how would you describe the color blue to a blind man, who has never seen any color ?

Answer 1

Have you ever seen the movie "A Patch of Blue" with Sydney Portier?

They address that in the movie, he is trying to teach the blind girl about colour and he uses props to explain it. For example:

White, cotton balls like clouds
Red, Hot like heat from a fire
Blue, Cold like when your cold and your hands turn blue

and so on.... I hightly recommend that movie, not only is it an excelent movie, it will help you with this issue.

Answer 2

First of all, is this theoretical man truly blind? Most people who are considered blind can see light/darkness. Was this theoretical man born blind and hence has never seen anything? Secondly, lightwaves can be converted to sounds... Thirdly, whether red is hot or not depends upon what it is. A normal person who goes out into the Arizona desert in July will have his skin turn red (red hot!) Ever eat cinnamon bits? Aka Cinnamon Imperials? They are red, and they are hot. Then there are red chilies... More importantly, if you have been out in the hot sun and come into a room with red, yellow & orange, you will see why they are called "hot colors". One's eyes are already strained from being in the hot sun; those colors will agitate one's eyes more, but soft blue or green will soothe one's eyes. So, make your arm hot, whether from the hot sun of an Arizona desert or an extremely hot shower and let that "blind man" feel your arm and say, that is the color red. Get some ice (ice blue, you know) and let him feel that, and say that is the color blue. Finally, objectively, the only choice in letting the blind man truely understand color would be to have the appropriate colors directly stimulate his brain...After all, they have inserted wires into blind people's brains to let them "see"; they can stimulate the brain such that they "see" color.

Answer 3

Hand him an ice cube or have him drink a cold glass of water or wade with him in the shallow part of the lake. Or feed him blueberries. Or tell him that blue is the colour of peace, calm, tranquil. It is also the colour of sadness. I would play him some relaxing music like Enya or a poignant piece of classical music like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

Answer 4

Blue or any other color would be impossible to describe because you can't establish a point of reference for them to compare.

The concept of color is a relative term to even us sighted because what might be blue to one might appear to be more blue green to someone else. Or possibly even more green than blue, for that matter.

Answer 5

Color has no meaning to the blind-from-birth...beauty is "seen" through their other senses, where color has no bearing.

Answer 6

Blue is the fifth color. the color of boundaries, of peace, of friends.

It is a correlation of the throat chakra. There is a better explanation of chakras on the internet than what i could post here.

Answer 7

I wouldn't. It's a sensation. We can't teach it by associating it with other things that we only compare it to because we can see or because other people told us blue was tranquil or red was angry.

Answer 8

cool, soothing, water, sky ... But why not ask him if he dreams with pictures? That's an interesting thought... maybe he just dreams with sound. But if his brain processes dreams with actual pictures, he might be able to help you convey descriptions to him.

Answer 9

like soft cotton

Answer 10

i do not really know if you can describe it i am sorry