Colours Through the Screen

When you look at something physically, the colour of that object you see is subtractive. It absorbs all visible wavelengths of light except for the light of the colour of that object you see, which is then reflected onto your retina. We have all agreed and settled on this fact.

Have we, however, reflected on what does "green" look like to different species of animals, insects and even another person? Do the cone cells or photoreceptors in all retinas detect only red, blue and green lights? If our colour vision are limited to the range of ten million colours determined by our cone cells, do the green that I see different to a tetrachromat? What I have learnt to call "green" may not be the same green as how you see it. You may have been referring to grass as "green" all your life because you have been taught to label the colour of the grass you see as "green". Another person might see the grass as a different colour since birth and has also been taught to label that colour they see "green". When asked, everyone will agree and concur that the grass they saw is green, but nobody can confirm whether it is the same "green". Maybe the same wavelength of a colour light proves the same is being seen, but how the colour is being "seen" stands as a question.

In a way, what we see does not necessarily mean that it is true, and more importantly it must not be a factor we use to judge matters or another person as we are in no position to do so. Each of us go through a different phase and experience in life. 

What we see are all deceiving. 

The LCD screen in which you are using to read this only emits 3 colours of lights; red, blue and green. Place the screen under magnification. The intensity of the colour combinations increases when a certain colour has to be portrayed. Taking yellow as an example, the green and yellow pixels are brighter. Different types of screen produces different image quality. Which screen then is the one producing the true image?

Toshiba Satellite L510 screen magnified with Olympus E A40 0.65 160/0.17 microscope objective on 14th February 2013.

The sky is blue? Think again, what colour is it out there in the space without air molecules and what gives the sky its colour during sunrise and sunset? It is the different wavelengths of lights that we see. 

Our brains are constantly deceived to create a reality which we all believe and interpret to be true. Judge less and never jump to conclusions.