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Is your red the same as my red?


spartan max2

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Iv always been curious about this. What if we each see the same colors differently.

Like we all agree that a color is red but how do we know that all of us see it in the same way, what if my red looks different then your red :unsure2:

How would we know?

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Ive always been curious about this. What if we each see the same colors differently.

Like we all agree that a color is red but how do we know that all of us see it in the same way, what if my red looks different then your red :unsure2:

How would we know?

None of us see the same thing, colour perception is perception not whats out there.

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It's pretty easy to test the 'actuality' - just hand two folks a set of paints they can mix up however they like and produce as many shades of red as they want or ask them to produce a bright pure red, and then compare the results... As for what goes in your head, and what your brain really sees, I can't see how it matters given that you can indeed test the subjective reality of the 'definition'...

BTW, as a person with mild deuteranopia (green-red colour perception problem), I get a bit tired of explaining to folks that I don't see in b&w, I can tell the difference for traffic lights very easily, and that there are only some dull shades of red-thru-to-green that I may have a problem identifying.. So some of my perceived colours are definitely not as striking as they may be to you..

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I had always suspected I was color blind, but was told as a child that women aren't. When I was finally tested they said that I was the worst color blind they had ever seen...man or woman. Needless to say, it is such a chore to pick items for the house I don't do a lot of redecorating and save a ton of money. :lol:

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Iv always been curious about this. What if we each see the same colors differently.

Like we all agree that a color is red but how do we know that all of us see it in the same way, what if my red looks different then your red :unsure2:

How would we know?

I see what you are getting at. Sort of the same thing as saying "What if what appears to us as right side up is actually upside down to another species."

What if red was an emotion rather than a color? What if feeling happy is actually feeling scared to someone else?

And even more scientific, why do some people find certain smells offensive while others may find them pleasant.

You definitely posted this in the right section. :tu:

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Iv always been curious about this. What if we each see the same colors differently.

Like we all agree that a color is red but how do we know that all of us see it in the same way, what if my red looks different then your red :unsure2:

How would we know?

We had a topic about this last year -

http://www.unexplain...howtopic=243209

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Iv always been curious about this. What if we each see the same colors differently.

Like we all agree that a color is red but how do we know that all of us see it in the same way, what if my red looks different then your red :unsure2:

How would we know?

ChrLzs answered your question for you. No we don't always see colors the same way... Not all of us do. Still most of us probably do. The reason is that colors evoke psycogical reactions. ( red = hot, blue = cool ... That sort of thing). bright colors on fruit indicate ripeness, certain colors have different functions in nature. The perception of these colors is probably is hard wired in our brains and not a learned perception.

Just my opinion though.

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I too have wonder about this. If my color receptors are slightly different than yours, it is possible we do not see colors the same.

We humans have have 3 color receptors if memory serves. Birds have 4 which means they see colors we do not. Insects can see into the ultra-violet, again, we cannot. But supposedly the animal with the most color receptors is the mantis shrimp which has 16 (!) receptors. We can only dream of how it must perceive its world.

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My wife and a friend and I play this game with cars when we're driving around together or hanging out.

They both tend to see things with less red in them, i.e. I'll call a car purple where they see blue.

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You just can't win........

I like your RED dress...

Its not red its Magenta

Its not red its Mauve

Its not a dress its a long blouse.......and its not Red

As I said you can't win......................

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It's pretty easy to test the 'actuality' - just hand two folks a set of paints they can mix up however they like and produce as many shades of red as they want or ask them to produce a bright pure red, and then compare the results... As for what goes in your head, and what your brain really sees, I can't see how it matters given that you can indeed test the subjective reality of the 'definition'...

BTW, as a person with mild deuteranopia (green-red colour perception problem), I get a bit tired of explaining to folks that I don't see in b&w, I can tell the difference for traffic lights very easily, and that there are only some dull shades of red-thru-to-green that I may have a problem identifying.. So some of my perceived colours are definitely not as striking as they may be to you..

My son is red-green color blind. He hates telling people because then the "what color is this" game starts.

Nibs

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You just can't win........

I like your RED dress...

Its not red its Magenta

Its not red its Mauve

Its not a dress its a long blouse.......and its not Red

As I said you can't win......................

That drives me up a wall since I deal with colors all day.

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I do have trouble with certain of purple, they look blue to me. Not sure that means I am color blind. I pass all the other test.

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Iv always been curious about this. What if we each see the same colors differently.

Like we all agree that a color is red but how do we know that all of us see it in the same way, what if my red looks different then your red :unsure2:

Yeah - love this question. Let's take it a bit farther though. What if red is really green? I mean, you see a color and it looks red, but if you had my eyes it would be green, but I call it red.

How would we know?

You could never know.

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I thought about this when I was a kid but then I thought if they would be different we could prove it . For example we have a disease that called "Color Blindness" .

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I sometimes wonder... when people who've been blind from birth, dream, what do they experience?

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i suppose most people see colors pretty much the same... just as they hear sound frequencies pretty much the same.. it's because we are pretty much the same Physiologically? Some people can hear sound frequencies above or below the average ranges of the average person... and apparently people do have some variation in the way they perceive colors. Some variables might be physiologically based, while others might be sociologically and even geographically based?

If you were taught that teal (blue/green) is blue, or green, that's what you would call it.

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I too have wonder about this. If my color receptors are slightly different than yours, it is possible we do not see colors the same.

We humans have have 3 color receptors if memory serves. Birds have 4 which means they see colors we do not. Insects can see into the ultra-violet, again, we cannot. But supposedly the animal with the most color receptors is the mantis shrimp which has 16 (!) receptors. We can only dream of how it must perceive its world.

That's cool!!!!

But I'm not sure if that makes color different if it were in a human unless they can see further down the spectrum to constitute a new color and mixes with the rest of them.

Still 16. That must be a very bright world.

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In my opinion not necessarily. I think that synaesthesia (the conscious interpretation of a different sense through experiencing the bodily simulation of another sense) is a telltale sign of this. I think color exists purely as an index based on proximity of neuron clusters/systems relative to one another. Similarly to algebra where the letters themselves can be replaced by whatever you like as long as the integrity of the connections and relative nature therein implied is maintained.

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That's cool!!!!

But I'm not sure if that makes color different if it were in a human unless they can see further down the spectrum to constitute a new color and mixes with the rest of them.

Still 16. That must be a very bright world.

Interestingly many mantis shrimp species are extremely colorful perhaps because of their visual acuity, it could help them find a mate or defend territory, although I have seen pure drab white ones as well. They are cool animals with a lightning fast attack that can split open a clam shell or the carapace of a crab. Shrimpers call them "thumb splitters" for good reason. YouTube them, they are quite amazing.

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I can tell the difference for traffic lights very easily,

I would hope so...

Red is Always on Top, and Green is Always on the Bottom.

So any color-blindedness would Never play a part in reading a traffic light.

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I would hope so...

Red is Always on Top, and Green is Always on the Bottom.

So any color-blindedness would Never play a part in reading a traffic light.

except for a red green color blind buddy of my dad's back in the 70's in Canada, they had, in the area he was in, reversed stop lights and he got in an accident thinking he was moving on the green...

I always thought it odd, after that, that we would use two colors for stop and go that we know some people can't differentiate... (shrug)

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None of us know if we are seeing the same colors or not and there is no way to test or prove it. The whole question basically breaks down to experience and perception of which we can't prove either since none of us can tell what someone else is experiencing or perceiving. When you think about it the only reason we all call the same color red, blue, green, or any other color is that when we where little we where showed a color and told that what we are perceiving is red, blue, green or any other color. If you really want to mess with your mind some and start to question if anything is even real at all look up the sophist, with the three I would recommend being Protagoras, Gorgias, and Thrasymachus.

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