like as a physical property. i don't know any color-ology maybe there's a simple way to make me get it but

IT SEEMS like color depends entirely on BRIGHTNESS so an OBJECT can't have a fixed COLOR because BRIGHTNESS changes all the time!

  • FlakesBongler [they/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    We only perceive color the way we do because our eyes have evolved to pick up certain wavelengths

    Color is not a constant even amongst humans, even excluding cultural and linguistic differences, you got various forms of color-blindness

    It's just one of those things where thinking about it starts to be really trippy after a while

    • AlexandairBabeuf [they/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      okay so wavelengths are a thing... but are they consistent & measurable?

      i.e. is a red bucket always emitting the same flavor wave? what kind of wave is brighter than others (or is it the number)

      • viva_la_juche [they/them, any]
        ·
        edit-2
        3 years ago

        Yea I believe there's a general band of frequencies that generally is described as red or whatever other color, as generally perceived by the human. (Bc ofc some of it can be cultural or subjective or even change depending on color blindness or other conditions)

        You can find charts describing the ranges, eventually the visual range gives way to ultraviolet and so on.

        There are ranges that we aren't able to perceive but birds are.

        • SonKyousanJoui [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          If only we could see microwaves, we'd finally be able to catch the culprit behind Havanna syndrome

          • acealeam [he/him]
            ·
            3 years ago

            im sure this is a joke but ofc we have tools that CAN see microwaves. Oddly enough we can't find these dang havana microwaves though

      • FlakesBongler [they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        So, if you're going from a pure "this is what we've measured" science standpoint, the visible spectrum begins past infrared where the wavelengths are too long for us to pick up

        As they tighten up, we get the standard ROY G BIV stuff you probably got taught until they tighten up so much we can't pick them up either, ending with ultraviolet

        Everything there has a set of wavelengths that we pick up and perceive as those colors, it's the human visual spectrum

        But that's only because our eyes evolved to pick those up

        Other living things perceive that exact same spectrum wildly differently because their eyes evolved differently for them

        It's one of those things that I love because it keeps me up at night

      • StolenStalin [comrade/them,they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Yes. Lots of chemistry uses the fact that color frequencies are specific wavelengths of light. Measuring wavelength and intensity of light passing through a sample can tell you exact concentrations of your colored chemicals in samples.