RE: Let's Learn Something Cool - My Red Is Not The Same As Yours
Back in elementary school, long before the "are you high?" question was appropriate, I recall having the revelation that color was a socially-constructed concept, and stumbling Lebowski-like through my explanation to peers (But, like, you can't ever see through my eyes, man). I was passionate about the neurology and sensory integration once I reached that level of biological study and this is a great discussion of the phenomenon of color perception.
Along the vein of color pecerception, a recent trend that I have been enjoying are videos of people with red-green color blindness observing their surroundings while wearing special eyewear that reduces the extra overlap that occurs in the photopigments perceived by the cones of their eyes. It is always paired with extreme emotion when confronted with the idea that even though we have the same hardware (eyes), we also need accurate functioning of the software (brain) to get the job of perceiving all the entire spectrum done.
The funny thing about color being a construction is how people who saw certain wavelengths as yellow for example, changed their perception after wearing special lenses. It's remarkable how you can mess with someone's brain.
As for the videos you mentioned, I have seen a few. Their feelings must be indescribable when they start seeing like "normal" people, like they enter a whole different reality.
Thanks for reading! :)
Isn't that the APA's tagline? /s
We have to trust our brain to try to help make sense of the world in most situations, but it can't get it all right every time!