Color

The podcast presents a summary of the opinions of different contributors about the origin of color and its existence as a physical element or as an expression of an idea that we attribute to an object. The first one to wonder about color was Newton who experimented with a prism by letting a light pass through it a “colored image of the sun” was what Newton called it. It came to popular belief that the glass prism was what held color within it. Newton was to get a second prism to apply it to the first prism. The color of the prism would not change. Meaning that light was a physical element that could be manipulated and tested. The big question became do colors begin in the world but finish in the mind leading to our perception of what color is?

Next, a neuroscientist discusses the effect of the physical composition of the eye and the number of sensors that are present in different creatures compared to humans. He describes the ability to see color in a wider range depending on the number of cones in the eye. For example, humans have 3 receptors, butterflies have 6 and the mantis shrimp has 16. Based on an experiment of color perception by monkeys that received a lasik operation and where able to identify more colors after the procedure, we can conclude that it is possible to boost human vision if FDA were to approve it. To support that theory experts, speak about the chromosomic composition of individuals. Research shows that woman have two sets of color making genes, and some are tetrochromatic. However, an experiment on swatches between a tetrochromatic and a regular person doesn’t point to differences.

The opposite idea is evaluated next when the speakers discuss the power of the mind creating an idea of color. Homer is believed to had been color blinded because in his poems there are repetitions of objects and places of different colors. Black and white are mentioned hundreds of times, red and yellow about 15 times and there is no mention of blue.

Another contributor explains the idea of teaching language to a child. When the parent fails to provide a name for the color blue in the sky, the child cannot make that connection. When we create a category for an element such as one word for color blue, we noticed it more. Therefore, the existence of color is in ones mind.