2008 Woodie Awards
We're all colorblind!
Justin Lindborg, Columnist
Issue date: 11/21/06
Last Updated: 12/26/07
When one describes a gorgeous sunset or a tropical flower, they cannot help but list colors as the major component of the beauty. In fact, it is almost impossible to consider the concept of these things without heavy dependence on their color. In essence these things, along with rainbows, rainforests, works of art and countless others, have color as an integral part of their existence. However, there is no objectivity to color. The colors that render so much descriptive ability are nothing more than subjective impressions left in each person's mind. One can no more determine if he sees the same color as someone else than he can read the other's thoughts.
This leads to a question: What if humankind is all colorblind? Think about it; we each assign values to a particular wavelength of light and are brought up with a name assigned to it. Your blue could very well be my red. This could explain why each person has a favorite color. There could very well be a color universally appealing to humans, only we call them different names as they appear different to each subjective individual.
Maybe this goes beyond mere light wavelengths. Maybe there is a direct correlation between a person's view of the world and how much color she sees. A person with a bubbly, happy personality may very well see much brighter colors than her counterpart with little imagination. If a person only has a little more imaginative talent, they may be able to see the world clearer.
But what if all humans' view colors the same? What if by some freak of nature we were all to lose our vision of color tomorrow? Would it make a difference? In our day-to-day lives, there would be a few significant differences. Traffic lights could still function because the position of the lights is universally the same. Flashing red or yellow lights, however, would no longer convey the same meaning. To a suddenly color-blind populace, a flashing light could mean yield or stop. In addition, we wouldn't be able to distinguish a flashing police light from that of a street sweeper. Needless to say, all of these possible consequences are not insurmountable.
Although these results would be momentarily chaotic, the longer reaching psychological effects could prove more devastating. How would humanity react if they could no longer see the beauty of a mountain landscape or the northern lights? There is such a thing as seasonal depression resulting from overcast skies. How much more depressing is never seeing color? Maybe we do need color in life.
All of us should seriously consider this. What if all the colors we see in the world are just machinations of our mind? Would humanity be able to cope without color? There may be no limits to what we can see, no answers to these questions and no way to know if what we see corresponds with the rest of humanity.
This leads to a question: What if humankind is all colorblind? Think about it; we each assign values to a particular wavelength of light and are brought up with a name assigned to it. Your blue could very well be my red. This could explain why each person has a favorite color. There could very well be a color universally appealing to humans, only we call them different names as they appear different to each subjective individual.
Maybe this goes beyond mere light wavelengths. Maybe there is a direct correlation between a person's view of the world and how much color she sees. A person with a bubbly, happy personality may very well see much brighter colors than her counterpart with little imagination. If a person only has a little more imaginative talent, they may be able to see the world clearer.
But what if all humans' view colors the same? What if by some freak of nature we were all to lose our vision of color tomorrow? Would it make a difference? In our day-to-day lives, there would be a few significant differences. Traffic lights could still function because the position of the lights is universally the same. Flashing red or yellow lights, however, would no longer convey the same meaning. To a suddenly color-blind populace, a flashing light could mean yield or stop. In addition, we wouldn't be able to distinguish a flashing police light from that of a street sweeper. Needless to say, all of these possible consequences are not insurmountable.
Although these results would be momentarily chaotic, the longer reaching psychological effects could prove more devastating. How would humanity react if they could no longer see the beauty of a mountain landscape or the northern lights? There is such a thing as seasonal depression resulting from overcast skies. How much more depressing is never seeing color? Maybe we do need color in life.
All of us should seriously consider this. What if all the colors we see in the world are just machinations of our mind? Would humanity be able to cope without color? There may be no limits to what we can see, no answers to these questions and no way to know if what we see corresponds with the rest of humanity.
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