By the first bullet point, I suppose it could be said that color is a function of our brain rather than a function of our eye. Maybe this is one of the reasons dogs are colorblind, as higher brain function might be related to the ability to perceive more colors. I think this may be a generalization, though, since I think bees actually see more color than us (which is probably a result of evolution and the necessity of seeing the colors in flowers)
jinweiwong
@brandonlouie Interesting insight! Some animals have also evolved to forgo their color vision altogether, and instead opted to have night vision. An example would be bats, where most species are monochromatic. This is due to the high concentration of rods in their retina as opposed to cones.
davidmyang
To keep adding to the first bullet point, color perception is even dependent on the language we speak! Speakers of a language which has a clear naming distinction between blue and "light blue" (similar to how English has a distinction between red and orange), will do better when tested on distinguishing the two colors vs people who speak a language that just calls "light blue" blue.
jacky-p
Color being a phenomenon of human perception is interesting. Especially, like previously said, various different organisms interpret colors in different ways. Like bees which can seem more ultra-violet colors than humans and one of their reasons for this could be their evolution so they could spot nectar more easily.
weinatalie
Building off of davidmyang’s comment, I remember learning that historians theorized heavily over whether Ancient Greeks perceived the color blue because the color blue was seldom mentioned in Greek texts. For example, Homer referred to the Aegean as a “wine-dark sea” and the sky as “bronze.” This led some historians to theorize that the ground water they used to brew wine was so alkaline that it changed wine from red to blue. Others believed that the Ancient Greeks’ retinas were simply less perceptive to color than the modern human. It’s now more widely accepted that while they perceived the color, they simply did not have a word for it the same way that we do now.
dhruvchowdhary
@weinatalie Yeah, I totally agree. This shows how we see colors can be influenced by the words we have for them. If our language makes a clear distinction between shades, like light blue versus blue, we might see them more clearly. It's a reminder that when creating graphics, considering how different people might see and name colors is important.
Songbird94
I’ve never heard of the greek myth with blue before! Although the conclusion is they perceive the similar color it’s still fascinating thinking.
By the first bullet point, I suppose it could be said that color is a function of our brain rather than a function of our eye. Maybe this is one of the reasons dogs are colorblind, as higher brain function might be related to the ability to perceive more colors. I think this may be a generalization, though, since I think bees actually see more color than us (which is probably a result of evolution and the necessity of seeing the colors in flowers)
@brandonlouie Interesting insight! Some animals have also evolved to forgo their color vision altogether, and instead opted to have night vision. An example would be bats, where most species are monochromatic. This is due to the high concentration of rods in their retina as opposed to cones.
To keep adding to the first bullet point, color perception is even dependent on the language we speak! Speakers of a language which has a clear naming distinction between blue and "light blue" (similar to how English has a distinction between red and orange), will do better when tested on distinguishing the two colors vs people who speak a language that just calls "light blue" blue.
Color being a phenomenon of human perception is interesting. Especially, like previously said, various different organisms interpret colors in different ways. Like bees which can seem more ultra-violet colors than humans and one of their reasons for this could be their evolution so they could spot nectar more easily.
Building off of davidmyang’s comment, I remember learning that historians theorized heavily over whether Ancient Greeks perceived the color blue because the color blue was seldom mentioned in Greek texts. For example, Homer referred to the Aegean as a “wine-dark sea” and the sky as “bronze.” This led some historians to theorize that the ground water they used to brew wine was so alkaline that it changed wine from red to blue. Others believed that the Ancient Greeks’ retinas were simply less perceptive to color than the modern human. It’s now more widely accepted that while they perceived the color, they simply did not have a word for it the same way that we do now.
@weinatalie Yeah, I totally agree. This shows how we see colors can be influenced by the words we have for them. If our language makes a clear distinction between shades, like light blue versus blue, we might see them more clearly. It's a reminder that when creating graphics, considering how different people might see and name colors is important.
I’ve never heard of the greek myth with blue before! Although the conclusion is they perceive the similar color it’s still fascinating thinking.