How do we know that we all are seeing the same color?

Question

When growing up we are taught the sky is blue and grass is green. We become familiar with these colors and their names but... is it possible that I am actually seeing the color orange in the sky and the grass is really red. What if you see purple grass and a green sky? Would we ever know of these differences because the colors we were taught become the familiar?


I think I hurt my brain on this question. ;)

What I am saying is that since an apple is red and cherries are red we would still continue to call that color red no matter what object had that color. Pink would still appear to be in the 'red' family because that is what we were taught the color is.
But when I look at a cherry or apple could I really be seeing the color green but calling it red because that is what I was taught. You could really be seeing the color blue on the apple but calling it red because that is what you were taught.
In any case- I don't think we could ever verify it because we all know what the colors SHOULD be by what we were taught.

cbett50- but what if the receptors in our brains are what is causing different colors to be perceived. Any laser test would prove the wave length is the same color but not the same thing that you and I are seeing because of differences in our brains. We would continue to call the color green but if in reality my brain sees it as the true color blue- how would I know the difference? I've learned that color as green and so have you.

Answer 1

I have often put forth this hypothesis but have yet to run into someone who could comprehend what I'm talking about until now.

I contend that in fact there is NO WAY to prove or disprove that when you and I both look at the same object at the same time and from the same place that the signal reaching my color sensory areas is the same as the signal that reaches your color sensory areas.

In fact, I contend that it is possible not only that our brains sense different colors, it may be that what is sensed as the color blue by you may be sensed by me as (what you would describe as) a taste or odor, because of the different wiring of each of our brains. The only reason we can both look at the sky and call it blue is because of a learned conventional response each of us has stored in our brains.

Just my weird opinion.

Answer 2

If you were seeing a different color than others, wouldnt someone have pointed that out to you by now.. If you are saying that the grass looks the same color as an orange someone is bound to say, wait a minute, thats not right. or are you saying that ALL things that are that color look the same to you and you are calling it the color that you were taught? im confused now.. Wow, that sure is a thought to ponder.. i would say one of the best questions yet.. Good job

Answer 3

It's an excellent question. And while it would be very difficult to find out the answer, it is at least quite possible that people see things as different colors. In fact, this may be related to favorite colors; maybe everybody's favorite color is the color that looks to them the way green looks to me.

Answer 4

I've often thought of this myself. But I am going to assume that peoples brains are the same and that the colours we see are the same. After all, it has been found that the same parts of everyones's brains control the same things. Since it is known that dog's are colour-blind and somehow that was determined, then scientists must have been able to determine that humans view colors the same as each other as well.

Answer 5

You could pick something green, and ask someone else to pick something that looks to them like the same color, and then use laser equipment to determine the exact wavelength of light that is being reflected by both objects. Then you'd know if both of you are perceiving the same thing.

Answer 6

at the same time because it is genuine that each and everyone human eyes respond in a matching thank you to specific wavelengths of sunshine (different than in maximum situations of colorblindness), we can't understand if those impulses are then perceived interior the same way by potential of the concepts. the way we interpret seen sensory information varies a great deal for the time of cultures and from concepts to concepts. as an occasion, in many Asian languages green is one in each of those blue (or a color of the bigger blue-green type for which blue is a undemanding form).

Answer 7

All of this is possible in theory, but there is no way to test it. Maybe your blue is the same as my orange, but we are both accustomed to classifying certain items as blue and others as orange, so we agree on that, regardless of how these colors appear to each of us. It is consistent. People who are color blind are the only ones who have problems.

Answer 8

You mean the grass really isn't purple? oh, oh....

to expand upon sea_sher's answer, wouldn't there be a color difference between the sky and an orange, even if they weren't the colors we normally associate with them?

Answer 9

Children, given identical watercolor kits, and instructed to choose any colors they wish to express themselves, tend to choose the same colors for common objets. In a landscape, for example, sky, water, grass, trees, etc. tend to be rendered with the same or similar colors. Human skin color variations are also similar when children are asked to paint humans using any colors they wish from identical paint sets.

We do know that what we call "color" are reflected wavelengths of light. Things that are called "red" reflect a certain wavelength of light (ie, the wavelenghts agreed upon as "red"); "blue" things reflect the range of wavelengths we call blue; yellow, green, etc. White is reflecting all wavelengths of light; black is absorbtion of all wavelengths of light.

Great question. Maybe my little knowledge helps?

Answer 10

ya i know what ur saying. but certain colors make people feel certain ways, green is calming, and red reminds us of food, ect.. so peopel would have to be programmed differnt in that respect.
also, how much of it has to do with our processing? more likely it has to do with the objects themselves absorbing and reflecting differnt light rays. im sure scientists would find differneces in our eye structures or the seeing part of the brain.
ya whatever.