and cant be stuffed googling)

as for how we see colour, it's species based. Obviously whatever we consider red, is how our eyes see the way a material absorbs light, and hence may not be red to other species.. (but why do we even care what colour an animal see's? it's still uniform..everytime we show them the same shed of red...it'd still be the same shade of whatever they see too them)


i could've phased all this better and gotten more scientific...but I'm halfway through feeding my fat teenage face haha

assuming you're "normal" within the species, you'd see colour the same...e.g. we don't all breath or smell differently.

The highlighted part is exactly what I'm getting at with humans. Yes we have a spectrum of colours, but how do we know each individuals eyes work EXACTLY the same?

 

[vampstorso]

I'm sure if you looked into medical journals it'll tell you quite quickly....and you're at uni so you'd have free access too them...no excuses

but again...assuming you're a normal member of the species, I'd say yes. Because...that's part of being that species.
otherwise we could assume everything else within our bodies works differently per normal individual...

 

[saximus]

This is a massive question in philosophy. I love it because it's so mind blowing and so simple. Supposedly we each have a different number of receptors in our eyes for each colour so it is actually very likely that we see colours differently

 

[Megzz]

This is one of those times I'm glad that I sit back and let scientists tell me whats what.

 

[vampstorso]

Perhaps slightly...but i wouldnt anticipate much change....again Im sure medicine has looked into it for you KR of i wasnt having too write down the ages of death of 12,000 people one by one right now, Id find a journal for you lol

 

[kawasakirider]

This is a massive question in philosophy. I love it because it's so mind blowing and so simple. Supposedly we each have a different number of receptors in our eyes for each colour so it is actually very likely that we see colours differently

EXACTLY!! Science can't prove or disprove it (yet), and it is such a simple, obvious question. Is it really a well known philosophical question? The amount of people I'd asked, that have looked at me like an idiot, or been completely unable to wrap their head around such a simple concept is ridiculous.

This is one of those times I'm glad that I sit back and let scientists tell me whats what.

Don't you have the urge to know for yourself, though? Just because a scientist says so, doesn't mean it's gospel. The thing with science, is that it's all refutable, so don't you question things?

Perhaps slightly...but i wouldnt anticipate much change....again Im sure medicine has looked into it for you KR of i wasnt having too write down the ages of death of 12,000 people one by one right now, Id find a journal for you lol

I'm sure medicine has looked into it, but I doubt it could be proven Vamps. I did a quick look up on the net, and Sax is right, this is something that has been pondered for a long time without any answers.

 

[saximus]

Yeah it's great for philosophy because it also relates to perception. It's possible that we will never know because it isn't only about what our eyes see but how the brain interprets it (the perception part). They great concept that our eyes are just a lens and the brain is the camera that does the "seeing" relates to it as well

 

[Firedrake]

Um sorry to burst your bubble but we do smell things differently Except that when things smell different to what others smell them as it actually smells, well, different Not like if you see one color and to someone else your green could be purple but it's still called green, more like I could smell vegimite and someone else could smell the same thing as being bread cooking. Or I had plain chilled water once but to me it tasted like apples...

Haha how's the brain now viciousred?

 

[KaotikJezta]

One of the first lessons you learn in art history is that art is subjective for exactly that reason, everyone perceives what they see in a different way. Thats what is interesting about acid, sometimes people hallucinate the exact same thing at the same time even though they see real things completely differently to each other. Gotta love trippy conversations.

 

[Firedrake]

And we will never know how another person perceives the world no matter how many experiments we do.

 

[vampstorso]

did you look on the net in general, or specifically for journals?

lol at calling me vamps despite the new name


may i ask why you wonder this so much?
I figure it'd be compensated in the fact that whatever each individual considers red...will always stay the same and hence we can still communicate by saying "the red sign" etc.

 

[kawasakirider]

One of the first lessons you learn in art history is that art is subjective for exactly that reason, everyone perceives what they see in a different way. Thats what is interesting about acid, sometimes people hallucinate the exact same thing at the same time even though they see real things completely differently to each other. Gotta love trippy conversations.

If I wasn't anti-drug I'd give acid a go. I just don't like the results of what they can do, lol. It is definitely interesting how it can change the way your brain perceives things. Imagine tasting colour, lol.

 

[saximus]

Maybe it's just a personal thing but I understand why KR finds it so interesting. I guess you aren't one that shares a fascination for this type of philosophy Denture girl