Saturday, February 26, 2011
A World of Color
Our world is a fake. A world of color, that's what we live in, people say. But do we? Recent studies have shown that there is no such thing as color. Color, the colors that we see, don't exist! They're just the sun's rays playing tricks on our eyes. But if that's true, and there is no such thing as color, what can we use to describe what we see? How do we say something without saying, "What color is it?" In that question, what would we replace as the word color? If there are no colors, what color is everything?
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Snadra J-
ReplyDeleteWhy does the whole world have to be fake because scientists believe color (as humans have always perceived it) does not exist? Your whole post seems to be getting at the issue between reality (or what scientists tell us is reality - of course no scientist can tell you when you have a headache - you just know that), and perception of reality. This is a great philosophical debate.
One comment about the observation that scientists think there is no such thing as color is, "So what?" What follows from it? It is an interesting observation about the universe and our perceptions, but scientists have also shown that matter is mostly empty space, but the person who steps in front of the speeding tractor trailer, still dies. That person's "spaces of matter" do not "pass through" the tractor trailer's, right?
I think there will be many observations scientists will come up with in the future, especially with technology growing at the rate it is, but as philosophers we need to question what affect, if any, scientific descriptions should have on humans. After all, many philosophical questions force a prescriptive inquiry, not a descriptive one. What do you think?
~Reasons
I wanted to add and clarify my first comment. First, the issue of the question, "So what?" When I ask this question (as I may do more), I do not mean to be flippant at all – even though the question by itself seems to have that connotation; I don’t think it has to by the way.
ReplyDeleteInstead, I ask the question honestly to elicit more questions and responses. In effect, it is shortcut for, "So what follows from the observation/proposition/assertion?" Since I am a student of mathematics, science, philosophy, theology, history, and culture, I am intensely interested in where and how these disciplines intersect, and how to resolve conflicting (or even contradictory) propositions among those disciplines.
Some questions or responses that I can think of in response to the “So What?” question are: “Does the fact (if it is one) that color does not exist, and is a mere human perception due to the sun’s light, call into question the basic reliability of our senses and should we change our behavior because of it? If so, how?” or “Do scientists believe this is an objective (independent of human existence) scientific truth, and if so, then why do they think some truths are objective, but others are not? Is it only a matter of the strength of evidence or are underlying philosophical assumptions also at work?” or “Some philosophers and language academicians in literature think meaning is constructed by the interpreter of the text and not in the text itself, but if that’s the case, then what are the implications for a proposition like, “There is no such thing as color?”
Lastly, everyone cite your sources (usually a URL I would suspect). Everyone would probably like to read the original articles from which ideas for posts come.
~Reasons
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ReplyDeleteI think that color is a thing that exists only by opinion. If anyone disagrees with me, than please explain what you are seeing right now.
ReplyDeleteI like the question at the end. If our world has no color what color is everything? I can not come up with an answer to it. For if there is no color then everything has no color, but if it has no color what color is it? The way I imagine it in my head as a world full of shades of white and gray. Like an old movie, but I know thats not true because white and gray are still colors. I just can't figure it out. What is the color of nothing?
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good question, I have no idea! I think that nothing could be a color, because we as humans put a name or a label to everything with a color, so if it isn't a color, we can still say/think it is because of our labels. So if we do see a nothing, we could still say it does have a color because we label it.
ReplyDeleteAnd if there is no color, is everything black? or white? How could we read if everything was one or no color? Would the alphabet even be in existence? How could we label anything without the gift of language?
ReplyDeleteAragorn:
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying tthat there is no color to us, of course we see color! Or, what we think is color. What really isn't color is what we have put a label to, and used to make reading possible, etc. I don't understand where the gift of language comes in, though.
Okay, I admit that was not a well thought of response.
ReplyDeleteBut, if there isn't color, then what is there that allows us to distinguish one thing from another? I think a lot of us know that color is generated by white light, which can be split into all the colors of the rainbow. But color isn't the actual product of white light, but just our label for it. Think about it: is one of the seven pieces of one of the sun's rays really a trick on our eyes? Or are they saying that, technically, colorblind animals see the world as it actually is, while we humans are, in a way, adding detail to the otherwise black and white world?
Aragorn:
ReplyDeleteI just read an article on color, and it said that color is an illusion percieved by our minds, etc.
Here's the link to the article:
http://www.davidberryart.com/articles/purple.html
SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM THE REST UP TOP IS ABOUT PURPLE AND ITS HISTORY...
I would like to believe this, but there are no resources to back this up. Also, this is a completely anonymous website. If this article were on Science Magazine, maybe...
ReplyDelete