A disparity between the ways people perceive things compared to others?

[λngelღмander]

I've always wondered about this myself. For example, we denote a certain color as "red". And red looks like this:

 But what if red was a different color for everyone? What if my red was your green, and metalshiflet's blue was diamondhavoc's orange? If that were the case, then does this mean that everyone has the same favorite color, and it's just that we all call our collective favorite color by different names because it appears different to us?

 

And what about tastes? I love pizza, most people do, but a lot of people don't like broccoli. I happen to like broccoli myself. But does broccoli taste different to me than to another person, or do all people share the same tastes, and some things just taste different? 

 

And this can go for other senses too. Tastes in music? Skin sensitivity? Do we actually have any original preferences, or is it just our bodies that define our acquired preferences?

 

[TheVenomWith1n]

It's possible, but impossible to tell wether its true or not.

[JakeTheAwesome]

I've actually thought a lot about the same thing as well. I guess there's no real way to tell if all the colors we see are the same or not.

 

As for the food and taste thing, people are just born with different preferences, I guess,

[Explosion-chan]

Red is a set color because it's scientifically proven to be on a certain wavelength. The only way someone sees the color differently is if they have mixed signals being input to their brain.

[λngelღмander]

Red is a set color because it's scientifically proven to be on a certain wavelength. The only way someone sees the color differently is if they have mixed signals being input to their brain.

My idea is that every brain learns differently. The wavelength may come in at 450 for red, but when the brain actually cogitates this information, how does it interpret it?

 

If someone teaches you the english language, but every noun means something different for the english you're taught, then you might call a water spigot a dog, and say that a dog is your favorite type of water spigot, 

 

or you might say blue is your favorite color, even though it's someone else's red.

[Heated Bread]

Why do we all react similarly to specific colors if we see them differently?

 

Yellow, orange and red draw attention quickly and can provoke hostility.  Orange and red can stimulate appetite.  Blue is relaxing and can give a feeling of trustworthiness and promote favoritism towards someone wearing it.  Green can also be soothing.  Too much purple can make people feel overwhelmed and depressed.  More so with black.

 

If I saw red differently than you, then I would expect that we'd have very different reactions to it.  Perhaps if what I saw is red is what you saw as blue, then you'd react calm and favorably to it while I would tend to get hungry and grumpy/aggressive around lots of red.

[λngelღмander]

Why do we all react similarly to specific colors if we see them differently?

 

Yellow, orange and red draw attention quickly and can provoke hostility.  Orange and red can stimulate appetite.  Blue is relaxing and can give a feeling of trustworthiness and promote favoritism towards someone wearing it.  Green can also be soothing.  Too much purple can make people feel overwhelmed and depressed.  More so with black.

 

If I saw red differently than you, then I would expect that we'd have very different reactions to it.  Perhaps if what I saw is red is what you saw as blue, then you'd react calm and favorably to it while I would tend to get hungry and grumpy/aggressive around lots of red.

This is a fantastic point, but what of the way the brain processes colors as they come in? Think about it for a moment.

 

Perhaps the emotions that colors bring to us are not influenced by how we perceive that color, maybe its not the perceived color, but the simple stimulus, the wavelength of the light, and then the brain interprets that wavelength and comes up with a color.

[Xolono II]

[Heated Bread]

This is a fantastic point, but what of the way the brain processes colors as they come in? Think about it for a moment.

 

Perhaps the emotions that colors bring to us are not influenced by how we perceive that color, maybe its not the perceived color, but the simple stimulus, the wavelength of the light, and then the brain interprets that wavelength and comes up with a color.

 

Is this a roundabout way of saying that you think people's reactions to specific colors are in some way a conditioned response rather than being based on how they perceive the colors?  Because I think that argument might have some merit, and it may even be testable.

[cKonR]

so confused.

[Keroro1454]

Red is a set color because it's scientifically proven to be on a certain wavelength. The only way someone sees the color differently is if they have mixed signals being input to their brain.

Not to mention I'm pretty sure if someone said: Hey look, that funny green cartoon family is back on! We would pretty quickly figure out if we were all seeing different colors, even if its in a controlled enviorment where pre-determined wavelengths were emitted and the color seen was recorded.

1. People would wonder the hell they were talking about

2. They'd wonder why they didn't just say the Simpsons

 

Unless I'm reading this wrong.

[Jams]

[Heated Bread]

Not to mention I'm pretty sure if someone said: Hey look, that funny green cartoon family is back on! We would pretty quickly figure out if we were all seeing different colors, even if its in a controlled enviorment where pre-determined wavelengths were emitted and the color seen was recorded.

1. People would wonder the hell they were talking about

2. They'd wonder why they didn't just say the Simpsons

 

Unless I'm reading this wrong.

The idea is that if someone's brain has always interpreted red differently than someone else's brain, they would both look at that color and call it red, but they would still both be seeing it differently.

 

It's a fairly old idea.  Objectively, yes.  Red is a certain set wavelength.  But that tells you nothing about the internal representation somebody has of it, and whether it is the same as yours.

[λngelღмander]

Is this a roundabout way of saying that you think people's reactions to specific colors are in some way a conditioned response rather than being based on how they perceive the colors?  Because I think that argument might have some merit, and it may even be testable.

I think you got what I was saying.

[Le Purple Chakra]

We can even extend this to word perceptions.

What if, when I say: "I think that you are hearing a different thing", you actually heard something else?

What if when I type this, your brains perceive it to be different, so that your conundrums of mental philosophy don't happen?
 

What if I'm talking to an empty world, about problems that no-one can hear because of those problems?

I'm just going to stop talking, because you aren't getting my meaning.

 

Why did I just say that?

[λngelღмander]

We can even extend this to word perceptions.

What if, when I say: "I think that you are hearing a different thing", you actually heard something else?

What if when I type this, your brains perceive it to be different, so that your conundrums of mental philosophy don't happen?

 

What if I'm talking to an empty world, about problems that no-one can hear because of those problems?

I'm just going to stop talking, because you aren't getting my meaning.

 

Why did I just say that?

I was getting it, actually, and I think text and speech are things that most people hear and read alike because they are necessary to communication. 

[BlaqkAudio]

everyone has the same favorite color, and it's just that we all call our collective favorite color by different names because it appears different to us?

 

And what about tastes? I love pizza, most people do, but a lot of people don't like broccoli. I happen to like broccoli myself. But does broccoli taste different to me than to another person, or do all people share the same tastes, and some things just taste different? 

 

And this can go for other senses too. Tastes in music? Skin sensitivity? Do we actually have any original preferences, or is it just our bodies that define our acquired preferences?

Seems like everyone is talking about sight right now. I'll move on to the taste and music.

 

All of that is acquired. It can easily be seen by people located in different parts of the world. If someone grew up always eating black licorice, then they would like the taste of black licorice at a later age as opposed to someone who has never tasted it. Same for the liking of spicy, sweet and/or sour food. Some have always liked it and others have always hated it.

 

Same applies to music. You grow up listening to a specific type of music, you're bound to like that type and dislike others.

 

So is it nature or nurture? I strongly believe it's nurture.

[♠Derpeh♤]

Red is a set color because it's scientifically proven to be on a certain wavelength. The only way someone sees the color differently is if they have mixed signals being input to their brain.

The idea is that how do you know the colour "red" is the same "red" that you see? We cannot share what we see nor can we share what we taste.

 

You grew up thinkning that "red" is "red" but what happens if the red you see was actually blue to someone else but because they have been calling your blue, red since the beginning they wouldnt know.

 

Scientist have thought of this before many saying it's rather the limitation of our language and they way we communicate.

[♠Derpeh♤]

Why do we all react similarly to specific colors if we see them differently?

 

Yellow, orange and red draw attention quickly and can provoke hostility.  Orange and red can stimulate appetite.  Blue is relaxing and can give a feeling of trustworthiness and promote favoritism towards someone wearing it.  Green can also be soothing.  Too much purple can make people feel overwhelmed and depressed.  More so with black.

 

If I saw red differently than you, then I would expect that we'd have very different reactions to it.  Perhaps if what I saw is red is what you saw as blue, then you'd react calm and favorably to it while I would tend to get hungry and grumpy/aggressive around lots of red.

 

It can be argued that we "react" that way because we have been conditioned to think that way, red draws attention/provokes hostility because it's the colour of our blood, blue is relaxing because of the sky being, green is soothing because it's everywhere in nature...etc

 

i.e. you can see different colours but still retain similar reactions.

[λngelღмander]

It can be argued that we "react" that way because we have been conditioned to think that way, red draws attention/provokes hostility because it's the colour of our blood, blue is relaxing because of the sky being, green is soothing because it's everywhere in nature...etc

 

i.e. you can see different colours but still retain similar reactions.

My point exactly.

[Heated Bread]

It can be argued that we "react" that way because we have been conditioned to think that way, red draws attention/provokes hostility because it's the colour of our blood, blue is relaxing because of the sky being, green is soothing because it's everywhere in nature...etc

 

i.e. you can see different colours but still retain similar reactions.

 

Do me a favor and scroll up so you can see where we already went over this.

[♠Derpeh♤]

Do me a favor and scroll up so you can see where we already went over this.

My apologies i generally just read through enough replies to get an idea oh what everyone is talking about, i should have read through all of them :S

[Heated Bread]

It's cool.  I do it too sometimes.

[Slocumruls]

The answer is that it doesn't matter what color you are actually seeing. When you learn language you learn to call a particular color (wavelength of light in this case) a particular word due to the people around you. As long as the color (wavelength) we are all calling red and the color (wavelength) we are all calling blue are actually perceived by the individual as different (aka they aren't color-blind) then they will learn to call those same colors by the same names simply due to those around them using those words to describe those particular wavelengths. Language is a social construct.

Assuming you grew up in a closed society where everyone used blue to mean what we call red and red to mean what we call blue then that is how you would learn it. In the end the word just represents a set of closely grouped wavelengths that our brains interpret as similar. Each item emitting that same wavelength is then determined to be "colored" in that color.

Black could be called white and white be called Purple and it wouldn't make a difference as long as each color a human being is capable of perceiving is represented with a different word.

[EvilDEATH1234]

Red is most likely perceived as the same color if you are a human being. The cones in your eyes are tuned to only decode specific wavelengths of light and your brain will decode this information in the same way because the different electrical impulses will (almost) always trigger the same reactions in your brain to occur as the next person. Basically, 1+1+1 almost always equals 3. Unless you are not human, are colorblind or quantum discrepancies wish to mess with you, you are going to see the same color as the person next to you.

 

 

Now if I were to be conditioned that the color you perceived as red was called blue, we would be observing the same experience but be conditioned to react in a different way, similar to how people with different languages would react to the same experience.