Ok, hear me out on this one...?

Question

Did you ever wonder if everyone sees the world completely differently than you? The colors that somebody else sees could be completely inverted from the hues that you normally associate with the word "blue", or "red". At some point in your life, somebody must have held up an object and said, "This is blue." etc. Do you think it is completely possible that everyone sees the world differently? Nobody has the same exact eyes when it comes to the amount/shape of cones, rods, etc., so wouldn't this make sense?

Answer 1

It makes sense philosophically. It does not make sense biologically.

From a philosophical point of view, yes, we could all perceive things differently and there would be no way of knowing. The only way two people can communicate about an inner experience is through language. All the two of us know is that the color of the Yahoo logo at the top of this page, is the sensation both of us call "red". But the word "red" is defined by category. We agree that certain objects all fall into that category (the Yahoo logo, a tomato, strawberries, blood), but we have no way of knowing that the actual sensation is the same for you as it is for me. I.e. that if you were suddenly to transform your consciousness behind my brain and eyes, that you would see the same sensation.

However, from a biological point of view, the sensations *have* to be pretty darned close. Those sensations are caused by the photopigments in the retina of your eye, and we know that you and I both have the same exact photopigments (assuming neither of us is colorblind, or a mutant). So there may be minor differences, related to the number of certain cells in your retina vs. mine, or in the nerve cells in your visual cortex vs. mine, ... and there are also many subtle differences introduced by different cultures, or stimuli we experienced as infants, but there is no reason why your eyes would not produce almost the exact same sensation as my eyes.

Answer 2

yes this is probably true because at the moment there is no way to see the world through someone Else's eyes, colours may not be inverted but slightly different shades, this can also be true for the other senses such as smell taste hearing etc each could be subtly or majorly different

Answer 3

Of course we all see the world differently; just not that differently. This is a continuous trait, under a normal curve of distribution. Most of us ( about 70% ) are within one standard deviation of the mean. I suppose you could put the color-blind and some others in the tail. It is wrong to say, as "Dr." Phil does; " there is no reality, just perception ". He says this because he can not think continuously, but thinks in a discontinuous manner. Do not make the same mistake.

Answer 4

Wow thank you. I've been asking my eye specialist this for years and years but couldn't quite explain it..

I wondered if I see a blue sky (which somebody told me is blue) ... can I really be seeing yellow? Is the sky (according to other eyes) green, the grass yellow, the sand purple.

I really don't think that anyone will ever know.

Let's face it ... look at a colour chart.

I see yellow ... but I say blue ... Dr says right
I see green ....but I see purple ... Dr says right.

Good luck on your quest .... I'd really like to see the final answers to this one.

Answer 5

I guess that's a possibility. I can't really think of any way of testing it either...
It's an interesting thought, and now you've got it into my head, I'll be thinking about it all day.

Answer 6

i always say the same thing, and everyone looks at me like i've lost my mind and told me i'm ridiculous. BUT IT MAKES SENSE. and no one will ever know for sure.

Answer 7

Yes! I have thought the same thing.

Answer 8

did you come up with this question while blowing a joint and listen to the grateful dead? If you had metioned tracers I would have thought you were on LSD.