Possible to think of a non-existant color?

[Cherry Blossom 863]

So I've been wondering for a while if it was possible to think of a color that hasn't been noted or was never known. I know a lot of you are gonna say that it's not possible, but I wanna hear your opinions.

[Discordian 6,013]

I made a similar topic a long time ago. What I learned was that there is a spectrum of colors that we cannot see with the human eyes so that alone could be what you're thinking of or you could be like me and wonder if there is something outside of the whole spectrum.

 

For example, we can't really see ultraviolet, can we? But it's a part of the spectrum nonetheless.

[AnonBrony 1,467]

No. Its not. well not for a human. We already know every color of the spectrum for humans and we can only comprehend those colors. Any color outside of our spectrum cannot be conprehensible. But i'm sure if we were someother animal we might see some new colors heheh.

[Shiki 5,853]

Is it possible to describe a colour to a person who has been blind since birth? Nope.

 

It'd be impossible for us to think of a colour out of the colour wheel our minds can see, just as it'd be impossible for our brains to compute the concept of 4 dimensional objects/creatures. This doesn't mean that there are no more colours that are of existence. I believe there's some kind of aquatic creature that sees more colours than us, or something. I forget.

 

Also, what Raronoopa said about the UV rays.

[Planty 1,052]

Is it possible to describe a colour to a person who has been blind since birth? Nope.

 

It'd be impossible for us to think of a colour out of the colour wheel our minds can see, just as it'd be impossible for our brains to compute the concept of 4 dimensional objects/creatures. This doesn't mean that there are no more colours that are of existence. I believe there's some kind of aquatic creature that sees more colours than us, or something. I forget.

 

Also, what Raronoopa said about the UV rays.

 

I know that some animals like bees can see UV light and I think that if humans get part of there eye lens removed that blocks the UV rays we can also see them. I always wanted to do that just to see all the wonders of UV patterns on flowers and such, it must be so cool !!!

[Discordian 6,013]

Colors themselves are just different types of light, correct? Perhaps there are many colors we can't necessarily see but we can still feel the effects from. UV Rays are one example of this. We can't tell the difference between a UV Ray and a normal ray of light but it exists and they are potentially harmful to us as humans. There are other things out there too that are of a similar concept.

[Strife 455]

Yes, it is possible.

 

There are tons of colors in the light spectrum that our eyes and brain simply cannot pick up on, but just because we can't see them doesn't mean they do not exist.

 

This chart here shows the spectrum of electromagnetic waves, only a small part is made up of visible light.

 

In the future, it may be possible for humans to visually pick up a greater range of wavelengths due to technological advances in biotech.

[Discordian 6,013]

Ah thank you, Strife. You just pointed out, in a much more descriptive way, exactly what I was trying to say with UV rays. Colors themselves are just different shades of light that we can detect, there's other stuff we can see through technology but our eyes cannot see them.

 

Humans have already gained the ability to control something we cannot see, imagine what else is possible in this universe.

[Planty 1,052]

How does being color blind work with this?

 

Do they just miss out sections of the visible lug spectrum or something?

[Samppao2 15]

I guess it might be possible for me 'cause I'm color blind. I see colors all wrong sometimes. For example: red = brown, pink = gray, etc. And by the way doctors say I can't actually see red as red. It's confusing...

(I hate living as color blind person!)

Edited August 6, 2012 by Samppao2

[Shankveld 4,945]

It is impossible to imagine a colour that is non within the spectrum of light visible to the human eye, but just because we can't imagine them doesn't mean they don't exist.

~

[Discordian 6,013]

It is impossible to imagine a colour that is non within the spectrum of light visible to the human eye, but just because we can't imagine them doesn't mean they don't exist.

~

 

I'll be damned if I didn't try on daily basis though. lmao

 

I often try to think of things outside of what humans normally deem impossible like if there is a possibility of being a number within a number. I'm not talking about decimals here either, I mean a number WITHIN a solid number.

[Flicker Sweet 3,391]

well, we do have the capability of seeing some amount of heat light, ever look off in the distance on the highway and see the road wiggling? That's your eyes actually SEEING infrared light, to a degree

[Strife 455]

How does being color blind work with this?

 

Do they just miss out sections of the visible lug spectrum or something?

 

Depends on the type of color blindness.

 

The damage or deficiency can be on the optic nerve, brain, or physical damage to the eye. And depending on what the cause is, the effect comes out differently. Sometimes it is simply the inability to see the color, which is a vision deficiency, and other types it is the inability to perceive the color (a deficiency of perception).

 

Either way, the colors still exist, the person just cannot see them, or they are seen incorrectly.

 

well, we do have the capability of seeing some amount of heat light, ever look off in the distance on the highway and see the road wiggling? That's your eyes actually SEEING infrared light, to a degree

 

Actually, humans are entirely unable to pick up UV wavelengths visually. What you mentioned is an example of refraction. The difference of temperature between air particles (the hot air rising up from the pavement and the cooler air sinking from above) cause the light particles to move at slightly different speeds. This difference in speed, although small, is perceived by the human eye to be a wavy image.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Strife

[Shankveld 4,945]

I'll be damned if I didn't try on daily basis though. lmao

 

I often try to think of things outside of what humans normally deem impossible like if there is a possibility of being a number within a number. I'm not talking about decimals here either, I mean a number WITHIN a solid number.

 

I think there's a way you can get paid to do that.

It's called being a philosopher

and well, more impressive then what I think about (: ~

[Discordian 6,013]

Funny you should say that, Shank, because I do fancy myself an amateur philosopher.

[Strife 455]

Funny you should say that, Shank, because I do fancy myself an amateur philosopher.

 

Well, I have a few sayings. Here is one of them:

 

Everyone is a philosopher, yet not everyone takes the time to think.

[Discordian 6,013]

True but I've been told I overthink things, I tell them maybe everyone else just doesn't think enough. I say screw logic, when trying to theorize about things that we don't already know exist logic could be the very thing restricting us from learning or understanding these things.

 

Most people tell me the things I think about are trivial at best yet they are the most fascinating thought processes I can ever come up with.

[notdog1996 315]

It's amusing, I've also been wondering this for quite a long time. I tried to think of a color I can't see but it's impossible. I also tried to know what a colorblind was seeing (they miss some cones in their eyes). I know a guy at school who couldn't tell green from red, my dad just has problem with similar shades, my sister's teacher sees in black and white ect. It's really confusing, they're not all at the same level of color blindness I think.

Edited August 6, 2012 by notdog1996

[bagelbass 29]

I believe Strife is 100% correct on this one. I would have explained what he has, but he beat me to it.

[Evilshy 5,089]

Yes, it is possible.

 

There are tons of colors in the light spectrum that our eyes and brain simply cannot pick up on, but just because we can't see them doesn't mean they do not exist.

 

This chart here shows the spectrum of electromagnetic waves, only a small part is made up of visible light.

 

In the future, it may be possible for humans to visually pick up a greater range of wavelengths due to technological advances in biotech.

 

While this is all true, anything outside the visible spectrum cannot be called a color. A color is a description we have for how we percieve a certain wavelength of electromagnetic radiation that is part of the visible spectrum. Any wavelength outside that we can't see, and therefor is not a color.

 

Also, based on the visible spectrum, we can predict what the colors might look like. For example, the colors become purple near the shorter wavelengths of the visible spectrum, so UV could be said to be purplish. The problem is, we can't really see or imagine how something could be more purple, because we've never seen anything like it :/

 

Mixing science and philosophy. Not my favorite thing to do, but interesting, nonetheless

[Twiliscael 3,958]

Yeah, as everybody else said, theres much more to the spectrum than we can actually see. To do so would be inhuman.

[Strife 455]

While this is all true, anything outside the visible spectrum cannot be called a color. A color is a description we have for how we percieve a certain wavelength of electromagnetic radiation that is part of the visible spectrum. Any wavelength outside that we can't see, and therefor is not a color.

 

Also, based on the visible spectrum, we can predict what the colors might look like. For example, the colors become purple near the shorter wavelengths of the visible spectrum, so UV could be said to be purplish. The problem is, we can't really see or imagine how something could be more purple, because we've never seen anything like it :/

 

Mixing science and philosophy. Not my favorite thing to do, but interesting, nonetheless

 

You miss the importance of the terminology. The reason it is called visible light spectrum is because it is visible to us. Therefore, when (if) humans are later able to expand their range of perceivable wavelengths, those would also be visible.

 

What those would look like is unimaginable, but it would be a 'color' in the sense that the wavelength is a visual stimulation. We currently do not have that technology, but all in due time.

[KPM 288]

I dunno. When talking about thinking of non-existant colors, doesn't that mean that any color that could possibly exist is out of question, eg. Ultraviolet and whatnot?

Needs a crazy mind to be able to think that.

[Evilshy 5,089]

You miss the importance of the terminology. The reason it is called visible light spectrum is because it is visible to us. Therefore, when (if) humans are later able to expand their range of perceivable wavelengths, those would also be visible.

 

What those would look like is unimaginable, but it would be a 'color' in the sense that the wavelength is a visual stimulation. We currently do not have that technology, but all in due time.

 

Well, yes, but since they aren't part of the visible spectrum, they're not colors. If the visible light spectrum were to expand, either artificially or naturally, then they'd be colors, but until that happens, they aren't.