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How do you know another person sees the same colours to you?

How do you know that what you see as pink is the same as what someone else sees as pink? Surely, someone who sees green as pink, will never know because they have always grown up with them calling the colour they are seeing is green.

Just a question I have been wondering about all day!

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Reply 1
Avatar for Reue
Reue
20
I was so happy when I realised I wasn't alone in thinking this!
you have absolutely no way of knowing.... although it is unlikely that there are 8 000 000 000 different colour schemes in the human population :h:
You don't, we all see colours slightly differently, we also don't know how differently that may be.

Just FYI, if everyone says that grass is green, it might be any colour to you, but you'd always call that colour green.
Omg i thought it was just me that lost hours pondering this!
Reply 5
Avatar for CCC75
CCC75
16
Original post by Bonnie 99
How do you know that what you see as pink is the same as what someone else sees as pink? Surely, someone who sees green as pink, will never know because they have always grown up with them calling the colour they are seeing is green.

Just a question I have been wondering about all day!


I felt compelled to rep you for sharing a recurring pondering of mine.
Reply 6
Avatar for Diabolus
Diabolus
1
Original post by Reue
I was so happy when I realised I wasn't alone in thinking this!


Lol mate its called "qualia".

Long story short, unless you can share someone's consciousness there is no way to be sure.

Now onto other things.

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Reply 7
Avatar for Alexion
Alexion
17
Indeed - same signals, but the colour we perceive is just our brian's interpretation of those signals. There's nothing telling us what it should look like (so to speak) so it could look like anything to everyone :cute:

I guess an argument against it is that everyone sees yellow as that annoying colour that's too close to white to be visible easily :unimpressed:
Reply 8
Avatar for Reue
Reue
20
Original post by NinjaOtter
Just FYI, if everyone says that grass is green, it might be any colour to you, but you'd always call that colour green.


This was exactly my thinking.
Imagine trying to describe a specific colour to someone? Yeah I bet we all see slightly different shades of a specific colour. Maybe you could test this by drawing and colouring a coloured object and be given the same colouring pencils in a whole range of shades and see if you end up with the same shading.
How would people ever figure out they're colour blind? And in school teachers would say everyone get a blue pencil (or what ever) and everyone would get the same.

But the more I think about it the more it messes with my head. Either way, my colours are the right colours :smile:
(edited 8 years ago)
I get everyone's points above, but surely if we looked at a random shape that was coloured, and we all individually came to the conclusion it was blue, then we are all seeing the same colour?

Hope this made sense lol.
Original post by Reue
I was so happy when I realised I wasn't alone in thinking this!


Original post by Catriona98
Omg i thought it was just me that lost hours pondering this!


[video="youtube;evQsOFQju08"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evQsOFQju08[/video]
Reply 14
Avatar for z33
z33
21
Original post by kandykissesxox


omg... SO IT IS BLACK AND BLUE :eek: my brain lied to me :O

also OP i've been wondering this since i was like 5 and came to the conclusion that you just don't know
Original post by z33
omg... SO IT IS BLACK AND BLUE :eek: my brain lied to me :O

also OP i've been wondering this since i was like 5 and came to the conclusion that you just don't know


I've been seeing gold and blue (FS I've evoked this stupid dress debate) :biggrin:
Original post by z33
omg... SO IT IS BLACK AND BLUE :eek: my brain lied to me :O

also OP i've been wondering this since i was like 5 and came to the conclusion that you just don't know


B-but I still see white and gold...

Spoiler

Reply 17
Avatar for z33
z33
21
Original post by kandykissesxox
I've been seeing gold and blue (FS I've evoked this stupid dress debate) :biggrin:


Yeah at first I saw white and gold
and then I've been seeing blue and gold (like wtf i think my brain is broken x'D)
and now i see black and blue :O
does it depend on your mood or what x'D
I have a friend who is colour blind but he doesn't see himself as colour blind because he just sees colours in a different way than I do
Original post by z33
Yeah at first I saw white and gold
and then I've been seeing blue and gold (like wtf i think my brain is broken x'D)
and now i see black and blue :O
does it depend on your mood or what x'D


I thought it was to do with the lighting 😂 I watched the ASAP science vid as well but I can't remember what their conclusion was on the whole dress palava.


How are you seeing white?🤔😳

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