Colors we cant see

I was talking to one of my friends and one way or another we got to the discussion about the possibility that there are colors that we cant see and personally it started bugging me because how am i supposed to see these colors and maybe its such a beutiful color but i wont be able to see it and since it cant be compared to anything else it would bee unable to be described in words. I thought i read or heard somewhere about other animals being able to see different colors than us humans i just find that amazing.

There are no other colors than the visible spectrum ROY G BIV however, you have infrared and untraviolet light on the ends of the spectrum. Some insects see UV light AKA BLacklight, but I dont know about Infrared AKA nightvision. It is said that womens eyes can detect more distinct differences between colors but that doesnt mean there are more colors.

www.glenbrook.k12.il.us...
imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov...

When I ingested a mind altering substance as a teenager in the form of a heavy dose of acid ( like a dumbass)..I saw colors that I never had and never did again...I couldnt believe I percieved colors that I never had...It was a strange experience. There were so many and they were everywhere. But new colors.
The person I was with had done the same, and had the same result! I absolutely do not suggest anyonee try this for my friend didnt "come down" as well as I had.

After this experience I did read something about the visual color spectrum that was interesting...how we distinguish them

here is a good site that describes how the eye distiguishes light and color. but I couldnt find anything on why I saw so many colors that weekend ( except ofcourse I was delirious from poinsoning) But color is perception, and perception was altered by a drug
on that occasion


www.mic-d.com...

maybe you are color blind

Colors are not perception, colors are the breakdown of white light rays into a spectrum of wavelengths. There are no other colors outside this spectrum. You saw other colors xxKrisxx because you were tripped out of your mind, you likely saw flashing colors or god knows what - your brain saying what the hell have you done to me, most likely. But I promise there are no other colors. You may be colorblind like HR suggested, there are many kinds, it doesnt mean you see black are white.

I think it really depends on how your eyes and brain work. Most raptors, hawks eagles can see the UV trail left by a rodent.So they must see the trail as some color. Now what does this trail look like to them? It may look like a version of Violet we have never seen so it might be a new color.

Then you have animals that like Vipers, Rattle snakes that can see in Infra-red they see your body heat. What does that look like to them it might be a another color we have never seen.

Then you have animals that brains form images in ways very alien to humans like a bat it uses sound to form images of it enviroment how it looks to them is anyones guess

I dont know if we will ever know how their brains show them this information.



[edit on 16-8-2004 by ShadowXIX]

I used the word perception because I was reading this website. Using the line such as
"Red is simply a perception of light, as are all other colors. "

www.firelily.com...

not that it matters much I took Gen Bio and AandP, but I dont really remember the whole rods and cones thing..We did discuss this very idea....how we see colors the same.

Still I believe some people are more sensitive to stimulus..having nothing to do with physiology, but having to do with their creativity and personality, and I think these people see more colors using there mind not their eyes. red is never just "red" to an arteeeeest

Colin Wilson, in his history of the occult, mentioned the recurring idea that the ancients did not see as many colors as we do. Not simply that they had fewer pigments, but that they were blind to colors we see.

Many tribal religions, which are generally extremely conservative of recieved traditions, only recognize 4 colors in the rainbow. Navajo symbology is an example of this.

Likewise Homer described a 5 color rainbow in the Iliad, and also described the Aegean Sea as wine-colored. (It's a dark green to me.)


Oh, and I believe that ROYGBIV is a cultural discriptor, not reality. look at the colors on the control settings of your monitor. Are there 7, (roygbiv), 4(CMYK) three (RYB) or infinite shades that pass into each other.

Actually, there's one spectrum of radiation, part of which is visible. Different extremes to different Eyes. Green eyes supposedly can see further into ultraviolet than others, at least I remember that from a physical anthropology text. I'll see if I can find it.

There are of course additional colors, all of which are simply spectra of electromagnetic radiation. Because the entire spectrum of electromagnetic waveforms is huge and the visible bandwidth is tiny in comparison, there are more "colors" than one can imagine! But one would need a new coding sequence in the brain for seeing beyond the familiar spectrum. After all, that is where sight truly is, the visual cortex of the occipital lobe processing signals for the "mind" - a complete abstraction.

Is there a way we can see the extra "colors" without having to take an acid trip. Thats interesting about different civilizations not being able to see that many colors do you guys have any theories on why that may be so. Maybe it is because of the nurtition of the area arnt carrots suposed to be good for vision maybe near those civilizations they didnt get enough evggies or carrots

If you can't see them .... are they "colors"?
Or just wavelengths?

Originally posted by Netchicken
If you can't see them .... are they "colors"?
Or just wavelengths?

Perhaps you refer to the tenet of a "tree falling in a forest," with no one to hear. Such would be applicable to the argument, except for a caveat in my post. Note that I qualify the assertion with the need for a new coding sequence in the brain to actually see additional spectra. Moreover, one would also require specialized retinal receptors, if those present on the "cone" structures were insufficient. But I do concede the point without engaging in semantics.