Root's Fairly Interesting Topics: Colo(u)r-blind

[The_root_of_all_evil]

There's always been a lot of talk about how we have a great deal of smart people here, so I thought it might be interesting to see how we do against some of the famous questions of all time.

So, my question for this week is:
How do you explain colo(u)r to someone who has been blind since birth?

Just a few points:
Please don't flame, it's a discussion, which means there can be multiple "right" answers.
Anyone can post, I'm not being elitist here. In fact the more people with low post-counts, the happier I'll be

 

[DigitalSushi]

So, my question for this week is:
How do you explain colo(u)r to someone who has been blind since birth?

Colour blind people are rubbish at Capture the Flag and don't understand why RoosterTeeth's RedVBlue series is funny, I think that covers it.

edit, sorry, I couldn't help myself, I'm a 28 year old manchild.

 

[Tharwen]

Eh... It's like... stuff.

Being synaesthetic, I can only draw a comparison to what things smell and sound like.

 

[reaper_2k9]

Wow thats a hard question to answer, but I dont think you really can. I mean you can describe something thats colorful all you want but if they cant see it there's really no point is there? Nothing against color blind people I'm slightly color blind myself.

 

[Vondrakenhof]

When describing colour to a blind person the best I could do is this:

"You know when you feel stuff and lots of things have different textures? It's kind of like that, only for your eyes."

 

[Jamash]

I would liken colours to the different patterns they see and imagine in their head, and say that different colours are like the changes in those patterns.

I don't believe that people who are born blind entirely lack ability to visualise the world around them, they just do it completely in their heads and in a way that we wouldn't recognise.

However, explaining individual colours and the differences between them would be nigh on impossible.

 

[ClaptonKnophlerHendrix]

I would liken it to music, in that different colours make you feel different things, so it's like tone colour in music but for your eyes.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Sorry, are we talking about someone who is colour blind or blind?

Sorry, should have made that clearer, defining colours for someone unable to see them. (That can mean both)

Eh... It's like... stuff.

Being synaesthetic, I can only draw a comparison to what things smell and sound like.

I've always want to know this...what colour do you see Wednesday as? Or is it not that form?

 

[Tharwen]

Sorry, are we talking about someone who is colour blind or blind?

Sorry, should have made that clearer, defining colours for someone unable to see them. (That can mean both)

Eh... It's like... stuff.

Being synaesthetic, I can only draw a comparison to what things smell and sound like.

I've always want to know this...what colour do you see Wednesday as? Or is it not that form?

The word 'Wednesday' is yellow. The day itself doesn't really work like that. It probably would be different for a different person anyway.

 

[Incredible Bullshitting Man]

Hmm, I find this topic fairly interesting. On to the question at hand:

Since the whole sensory part is omitted, I can only try to explain how I experience the colors, i.e. what the colors feel like (warm, cold, calm, what have you). Even though he may not have experienced the emotional responses stirred by visual perception, I doubt he´s wholly unfamiliar with human emotions. Now, this can only lead to vague impressions without anything solid to connect them to, but if it gives the blind person some idea about the nature of different colors, I think it´s worth something. I could try to connect the vague impressions with other senses, like touch, but it would still be imperfect. It´s impossible to perfectly explain something one cannot see, I think you can adequately liken it to other senses.

EDIT: By the way

I've always want to know this...what colour do you see Wednesday as?

Wednesday is brown.

 

[Meggiepants]

Okay, this is corny but, I've always liked the way Rocky in the movie Mask showed his blind girlfriend color. He put a hot rock in her hand and said it was red, when it cooled he said it was pink. He put a piece of ice in her hand and said it was blue. I think there were a few more, but I thought it was an interesting way to describe color to someone who couldn't color or anything for that matter.

I think a colorblind person might have an easier time of it, because they can see some colors, just not all of them. So the concept of a color would be something they would have some basis of understanding for. But I think the same experiment would give some understanding of the colors a colorblind person couldn't see.

 

[GothmogII]

Don't suppose it's worth mentioning that there are a plethora of different types of color blindness? Not just the type of black/white seeing only people seem to be imagining, Achromatopsia is actually quite uncommon with Red/Green blindness being far more prevalent, especially amongst males.

 

[Eleuthera]

I have no idea how to explain colour to a blind person. But on a related note I regeularly get asked to explain how I see colours (I'm colourblind, not exatly sure what kind, but it's not red/green) which is pretty much the same question.

I can no better explain to a "normal" person what I see when I see brown, than a "normal" can explain brown to a blind person.

 

[DazZ.]

Perhaps we all see different colours differently, my red might be your blue.

But I have no idea how to explain what colours look like.

 

[Sebenko]

Dunno, but it makes explaining who owns what town in Mount & Blade to my boyfriend confusing.

"Yeah, Vaegir are the green guys." "I can't see green." "Well, fuck."

Well, not quite that, but close enough.

 

[Iron Criterion]

Colour blind people don't understand why RoosterTeeth's RedVBlue series is funny, I think that covers it.

I don't understand why people think it's funny, RVB is the worst thing I have ever seen...

 

[Irridium]

Honestly I do not know how I would explain it. So many ways of describing things, and color is one of those things. So trying to describe something you basically have to see to understand... I would say its damn near impossible.

It would be easier with colorblind people though. Since they can either see some colors.

EDIT: By the way

I've always want to know this...what colour do you see Wednesday as?

Wednesday is brown.

Really? I always thought Wednesday to be white, with Monday being fairly brown.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

How do you explain colo(u)r to someone who has been blind since birth?

I would tell them that sight, in humans, depends on light, which is a property of energy, which reflects/absorbs differently on different materials, and that my eyes are able to distinguish between the different qualities of light that I observe.