try and describe the color purple to someone who has been blind all their lives!
2006-10-17 14:09:11 · 17 answers · asked by Dane 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Tell them to envision the taste of grape. I think that would work.....
2006-10-17 14:17:02 · answer #1 · answered by songbird 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No real offense but this is neither a philosophical Q, nor is it an original thought. It has been expressed in this forum often.
I have worked with, and have friends who are Blind, and relating THINGS to them that obviously we take for granted in visual stimulation can still be accomplished.
Example: YOU are blind. I'm attempting to relate Purple to you. I might suggest first,,, This is RED, feel it, imagine it is WARM,,, or HOT. Then imagine it cooling and becoming more subtle.
Now, hold this dollar bill. It's essentially green. Imagine holding a Bucket full of them,,, More than one can count. That's Purple, that's Wealth represented.
Yeah I know it's abstract.
Steven Wolf
2006-10-17 21:18:50 · answer #2 · answered by DIY Doc 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Taste a grape, drink grape juice or a purple freezie. Taste the purpleness. Hold your breath until you can't stand it anymore. Or squeeze your arm really hard. Smell lavender. Tell them that it's where cold (blue) meets warm (red)...
Interesting question! Would be very hard to explain colour to a blind person. You would have to find a way to let them use their other senses to relate.
2006-10-17 21:53:15 · answer #3 · answered by amp 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think you can, I'm sorry. Unless the blind person can recall some memories from a previous earthly life and actually dreams in color. Then you have something to start with.
2006-10-17 21:15:53 · answer #4 · answered by gonefishing777 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Take care, it might end up as sadism !
Instead of feeling one's own helplessness at it, there might be a temptation to enjoy the inability of the innocent blind to 'visualise'... not worth trying on a live person.. instead just imagine the attempt within ourselves and just speculate... atleast to have an empathy !
2006-10-17 21:49:17 · answer #5 · answered by Spiritualseeker 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
try to describe the color purple to anyone.....
it's easy to take sight for granted... but it's just as hard to attempt to describe a color to anyone without using color references (ie. the color purple is the same color as barney the dinosaur).
2006-10-17 21:18:14 · answer #6 · answered by shatzy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Contrary to one of the posts here - it IS a philosophical question. It deals with the philosophical theory of 'qualia'. That deals with the perception of colour i.e. is the colour inherent in the object or the objectifier? It is too huge a theory to go on about here as like most philosophical debates, the answer remains in a 'grey' area (pardon the pun).
2006-10-17 21:34:09 · answer #7 · answered by methamphetamine_symposium 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if they`ve been blind all they`re lives theresz` no use in trying to describe it since they don`t know what anything looks like
2006-10-17 21:17:14 · answer #8 · answered by rachel 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tell him to eat a grape, feel the Barney costume when he's in town, listen to Prince, and tell his wife something embarrasing, then feel the color of his face.
2006-10-17 21:19:10 · answer #9 · answered by Mark P. 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try to descible any color to a blind man who has never seen. He has no frame of reference.
2006-10-17 21:12:16 · answer #10 · answered by Sophist 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would give that person a bunch of freshly pick concord grapes and ask them to please eat them slowly and allow the taste to fill your mind and then I,d tell them that this is purple.
2006-10-17 21:26:12 · answer #11 · answered by ~♥ L ♥~ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋