Do We All See The Same Colors?
By Jane M.
All of us have probably at some point wondered if we all see the same colors. One person’s orange might be another person’s green, for example, and we would never know. In fact, scientists have recently stated that it is very likely that we do not perceive colors the same way.
We see different colors based on past experiences. Our brains develop our perception of colors over time. Light is real, but the colors of the wavelengths that we perceive are made by our mind.
Inside our eyes, we have rods and cones, two types of photoreceptor cells. As stated by faculty.washington.edu, cones are the cells that distinguish colors from one another. Most people have three types of cones, which sense blues, greens, and reds, according to bbc.com. Colorblind people have only two types of cones, and people known as tetrachromats have four. These people can easily distinguish similar shades of color. But someone who has the normal three types of cones interprets certain colors based on past experiences. Someone’s cones may be programmed differently than other people, so they would identify short wavelengths as something called blue, and longer wavelengths as red. But someone else could call them the same things but see them the other way around. It is all subjective.
However, it is very likely that we see the same colors, but in different shades. Since no two people are the same and no two people’s minds are the same, our brains interpret information differently. This could cause me to see the sky as dark blue, while you may see a lighter greenish/blue.
There is truly no way to know if you and I see the same color, but the colors do make us feel the same way. For example, your blue might be my red, but the way that the short wavelengths make us feel is the same. Everyone feels calmer looking at the sky or the ocean, even though we may see them differently. But there is really no way to figure out if you are seeing my blue when you are looking at the sky. We will probably never know.
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