• Question: Are Colours Real?

    Asked by gonegaming to Ben, Dave, Ed, Sam, Susana on 21 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Ed Lowe

      Ed Lowe answered on 21 Jun 2013:

      I suppose that depends on what you mean by real!

      When we talk about colour we are often referring to different wavelengths in the spectrum of visible light, and those are real and measurable.

      On the other hand if you mean the old philosophical question about whether you and I are actually seeing the same colour when we look at something “red” then I’m afraid I don’t have an answer!

    • Photo: Sam Horrell

      Sam Horrell answered on 21 Jun 2013:

      I’d say so, yes. Colours result from reflecting different wavelengths of visible light which are picked up by your eyes and processed by your brain.

      The interesting part comes when comparing one persons perspective to anothers. Some might see one shade of green as a shade of blue. Most people probably don’t see colours as exactly the same but in general most people will agree that red is red and green is green.

    • Photo: David Briggs

      David Briggs answered on 21 Jun 2013:

      Colours are how we interpret different wavelengths of light being reflected from different objects – so yes – I’d say they are real.

      But we all see colours slightly differently – I can look at a deep teal-y blue, and say it’s blue, but my wife will say it is green. Go figure!

    • Photo: Benjamin Hall

      Benjamin Hall answered on 21 Jun 2013:

      Well that’s quite a deep, philosophical question 🙂

      The colours that we see are our brains interpretation of light that an object is reflecting. Each object will absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect certain wavelengths of light at different levels.

      So in that respect, colours are real because they’re formed by characteristic wavelengths of light which don’t change and, when measured as wavelengths, can’t be interpreted any differently!

      However, if you look at an object and a dog looks at the same object, you see it in full colour and the dog sees it in something more similar to black and white. Why is this? Because your eyes and brain are geared toward seeing colours whereas a dog’s are not!

      There are then also differneces between how humans interpret colours!

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