Do We See Color The Same?...
Color does not exist outside the brain. That much we know. This is because electrons, which are colorless and are much of the composition of atoms, reflect light at different frequencies (based on the number of electrons present in an element or material), and these wavelengths of light can be interpreted by the mind (this is also how spectroscopy is possible: the science of looking at a planetary body with a special telescope and decoding its elemental composition). The brain, then, identifies specific wavelengths by attributing to them a specific color, and these colors vary by specimen (this is why humans cannot see much of the color spectrum compared to some animals, and yet we can see vast amounts of it compared to other animals). In short, scientifically speaking, in reality, all objects are shades of grey, and color is a fabrication of our minds based on the wavelengths of light we interpret (you probably have figured out by now that I find sensory psychology quite interesting).
Now, I can already see the arguments forming against me, so I'll say this: wavelengths in light beams are recorded by photoreceptors in our eyes, which then take the form of nueral impulses and are transducted so that these wavelengths can be interpreted by the brain. The neural impulses we precieve as "light." That is why color does not exist in the real, physical world, and we instead create color in our minds.
So we have established that color, according to science, does not exist in reality (thus why colorblindness exists). But we still perceive color, and that is because our brains, and the brains of nearly every organism with a brain, uses color to identify objects. This raises the question: do all people and life forms see color the same way, or do we differ on what we perceive as color? Of course, humans can see a much wider range of colors than felines or dogs, and similar differences in perceptions of the color spectrum are apparent throughout the animal kingdom. What I am asking is: is red to one person the same as red to another person, or to a dog?
If you are confused thus far, just bear with me - I will explain it all as best I can. Essentially, scientists still argue over whether what one individual sees and what another individual sees they both perceive as being the same color. For instance, what I see as red, you may see as blue, but both of us call it “red,” because that is the way we were taught. Unfortunately, there is still no way to know if we see color the same, because the names we have been attributing to colors cannot be compared with anyone else’s perception of color (as that would involve literally looking at the world through someone else’s eyes).
Imagine that you are looking at a painting: green hills, blue sky, white clouds…But I may see a totally different scene. Perhaps the hills, though both you and me call them “green,” look like how you see blue through my eyes. Or perhaps the clouds would look like purple through my eyes, if you could only see the painting through my vision and with my brian. I am so fascinated by this prospect, and I do hope to be alive when we finally uncover the answer.
Of course, some perceptions we can immediately categorize as different, so to speak. For instance, those who have been blind since birth (as in, those who have never seen even a tiny tinge of color) will not see color at all. They will not see black or darkness, as there would be no color they have ever perceived to compare it with. They will see nothing at all. If this is hard to imagine, I did hear these helpful little analogies: close one eye, and focus on something with the other eye. You do not see the darkness in the closed eye when you do this. Another one states: “if you want to know what a completely blind person sees, how much can you see with your elbow?”
Then there is the topic of darkness. Color cannot be perceived in darkness (or, at least it is much harder to perceive), because of the composition of the photoreceptors of our eyes. Our eyes contain rods (which are sensitive to dim light but not color) and cones (which are sensitive to color but not dim light). In darkness, we have a tremendously difficult time perceiving color because our eyes utilize the rods, which cannot detect color. Therefore, there is a difference in color perception in dark versus in well-illuminated environments, when light exists that can reflect off of objects.
Now, back to the original question: do we see color in the same way? To tell you the truth, I have often shifted my opinions on this. My initial opinion was: “no, what evidence is there to support that?” A world in which green hills are red hills and blue skies are yellow skies would look terrifying to anyone…Except to those who already see what one person sees as “green” red and what one person sees as “blue” yellow. It would look chaotic and surreal to someone else, but completely normal to the person who has been living with it for their whole life. In this sense, the sky is still “blue,” but what I call blue, you may see as orange, and what you call blue, I may see as purple (pretty neat, isn’t it?).
Of course, there are some color combinations that we are (theoretically) unable to perceive. This is known as the “Opponent Processing Theory,” or the theory that there are some color combinations that one will never see. For example, can you think of something that is reddish-green, or yellowish-blue? I can’t. According to this theory, these colors will never exist blended together in a way that we can discern both of them at the same time. So how does this contribute to our question? It means that, perhaps, there may be a chance that we interpret colors in a similar manner (but not necessarily the same way). This is, of course, largely theoretical.
After my “we do not see color the same way” phase had passed, I moved on to the exact opposite one: “color,” I stated, “must be discerned in a universal context.” My reasoning was this: if we see color differently, then why would animals of a particular species camouflage themselves? For truly, it would seem that a polar bear with white fur could hide well in the icy white polar regions, but if that polar bear was orange to someone else, then there would be contrast, and the camouflage would not be beneficial.
I was in this phase for but a short time, because I soon realized that even if one person saw the polar bear as orange, it would still be well camouflaged, as the snowy background would also be orange to them. (Yet, the color would still be called “white” unversally)! So, it would appear that there are no inconsistencies to either side of this argument. Both possibilities - those of everyone and everything that can perceive color seeing it the same way versus seeing it differently - are equally valid, because there is no evidence in support or against either side (so far).
Once again, I am completely neutral on this topic. I find this so fascinating. We do know, at least: color does not really exist, completely blind people do not see any form of color (even darkness), and I tend to write about subjects that are probably not important to the world for way too long. But for now, I do not know if what we call “orange” I see as green, and you see as pink. But regardless, we both call it “orange.”