Do we all see the same colour?

Question

Colour blind people aside, Do we know that we all see the same colour? Just because we are told that the sky is blue, do we all see the same colour i.e. blue, or is my perception of what is blue the same as someone else's, We call it the same thing but do we see it the same? The grass is green but does everyone see the same green as I see? Does colour therefore have a true meaning, or is it just a label that we put on it?

Answer 1

I feel that it is just a label.
Imagine if all the babies on an island were told that the leaves of a tree are purple, they will all take the naming of that colour to be purple while people off the island would still call it green.

When these people meet the off-the-island people, they would just assume that those people are mad!

Answer 2

Similarly you might say does a tree make a noise when it falls in the woods if no one is around to hear it. We do not all spell the word color the same. So it is quiet possible we see varying degrees of shade and tint based upon our ability to focus, the amount of light available at a given time and many other conditions that might affect the brains receiving of the signal. The probability therefore that we all see exactly the same thing is remote but we all see it well enough to distinguish that blue is blue and green is green.

Answer 3

The reason that we see different colours is because of the different wavelengths of light. When light waves have wavelengths outside of the "visible light range," we can not see them. Each of these colours is defined. But that doesn't answer your question. There is a consistency between light for what one person sees, but this does not mean the everyone sees the same stuff. When I see something that is green and someone else looks at it, they may see green, or grün, or verde. We know that it is this colour because we were once told it is. When I taste sugar, it tastes sweet. When someone else tastes sugar it tastes sweet also. Some people like sweet stuff, some people don't. Some people like purple, some people like orange. Maybe the reason that there are so many differences is that people to perceive things differently. Maybe the reason that I like sour stuff more than sweet stuff, because my sour tastes like someone elses sweet. Likewise, maybe the reason I like green and not orange is because my green looks like someone elses orange. People are so different, what is the problem with assuming that senses may also be different. Good question . . . lousy answer :)

Answer 4

In general, we see colours the same, but there are minor variations. Think about the way we relate colours to each other. Blue and green go together. Red and orange go together. So unless people see in completely different sections of the colour wheel, we see pretty much the same colours.

Answer 5

the way you put it is true. people do not all see colours the same. we will all have the same name for a colour and will think of that colour when we here it because we have been brought up to think of it that way. but some people do not see the same colours. colour blind people can go years without knowing that they are colour blind because the colours that they do not see still look like different colours. yet they have been brought up with people telling them that what they are seeing is a certaint colour. so even thought they do not see it the same as us, if they do not know better they will believe that what they see is the same as us. again. no not everyone sees colours the same

Answer 6

You said colour blind people aside, but them aside, then no. We see the same colour. Some just more clearly than others. Colour blind people don't ALL see black and white. They see colour too, it's just their colours are different to your colours. Exactly what you've been saying!

Answer 7

While it is true that all human eyes respond in a similar way to certain wavelengths of light (except in most cases of colorblindness), we cannot know if those impulses are then perceived in the same way by the brain. The way we interpret visual sensory information varies greatly across cultures and from brain to brain. For example, in many Asian languages green is a type of blue (or a shade of the larger blue-green category for which blue is a basic type).

Answer 8

I do not thlnk so. There are various shades of the same colour, and some may see shades differently. Seeing along with other functions has to do with the brain, and what the brain is telling the eyes.

Answer 9

Color is precieved in the temporal lobes of the brain. I have a problem with color in one eye because I had my temporal lobe removed on one side because of epilepsy. My father is color blind but sees color in lighter colors. He has a hard time with green and blue which are close.

Answer 10

i'm not colour blind but i know i see colours differently to my family....this sounds stupid,but anyway....i have a top i always thought was orange and a necklace i thought was pink (cos someone told me it was pink) but i couldn't work out why they matched.....turns out (according to my fella) that both the top and the necklace are pink! it happens with most colours, i know what i see but i've learned that other people see them differently! weird huh!