can anyone prove that what I see as blue or any other colour, is the same as they perceive?

Answer 1

No, just that what you see and call blue is what I see and call blue.

Answer 2

People call the same wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation blue and it is possible to show that the response of the rods and cones in eyes to a specific light is the same. However there is currently no way of determining how that information is perceived by each individual. Personally I think people see thing differently (and taste differently as well) it is the only explaination for some of the truly hideous colours some people seem to like.

Answer 3

This is similar to the "If a tree falls in the forest" question.

'Blue' is a colour reflected off a material that absorbs photons - light. For instance, 'black' is the absence of colour, and materials that absorb all photons appear black in perfect sunlight. Shadows appear 'black' because of a lack of photonic energy; perhaps because an object - such as a tree - absorbs the photonic energy and casts a shadow thusly. This explains why black clothes get very hot; because photonic energy when absorbed will generally go to heat (or electricity if absorbed by a photovotatic cell)

However, when light is reflected by any material, or seen directly from a light or the sun, the photons enter the lens of our eye and are absorbed by our retina. Our eyes are generally very similar in constitution, though someone with eye diseases may have their vision affected in several ways. Generally diseases that affect the lens of your eye will alter the focus and sharpness of your vision. However, blindness and colour blindness can be caused by damage to the brain, damage to the nerves between the retina and the brain, or damage to the retina tissue itself.

But generally speaking, healthy eyes all absorb light and send it to the brain in the same way.

Now THIS is where the point of contention is. After all those steps, the 'blue' photon may be perceived by your mind differently then another person perceives it. This is alright though, because what we're really labelling is the light 'blue', the photon, and not neccessarily the feeling perceived by it. In fact, it is known that many people will perceive 'blue' to be associated with coolness and power, while others will perceive it to be associated with lonliness and pain.
{EDIT} As jusdinoliver mentioned as well, colour blind people DEFINITELY perceive the colours differently, and not just the emotions they 'describe', but the colours themselves. Kudos.{/EDIT}

Oh, and I always used to wonder about that too. I highly suggest taking grade 11 and 12 Academic/Advanced Physics if you want to learn more. Also read 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', it's a slow read, but a very excellent book about perception.

Answer 4

None of us live in the real world. We inhabit a virtual world that exists in our brains based upon the information fed in by our senses. There's no way of knowing what someone else's world is like. However, there is enough information to prove that there are differences.

About 20% of the population has absolute (perfect) pitch. This means they can tune a guitar from memory and remember a note indefinitely, but they have all sorts of problems if they are singing and try to change key. The other 80% have relative pitch. They need pitch pipes, can only remember a note for about 30 seconds but can sing in any key. It's clear that these two groups perceive sound differently.

Maybe what you see as blue, I hear as E above middle C.

Answer 5

No, they cannot. Only through concensus do the majority say that that particular shade is blue as against light blue, turquoise aquamarine or navy blue, to name but a few.
Problems arise when subtleties in shades crop up. This shows that individual perception is different. You should also try this on yourself. Try looking at colours with one eye and then the other. Some colours might appear to be brighter through one eye. If own own eyes disagree with each other what chance do individuals have of reaching an agreement?

Answer 6

Yes, it can be proven. All we need to do, is collect some cells from your eyes. If they are stimulated by the same wavelengths of color as typical then it is proven.

But there is an easier way. You've probably seen an old color TV screen... maybe you even have one. Surf on through until you find some pictures of green trees, blue sky and the sun. It shouldn't be too hard. Now look outside at something green (like a tree or some grass) and something blue like the sky and the sun. Are they the same color? Good. You see colors like the rest of us. TVs produce the color somewhat differently than leaves and nitrogen dispersion. The TV produces light at differing intesity of red blue and green. Now the clincher is the sun. It is yellow, and is predominantly yellow light (but has a full spectrum). The red blue and green lights produce various levels that fool your brain that you're seeing yellow lights. Birds (whose eyes have different types of photo receptors don't see the world as they would see a TV screen.

Answer 7

Granted as proven that some people are colour blind & can't distinguish between some colours.
As for whether I enjoy a particular colour in the same way as you, this is hard to say.
I think people will generally agree that they notice red more than other colours... and I don't think this is because it occurs less often in our natural environment, after all neither does blue appear that often in the middle of a cloudy winter! This is why we use red for danger signs. Do we notice it more because we have been instructed to from an early age (obey red signs, don't eat poisonous red berries) or do we notice it more because red stimulates our retina more?
Is it more stimulating because red is nearer to infrared in the electromagnetic spectrum and infrared is heat and the abilty to detect heat is not such a high-level ability so it is easier to detect? (ie our entire skin surface has heat receptors so they are perhaps not as complex in evolutionary terms?).
Perhaps the results of a large 'favourite colour/worst colour' survey will actually give us a clue as to wether we see colours the same way. Personally I hate red/orange & love blue/violet, opposite ends of the visible frequency spectrum.
We should survey babies- see which colour identical toy they choose to play with, that way we eliminate learned behaviour/association of colour with feelings & memories.

Answer 8

It probably isn't. Cones in the retina are responsible for colour vision. Three types: those sensitive to mainly red light, those to mainly green and those to blue: hence the three primary colours. Yellow light is between red and green in the spectrum. Hence it stimulates both the red and the green cones. The brain can be fooled into thinking that a mixture of red and green light is a spectral shade of yellow. But the relative amounts of red and green that match a specific shade of spectral yellow vary from person to person, and some cannot distinguish between the two primary colours: red-green is a common form of colour blindness. Since colour blindness does exist it follows that peoples' perception of colour cannot be the same.

Answer 9

I've wondered that before and thought I was the only person out there who thought that. Is what I see a true representation of anothers perception? Where is the proof?
Actually colour is the result of energy so we know that a colour will be its colour as its origin has determined its existence though is what we see the same perception?

Answer 10

Because 'blue' is the only way a can describe how I perceive the color I've been told is 'blue', there is no means to determine if the perception is the same as yours.

Answer 11

I am colour blind and can categorically assure you that not everybody perceives colours as the same.

I can look at a picture of a green dinosaur, draw it and then colour it in brown as I perceive those colours to be incredibly similar if not the same - whereas you do not.

As the two colours green and brown held next to each other look incredibly similar to me, I must be perceiving them differently from you who can easily distinguish them.