Episode 9
#9: Beyond Your Eyes: Do You See Color the Way I Do?
Is your blue really my blue? Or is it something completely different? Today we’re talking about color, perception, and what it all means for how we experience reality. Why do some colors make us feel calm while others get our blood pumping? And how do our eyes, brains, and even genetics shape the way we see the world. Sometimes in ways we can’t even imagine.
We’ll get into the science of rods and cones, colorblindness, evolutionary reasons for how we perceive color, and even how other animals see the world. But more than that, we’ll ask the big questions: if we all see things differently, what does that mean for reality? For emotion? For connection with other people?
By the end, you might start seeing not just color, but life itself, a little differently.
#Perception #ColorScience #SubjectiveReality #SeeDifferently #MindAndPerception #ColorPerception #HumanExperience #EmpathyThroughScience #VisualPerception #BrainAndVision #PerspectiveShift #HowWeSeeTheWorld #PsychologyOfColor #CuriousMinds #PerceptionPodcast
Transcript
Is your blue my blue, or is your blue a completely different type of blue?
Speaker A:Do you see colors differently than I do?
Speaker A:And what is it that really makes the difference when we see colors versus when another person sees colors?
Speaker A:Today we're going to dive into the aspects of color and perception and the reasons why we see colors differently and if we really do see them differently.
Speaker A:So when you think about color, you think about just what you see, your perception of what the color is.
Speaker A:So if you see green, you know in your mind that that's green.
Speaker A:When you see red, you know exactly what it is in your mind that's red.
Speaker A:But what happens when another person is looking at at the same exact color?
Speaker A:Are they seeing the same exact thing you're seeing, or is it something completely different?
Speaker A:You know, this is really good question, because this is something that I don't really know can be proven.
Speaker A:It's something that is completely subjective.
Speaker A:There's no way for me to 100 know that the color you're seeing is truly that color.
Speaker A:What if your green is my red or my red is your green?
Speaker A:What if 51% of the population saw your red as red and then the other 49% saw that as green?
Speaker A:What is the true color then?
Speaker A:What if that was vice versa?
Speaker A:What would be the true color?
Speaker A:Our colors, the way we experience this world, are completely subjective.
Speaker A:And how do those colors affect us?
Speaker A:How does our perception of reality affect what's going on inside?
Speaker A:There's some things to be talked about.
Speaker A:Whether it's blue making you feel calm and giving you a sense of warmth or coolness or relaxation.
Speaker A:And when you look at something like red, you think passion, you think fire, you think something that is getting you excited.
Speaker A:Now, if we're experiencing these colors in our perception and we know that color allows us to have different emotions, then if we're seeing colors differently, are we going to have a completely different emotional state?
Speaker A:Maybe.
Speaker A:I know when I look at, I'm going into nature and I look at a tree or I look at the horizon with the trees, I can see a green.
Speaker A:And that green brings me a sense of calmness, a sense of something that feels at ease.
Speaker A:But what if that green was a blue?
Speaker A:Would you feel more of a cool tone?
Speaker A:Or what if that green was red?
Speaker A:Would you feel when you looked up to the sky and the sky was red, different than blue?
Speaker A:I know I do when I see a sunset.
Speaker A:The question is, what is true color?
Speaker A:And that's today, exactly what we're going to get into.
Speaker A:We're going to get into the biology of color, the experience of color, and the emotional states that we have when we're experiencing something like color.
Speaker A:This is really the science of perception that shapes our reality.
Speaker A:So we have our perceptions of life, how we look at the world, but how about the reality of it?
Speaker A:What is going on on the outside versus what's going on on the inside?
Speaker A:That's something that we really need to look into.
Speaker A:Because when the brain processes colors, it's an individualistic experience.
Speaker A:When you look at a sunset, you might see red and orange and fiery in the sky.
Speaker A:But what about your partner or your friend when they're watching the same sunset?
Speaker A:Are they experiencing it in the exact same way?
Speaker A:Is perception personal?
Speaker A:I believe so.
Speaker A:How does it happen?
Speaker A:So in this world, we have light, and light comes in many different wavelengths just through a specific spectrum.
Speaker A:Humans can see these wavelengths, and within that spectrum, our eyes will pick up on those things.
Speaker A:Those light waves will go to our eye, and then we have cells in our eyes that can pick up on those wavelengths and generate the image to our brain.
Speaker A:How is reality constructed?
Speaker A:How is this unique biological, genetic predisposition affecting us?
Speaker A:This unique reality is something that I find very interesting because you think that you're going through the same experience as someone else, but are you really?
Speaker A:Think about it.
Speaker A:We're all living life through a different filter, or is it the same filter?
Speaker A:And if you're looking through that filter, how does it make you feel and how does it make you react?
Speaker A:Do you see a happy sunset or a sad sunset?
Speaker A:So I want to touch on the biology of.
Speaker A:Of this and go deeper as well.
Speaker A:Our eyes are what pick up the light, as we were saying before.
Speaker A:And in our eyes, we have things called rods, and we have things called cones.
Speaker A:And those rods and cones send signals to our brains, electrical signals, signals that go to our brain.
Speaker A:Now, the rods specifically help us determine how much brightness is coming into something.
Speaker A:Or I believe that cats would have these in higher amounts in their cells.
Speaker A:So when those rods are in our eyes, that allows the light to come in.
Speaker A:That allows other parts of our reality to kick in.
Speaker A:Different shades, capabilities, things, different things that we can see.
Speaker A:And each rod, it can be.
Speaker A:I don't know if it can be completely different, But I do know that no genetics are the same.
Speaker A:So the rods that are going into your eyes are not exactly the same as the rods of your neighbor.
Speaker A:And then that takes us to something called cones.
Speaker A:So what are cones, really?
Speaker A:I'm not talking about an ice cream cone.
Speaker A:I'm talking About a cone living inside your eye, A cone that is sitting there and picking up on a specific wavelength of light.
Speaker A:The wavelength of light can be determined based on the exterior.
Speaker A:But what happens on the interior is what's different.
Speaker A:You have the short cones, which give you a blue color coming in.
Speaker A:You have the medium cones, which allow green to come in.
Speaker A:But how about the long cones?
Speaker A:That's what allows red to come in.
Speaker A:And then the variety of these cones in our eyes paints a picture, an illustration for us.
Speaker A:That, mixed with the rods and the brightness, allows you to look around and see your world the way that you see it.
Speaker A:Now, isn't that beautiful?
Speaker A:Now, going into the diversity of this, the cones and then the rods, they're very different, right?
Speaker A:So you could have more cones, less cones, different types of rods.
Speaker A:Maybe your rod or your cone could be considered defective.
Speaker A:But when we look at defective, we're still basing off what we think a true color is.
Speaker A:The reality is that when you see it, the other person might not see it the same way.
Speaker A:Our genetics shape our vision.
Speaker A:The molecules within our cells, our blueprint of our bodies, allows us to see the colors in this world.
Speaker A:Now, when you think about defects, when you think about something that is wrong or something that is not normal, you think about colorblindness.
Speaker A:And that's a complete obvious point on this.
Speaker A:Now, if you're colorblind, how do you see the world?
Speaker A:You see it different than the rest of the world.
Speaker A:And if you think about it, what was the genetic implications of that mutation?
Speaker A:What happened thousands of years back when those mutations decided to survive?
Speaker A:What I find interesting is that being colorblind has genetic advantages.
Speaker A:When you're colorblind, your contrasts are going to be different.
Speaker A:Now think about it.
Speaker A:Who are the people that are most colorblind?
Speaker A:It's men in general.
Speaker A:And what were men known for as when they were part of tribes or when they were part of the beginning of themselves?
Speaker A:What men were known for is for hunting.
Speaker A:And if you can see contrasts differently than someone else, you might be able to see the antelope.
Speaker A:You might be able to see the tiger hiding in the shadows or hiding in the bushes.
Speaker A:This is a clear genetic advantage, because that means that you can go out and either run away from the tiger because you saw it, or you can see the antelope, and you can shoot the antelope or attack the antelope and bring it home to your family to provide you the resources.
Speaker A:Now, isn't that important?
Speaker A:So when we think about something like a defect, we have to think about the genetic implications of why that is still here in society.
Speaker A:And it could be a mutation, just a pure mutation.
Speaker A:But there has been studies that shown that colorblindness can also have its advantages.
Speaker A:So in today's modern world, we're not hunting.
Speaker A:Those genetics are still in our DNA.
Speaker A:There are dangers in living in a modern society with genetics.
Speaker A:Have you ever looked at a stoplight and imagined that you can't see the colors of that stoplight?
Speaker A:You can't distinguish which color is which.
Speaker A:You have to look at the spot on the light to determine whether to go or whether to stop.
Speaker A:That's a life or death situation.
Speaker A:Put yourself in the shoes of the modern day person.
Speaker A:Either way, these genetics are still living through us.
Speaker A:They're living in our eyes, in our brain, and how it all comes together.
Speaker A:Now those things are going to help us survive.
Speaker A:They've helped us survive in the past, but those aren't necessarily helpful today unless you're at a stoplight that is, you know, talking about mutations.
Speaker A:There's also color enhancement mutations.
Speaker A:What if you have more cones than the average person?
Speaker A:1?
Speaker A:If you can see a vast different reality, it's like turning the saturation up on your life.
Speaker A:So those people that have those genetic mutations that can see more colors, are they living a more colorful life full of emotion?
Speaker A:And are the people that are living the black and white life living a dull reality?
Speaker A:We might never know.
Speaker A:But I think it's interesting how light goes into our bodies.
Speaker A:I think it's very fascinating how our eyes will only pick up on a certain spectrum.
Speaker A:So we know that color aids in survival.
Speaker A:We've talked about the ways that it could help you survive and its implications in modern society.
Speaker A:But how else does color affect our ancestors?
Speaker A:Well, if you see a snake and you see a red, yellow snake, that's nature's way of letting you know that you're in trouble.
Speaker A:So when you see that snake or you see that bright animal, you know that that's danger and you know to stay away from it.
Speaker A:How helpful was that back then?
Speaker A:I would imagine very.
Speaker A:So early humans could have potentially saw color differently.
Speaker A:Another example would be fruit.
Speaker A:So imagine you're walking down the plains and you're a primordial human and you see a fruit that has a bright red to it.
Speaker A:Let's just call it an apple.
Speaker A:It's bright, crispy, delicious honeycrisp apple.
Speaker A:And I'm sure it wasn't a honey crisp, but just imagine that.
Speaker A:And then you see another apple that's three Shades darker.
Speaker A:Which apple do you think has more nutrients?
Speaker A:Which apple do you think went bad?
Speaker A:I'm taking the vivid apple, and that's just me.
Speaker A:Not only is it gonna taste better, but it's actually going to be more nutritious.
Speaker A:And I feel like it's not even about taste with here.
Speaker A:If we're talking about the evolution of humanity, it's gonna be about nourishment and nourishing your body with that fresh apple, getting all the vitamins from it.
Speaker A:So how do we see light and how do other animals see light?
Speaker A:Like I said earlier, we see the visible light spectrum.
Speaker A:It's a very limited spectrum.
Speaker A:And other animals can see more or less.
Speaker A:For instance, bees can see ultraviolet light.
Speaker A:Can you imagine what ultraviolet light looks like?
Speaker A:Can you imagine what a different color looks like?
Speaker A:What does ultraviolet look like?
Speaker A:Ask a bee.
Speaker A:And an interesting part of that too is that shrimp can see in infrared.
Speaker A:So imagine you can see infrared, ultraviolet.
Speaker A:You just expand out to that area.
Speaker A:You're gonna be seeing things that we can't see today.
Speaker A:A different reality completely.
Speaker A:I know I'd like to see that at least for a little bit, but it might be too much for me, honestly.
Speaker A:I want you to do an experiment.
Speaker A:Imagine a different color completely.
Speaker A:Hard right?
Speaker A:If you haven't seen a different color, how are you supposed to imagine it?
Speaker A:Our brains can't wrap around that because we haven't experienced it.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:That's something I would love.
Speaker A:I would really love to experience, just to be able to see a different color.
Speaker A:I wonder what emotions that color would give me.
Speaker A:I wonder how that perception of that color would make a difference.
Speaker A:Why do different species have different adaptations to see different colors?
Speaker A:It's the environment.
Speaker A:And if that color help that species survive, then that species survives long term.
Speaker A:When we think about color in this way, we have to shift our perspective from thinking of ourself to thinking about something else, another person's perspective.
Speaker A:And with that, it makes me think, well, if we can experience color differently, then how about sound?
Speaker A:How about feeling?
Speaker A:And most importantly, what about thoughts and emotions?
Speaker A:So the next time you think that you're looking at someone and you think that they're seeing the world the same way you are, or feeling the world the same way you are.
Speaker A:Maybe they're experiencing it completely different than you are.
Speaker A:Maybe what you think is right isn't right for them.
Speaker A:What if their truth is a different truth than yours?
Speaker A:In that case, then we can't assume that what we're experiencing is, is the right thing.
Speaker A:We can assume that they are 100% wrong because they might actually be right.
Speaker A:This allows you to open up your perspective.
Speaker A:See the world through another person's point of view.
Speaker A:Build deeper connection and accept others realities.
Speaker A:Take this thought about color and expand it.
Speaker A:Expand it to empathy.
Speaker A:Expand it to understanding.
Speaker A:Expand it to being a better person overall.
Speaker A:Or just have fun with it.
Speaker A:And think that this world is completely different than we think it is.
Speaker A:Think about the different realities, the different slices of the universe that exist.
Speaker A:Think about everything.
Speaker A:So this is just five senses but all the other things going on in the world too that you can't see that are there right in front of your eyes.
Speaker A:Or are they in front of your eyes?
Speaker A:I don't think so.
Speaker A:They're everywhere.
Speaker A:There's sounds you can't hear.
Speaker A:There's lights that you can't see.
Speaker A:There's feelings that you'll never feel because your brain doesn't have the capacity to do it.
Speaker A:Or words you'll never say because you can't express it.
Speaker A:Think about how much we know in the little sliver that we see of this universe.
Speaker A:That's my thought about color and perception.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening and I hope you have a great day.
