• Question: Do people see colour differently? So my blue could look pink to someone else but we both call our version blue.

    Asked by Hippy who likes dogs. to Joe, Jos, Kate, Lisa, Pierre on 13 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Kate Dobson

      Kate Dobson answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      What a cool question. It’s actually one my mum and I have disussed before. I like the idea that if you could somehow put my brain behind your eyes then the sky suddenly went from blue to orange…..

      I think (and this is after looking it up) that in general we probably do all see the same colours the same way. The wavelength of the light coming off a green leaf or the blue sky enters your eye where your brain decodes it. Now we all learn that the sky is blue and the leaf is green, but apparently in your eye there are three types of a cell called a cone. Each type reponds to a different part of the light spectrum. Your brain then interprets the different signals from the three different types and you learn to call that “blue” or “yellow”. I guess that while the cells might be sesitive at slightly different wavelengths we probably all see “red” roughly the same, unless you suffer from colour blindness of course.

      Did you know some cultures don’t regognise pink as a colour?

    • Photo: Joshaniel Cooper

      Joshaniel Cooper answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      One of my friends sees colour when she hears sounds, and each one has a different shape to her. This is apparently known as synesthesia and it happens when some things in the brain get confused. However I think that it is a great way of showing that people definitely see colours differently!

    • Photo: Lisa Simmons

      Lisa Simmons answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      This is one of my favourite questions. I haven’t anything further to add, I think Kate and Jos have given great answers, I learnt a lot from them

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