2007-03-20 10:24:09 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Alternative ➔ Other - Alternative
Keep thinking butch that's what you're good at.
2007-03-20 19:26:48 · answer #1 · answered by Mr. Bodhisattva 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, this one needs some clarification. Sorry, but most of the answers here are wrong, tho each has some factual elements.
It is true that our retinas are only sensitive to the electromagnetic spectrum over a small range of wavelengths. These go (from high to low) red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The retina of the eye has 3 main receptors for color, and in combination this produces all the colors we can see. This is why humans are called a trichromatic species, most mammals have more limited color vision, having only two types of colour receptors (dichromatics). The color you see is not actually in the light that comes into your eye. That light is just electromagnetic waves of many different frequencies. Color is the eye and the brain’s interpretation of that light. So there is no reason why a different eye structure should not give a completely different color palette. And in fact in some birds and insects like bees, color vision is superior to that of humans. Birds and bees can see into the ultraviolet range, and thus flowers have wonderful patterns involving these frequencies, which they can see but humans cannot.
Imagine a totally color-blind person who sees only black and white, like an old film. Such a person would be puzzled as to how other people could see “other colors”. He would think “Where could they fit all those extra colors? I mean everything I see is filled with either black or white”. Thus, color perception is hard-wired into the brain, but if you could reconfigure the eye, and (a much much more difficult task) reconfigure the brain, then you could, in theory see as many new colours as you wanted. Radio waves are a very low frequency form of electromagnetic wave. You could devise a way in which the sound from your radio could be perceived as color combinations that no one has ever “seen”.
2007-03-21 01:11:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sounds a bit like synesthesia. Synesthesia is a somewhat rare condition where the brain interperets the sensory perceptions for on sense in multiple modalities. A synesthete may experience colors associated with specific sounds, colors that induce a flavor. pretty much any combination of of enay perceptions. A common form is called lexichromic synesthesia where the person has experiences a specific color for specific letters or numbers.
Some of the colors that a synesthete experiences, have no name. These are colors that no human can see, yet a synesthete can experience them, as a paired perception.
2007-03-21 14:28:58 · answer #3 · answered by Niklaus Pfirsig 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since what we perceive as color is in fact the way the cells in our brains interpret a limited range of electromagnetic wavelengths, I tend to believe that it is difficult, if not impossible, to simply imagine a new color - one that a person has never seen or experienced before.
There are a couple of very interesting facts that your question brings up, however.
Did you know that people on certain hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, and some people with certain brain disorders report that they can actually "hear" colors and "see" sounds, perhaps in "colors" that we never imagined? A great book to read is "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" by Oliver Sachs (the same guy who wrote "Awakenings," which was turned into a movie with Robin Williams). It reports in layman's language on many very peculiar and fascinating case studies in abnormal psychology.
A similar question to ponder: How would you describe "blue" to a person who has been blind since birth? (or red, or green?)
Good question!
2007-03-21 02:05:35 · answer #4 · answered by Don P 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
About our brains seeing only what we've learned, that is a lie. Imagination.
It truly depends on your imagination skills, to form a new colour in your mind. It can of course be a fun challenge. I can think of one right now, but it of course has no name.
Imagination doesn't have limits.
2007-03-20 20:22:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ha, I laughed when I saw this question because I've actually tried to do this before!
Interesting note: As far as I have read, there is no known difference between nerve inputs to the brain, except for their number of nerve endings. This means that the electrical information sent to your brain by your ears is no different then that sent to it by your eyes. The difference lies in how your brain processes it. What I'm trying to say is, perhaps the sound of a bell ringing is another color?
2007-03-21 00:47:12 · answer #6 · answered by Finn the Fox 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually there are only 3 colors. Blue, Yellow, and Red. All other colors are mixtures of those 3.
2007-03-20 22:19:54 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah that's weird. But our brains only know what they have seen or heard, and since all the colors we have already seen are already known colors.......You cant really come up with a new one. It would be nice to though. I'd call my color "Lonijeaner". lol
2007-03-20 17:32:58 · answer #8 · answered by lonijean 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
with all the combinations that can be achieved with the
3 primary ones,3secondary,ant3 tertiary,plus in top of that the hues,darkness,tint,tone,(tonal values)lightness,why you need
to imagine a new color?
2007-03-20 23:50:01 · answer #9 · answered by Byzantino 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I did see a color that's not real in a dream once, but since it's not real, I can't really even explain it.
2007-03-21 17:36:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our eyes are only sensative to certain wavelengths of light, and we've seen all of those. So no.
2007-03-20 18:27:43 · answer #11 · answered by eri 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋