No one could see the color blue until modern times? Huh?

[Dajenarit]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/no-one-could-see-the-color-blue-until-modern-times/ar-BBi3GwP?ocid=mailsignout

[Dajenarit]

Is it just the limitations of language? I find that hard to believe.

[Steve James]

Ever heard of tekhelet
http://www.tekhelet.info/

How would you describe this color below --that was mentioned in the Bible?


Otoh, you know that if you think that any object you see is "blue" then you're wrong. The fact is that "blue" is the radiation (frequency) that is not being absorbed by the object. So, the object is some other color --if it can be said to be a color at all

I think the argument that's being made about "blue" is that we have only recently started distinguishing it from its neighbors (like "red-blue" and "yellow-blue"). It's more of a brain thing than an eye thing.

[GrahamB]

Is this why dinosaurs aren't blue?

[KEND]

Not convinced. Lapis was used by the Egyptians in ancient times, blue and white pottery date to the Sung and Tang dynasty. Later cobalt from Persia was used in Ming pottery, I imagine the Persians had it long before the Ming. Maybe they called it by the mineral name rather than color

[kenneth fish]

Blue plant dyes were used in India since before Alexander, the Mongols referenced the "endless blue sky, blue glass and tiles were found in Troy...I could go on and on. Also, as noted, a shade of blue is mentioned in the Old Testament. Hard to take this argument at face value.

[Interloper]

I have a really hard time believing that no one could perceive blue, particularly since the sky and certain seas and oceans in many parts of the world reflect those cyanic and azure hues. Our eyes and color vision probably evolved in our ancestral species millions of years ago. More likely that in languages where the color was taken for granted because it was so pervasive -- e.g. the endless desert skies, the endless Mediterranean seascape -- there was no word for it, so when you asked them what color the sea or sky was, they'd have no name, only "Well, it's SKY-colored," or "It's SEA-colored."

[edededed]

I think that people could SEE differences in the colors, but just thought of them within different mental boundaries, a new one of which would only evolve after a said "color" appeared enough times to necessitate its differentiation. If you do not think of a different color with a different word, you may mentally think of them as the "same color."

So, a culture with but the original two "colors" of white and black would see a nice blue dress, and think "nice shade of black." Perhaps the sky would be a "shade of white" (like the Japanese flag, which shows a red sun and a white sky).

The evolution of colors in language is an interesting topic - cultures are said in anthropology to start with two (white and black), adding red, and then green-blue, and then more thereafter (yellow?). The Japanese language seems to show this quite clearly, as these "base colors" have a more "pure Japanese" grammatical structure than later colors: kuroi (black), shiroi (white), akai (red), aoi (blue/green). The last color is now usually taken to mean blue (as in the English blue color, RGB 0x0000ff), but is still often used to mean green as well - such as in referring to "blue traffic lights" - an old habit. I also hear people refer to orange sweaters as "red" - so there is more vagueness to colors in Japanese language compared to English, which always seems to be quite specific (at least in regards to "general colors" of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white, gray, pink, brown, and so forth). Pink is a strange color, too - the only "pastel color" that seems so different from its origin color of red so as to seem to require its own distinct name (and never be called "light red").

The Chinese 5 elements (wuxing) also of course seem to show an older rubric of 5 colors, i.e. green (qing), red (chi), yellow (huang), white (bai), and black (hei) (i.e. the stage of 5 colors). Some shades of blue may be included in "green," but since "black" is the color of water - dark blue is probably included in "black."

[Andy_S]

Frankly: Who cares?

[Interloper]

Frankly: Who cares?

...said the guy whose wife probably sends him back to his room constantly to change clothes because "You're not going out in THAT color combination, are you?!"

[Steve James]

25% of the people have a 4th cone and see colors as they are ;p
Feb 28, 2015

Given the sudden interest for the color of dresses and vision, here some of the fascinating findings we did recently.

The color nuances we see depend on the number and distribution of cones (=color receptors) in our eye. You can check this rainbow: how many color nuances do you count?

[Interloper]

With that dopey "blue and black?" dress thing on the 'net, I just assumed that people's computer monitors or tablet/smartphone screens were showing different colors and shades due to inconsistencies in the color settings or in the "wiring" -- not because of brain issues of the viewers. I don't trust anything I see on a monitor, or screen, anyway.

[Bill]

[edededed]

Of course it may depend on the monitor (and image) settings (printing totally ruins it), but I was able to sort of change my perception to see it in both ways.

Essentially, the dress can either look like a white and gold dress with lots of backlight, or a blue and gold dress. For me, it was easier to see the former looking at the dress from above, while the latter coloring from below.

[klonk]

Frankly: Who cares?

...said the guy whose wife probably sends him back to his room constantly to change clothes because "You're not going out in THAT color combination, are you?!"

Bwahaha.

There is a bit of chappishness that says one's socks should coordinate with one's necktie. I buy only black ties or prints with a lot of black in them. That way I only have to stock one color of dress socks and I never get a mismatched pair.