Topic: What if the red I see is the green you see, and the green I see if the red you see?
Anonymous A started this discussion 15 years ago #3,646
> Then why would we both stop at a red light, and go at a green?Because even though we see different things in our mind we are both told a certain color is "red" and that is when we stop. So you see color1 and call it "red" and stop. I see color2 but also call this color "red" and stop as well.
> We can measure colors as wavelengths. Blue is always 250nm.
Yes, but 250nm, or what we all agree on is called "blue" can appear something different in our minds. There is no way to describe a color.
RedFox !rFox/iQSaQ joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 4 minutes later[^] [v] #66,149
We would never know.
Trippy.
Trippy.
Triptych !!DP4/G/5A6 joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 29 minutes later, 34 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #66,188
...Aha. That's interesting!
Broseph !!fxnDb+Ve4 joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 57 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #66,222
OK, now that you understand that, consider this: Imagine a world where everything is green, with no exception. If that were the case, color would not really exist, since there are no other colors to compare it to, so it would not be called green. Another way to think about it, is imagine a world with no color, where everything is shades of grey; a black and white world. Now imagine that I perceive grey as actually being green, but I still call it grey. There is still no color.
No that you understand that, consider this: What if there are lots of things in this world that exist, but it's impossible for us to realize that they exist, because there is nothing to compare it to, like in the example above. What if this universe has a quality that exists, but it's impossible for us to detect because it's ever-present and unvarying everywhere in the universe. It would be impossible for us to describe this quality, or know that it's there, in the same way that someone living in an all green universe can't understand how we perceive green in a universe of several different colors.
No that you understand that, consider this: What if there are lots of things in this world that exist, but it's impossible for us to realize that they exist, because there is nothing to compare it to, like in the example above. What if this universe has a quality that exists, but it's impossible for us to detect because it's ever-present and unvarying everywhere in the universe. It would be impossible for us to describe this quality, or know that it's there, in the same way that someone living in an all green universe can't understand how we perceive green in a universe of several different colors.
!5qPJGR/JRI (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 57 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #66,246
brie !OudrPWaUDQ joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 5 hours later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #66,388
@66,222 (Broseph !!fxnDb+Ve4)
Now consider that one such quality could be a spatial dimension that we do not perceive. Consider that "nothing" only exists as a concept in your mind. There is no region of space in which you will find nothing. So, imagine a fourth dimension (not time, you troll, a 4th spatial dimension) and a fifth dimension and a sixth dimension, ad infinitum, and it all contains stuff.
Now think about how the observable universe, the earth, humanity, and yourself fit into this scenario.
Mind blown?
Also, did anybody else cross their eyes to make the red and green strawberries overlap?
It's cool, the color switches between red and green.
;D
Now consider that one such quality could be a spatial dimension that we do not perceive. Consider that "nothing" only exists as a concept in your mind. There is no region of space in which you will find nothing. So, imagine a fourth dimension (not time, you troll, a 4th spatial dimension) and a fifth dimension and a sixth dimension, ad infinitum, and it all contains stuff.
Now think about how the observable universe, the earth, humanity, and yourself fit into this scenario.
Mind blown?
Also, did anybody else cross their eyes to make the red and green strawberries overlap?
It's cool, the color switches between red and green.
;D
(Edited 8 minutes later.)
The Owl !yshAAUvyds joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 4 hours later, 12 hours after the original post[^] [v] #66,454
!5qPJGR/JRI (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 1 hour later, 13 hours after the original post[^] [v] #66,555
@66,388 (brie !OudrPWaUDQ)
time could be the fourth dimension. Yes, a spacial one. Imagine each and everything in the universe that we perceive existing in the three dimensions we already know (height, width, length), and "going across" a forth dimension. This is what we call time, but have have only recently thought of as spacial as well.
time could be the fourth dimension. Yes, a spacial one. Imagine each and everything in the universe that we perceive existing in the three dimensions we already know (height, width, length), and "going across" a forth dimension. This is what we call time, but have have only recently thought of as spacial as well.
Broseph !!fxnDb+Ve4 replied with this 15 years ago, 39 minutes later, 14 hours after the original post[^] [v] #66,582
@66,454 (The Owl !yshAAUvyds)
Except those dimensions can be shown to exist, through observations and experiments involving complex mathematics and theories, but a universe where everything is green would never be able to come up with a theory for other colors. The concept is similar though, in the sense that we will never be able to really experience those dimensions, or ever really fully understand them, just like we could never know what it's like to see the full electromagnetic spectrum in the way we see visible light, just like those people in another universe will never know what it's like to see colors other than green.
Except those dimensions can be shown to exist, through observations and experiments involving complex mathematics and theories, but a universe where everything is green would never be able to come up with a theory for other colors. The concept is similar though, in the sense that we will never be able to really experience those dimensions, or ever really fully understand them, just like we could never know what it's like to see the full electromagnetic spectrum in the way we see visible light, just like those people in another universe will never know what it's like to see colors other than green.
The Owl !yshAAUvyds replied with this 15 years ago, 3 hours later, 18 hours after the original post[^] [v] #66,824
@previous (Broseph !!fxnDb+Ve4)
> a universe where everything is green would never be able to come up with a theory for other colors
Yes they could. They could observe that the wavelength for green is 510 nm. A simple thought experiment could provide a theory for another wavelength showing a colour that isn't green (and an experiment could make a validated observation of the phenomenon)
> a universe where everything is green would never be able to come up with a theory for other colors
Yes they could. They could observe that the wavelength for green is 510 nm. A simple thought experiment could provide a theory for another wavelength showing a colour that isn't green (and an experiment could make a validated observation of the phenomenon)
(Edited 48 seconds later.)
Anonymous H joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 15 minutes later, 18 hours after the original post[^] [v] #66,829
Broseph !!fxnDb+Ve4 replied with this 15 years ago, 7 hours later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #67,183
@66,824 (The Owl !yshAAUvyds)
@previous (H)
Exactly this. Yes, all light would theoretically have a wavelength of 510nm to us, but in a world with nothing but green light, it would be like us imagining gravity or the speed of light having different constants. Which we can do, but even if they imagined light having different wavelengths, it would never occur to them that light at different wavelengths would appear as different colors.
@previous (H)
Exactly this. Yes, all light would theoretically have a wavelength of 510nm to us, but in a world with nothing but green light, it would be like us imagining gravity or the speed of light having different constants. Which we can do, but even if they imagined light having different wavelengths, it would never occur to them that light at different wavelengths would appear as different colors.
brie !OudrPWaUDQ replied with this 15 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #67,206
@previous (Broseph !!fxnDb+Ve4)
> it would never occur to them that light at different wavelengths would appear as different colors.
Unless it did. Someone in that universe, who by chance invented the concept of a spectrum of "colors" could build a computer that represents "color" in some fashion.
You would have to imagine what these "other colors" would look like, but it wouldn't be impossible to arise at such an idea. A sufficiently motivated being in that universe could conceive of, represent in some manner and convey the idea of color to it's fellow beings.
Just because we can't perceive something doesn't mean we can't conceive of something. Once conceived, there is always a way to represent and convey such conceptions.
> it would never occur to them that light at different wavelengths would appear as different colors.
Unless it did. Someone in that universe, who by chance invented the concept of a spectrum of "colors" could build a computer that represents "color" in some fashion.
You would have to imagine what these "other colors" would look like, but it wouldn't be impossible to arise at such an idea. A sufficiently motivated being in that universe could conceive of, represent in some manner and convey the idea of color to it's fellow beings.
Just because we can't perceive something doesn't mean we can't conceive of something. Once conceived, there is always a way to represent and convey such conceptions.
The Owl !yshAAUvyds replied with this 15 years ago, 7 hours later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #67,348
Mister Misanthrope !NPN/W33CeE joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #67,390
I thought about this a while ago.
Serious answer: The odds are unlikely, the physiology for color detection is roughly the same from one person to the next. If anything had an effect it might be a vague tinting effect of eye color - bright blue eyes for example have better night vision and some other advantages, so it's possible the light reflection gets colored slightly by the blue iris. It's still probably about the same though. Then again, you never know - just in the same way you never know if you're the only real person and that everyone else isn't some kind of robot.
Silly answer: If your version of red and green are switched, both the grass and the blood in your world must be fucking disgusting. The blood must look like slime and the grass must look like cut open fish gills. Fuck.
The real question, I think, is what UV light looks like.
Serious answer: The odds are unlikely, the physiology for color detection is roughly the same from one person to the next. If anything had an effect it might be a vague tinting effect of eye color - bright blue eyes for example have better night vision and some other advantages, so it's possible the light reflection gets colored slightly by the blue iris. It's still probably about the same though. Then again, you never know - just in the same way you never know if you're the only real person and that everyone else isn't some kind of robot.
Silly answer: If your version of red and green are switched, both the grass and the blood in your world must be fucking disgusting. The blood must look like slime and the grass must look like cut open fish gills. Fuck.
The real question, I think, is what UV light looks like.
(Edited 21 seconds later.)
Anonymous J joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 19 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #67,413
Very much possible, very much unlikely.
If that was the case then certain colors wouldn't look good together like they look good together for everyone else.
If that was the case then certain colors wouldn't look good together like they look good together for everyone else.
The Owl !yshAAUvyds replied with this 15 years ago, 2 hours later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #67,489
@67,390 (Mister Misanthrope !NPN/W33CeE)
> The real question, I think, is what UV light looks like.
Like ultra-voilet.
> The real question, I think, is what UV light looks like.
Like ultra-voilet.