Nicole (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trickykitty) wrote2010-03-06 11:47 am
trickykitty) wrote2010-03-06 11:47 am
Entry tags:
Role Reversal
I get a kick out of colors, simply because of the nature of color. Our world is defined by how we perceive it rather than how it actually exists. It's a great philosophical point of discussion based on hard science.
Polar Bears
If you don't already know, polar bears are black. Their skin is black. Their fur is colorless. And yet we perceive white because of how the hollow shaft of the fur disperses light waves much like prisms* (which are also colorless).
Now think about your world around you. All the things you see. All the colors. And yet that's just it - it's colors that you see (read: perceive) rather than the color an object actually IS. Pick an object. Lets start with basic black and white objects. We say an object is black because it absorbs all of the light waves and emits none in return. So our eyes translate that info into "lack of color", which is then translated into the color termed black. Likewise, we say an object is white because it absorbs no light waves and emits all of them in return. Our eyes translate that info into "all colors" = white. However, this says nothing of the object's actual existence (ontology). Now, this is conjecture, but I like to sometimes imagine that the reason an object APPEARS black is because it actually EXISTS as a white object, which is what allows it to absorb all of the light waves. Likewise a perceived white object actually exists as a black object.
Using a color wheel, you can find any color on one side of the wheel and then find it's polar opposite (pun totally intended) just as easily. Imagine then that all the colors you see are actually the complete opposite of the color of the existence of an object. If you see something as white, it actually exists as black. If you see something as green, it actually exists as magenta.
So, it's a fun game I try to play with my eyes. I imagine the world around me as actually existing as the opposite colors than what I'm actually perceiving. Of course, this would mean I'm actually one of the blackest people I know and I hang out with people who cherish white objects and have closets filled with white clothing. Although, it's also a good thing we don't get so horribly philosophical on the whole subject of ontology versus perceived colors of objects. Because then I'd have to admit that the polar bear really is white and is hanging out on a landscape of black snow, and that would just be messing which my head.
*I now want to do a science fair project in which thousands of teeny tiny prisms are lined up facing every which way.
Polar Bears
If you don't already know, polar bears are black. Their skin is black. Their fur is colorless. And yet we perceive white because of how the hollow shaft of the fur disperses light waves much like prisms* (which are also colorless).
Now think about your world around you. All the things you see. All the colors. And yet that's just it - it's colors that you see (read: perceive) rather than the color an object actually IS. Pick an object. Lets start with basic black and white objects. We say an object is black because it absorbs all of the light waves and emits none in return. So our eyes translate that info into "lack of color", which is then translated into the color termed black. Likewise, we say an object is white because it absorbs no light waves and emits all of them in return. Our eyes translate that info into "all colors" = white. However, this says nothing of the object's actual existence (ontology). Now, this is conjecture, but I like to sometimes imagine that the reason an object APPEARS black is because it actually EXISTS as a white object, which is what allows it to absorb all of the light waves. Likewise a perceived white object actually exists as a black object.
Using a color wheel, you can find any color on one side of the wheel and then find it's polar opposite (pun totally intended) just as easily. Imagine then that all the colors you see are actually the complete opposite of the color of the existence of an object. If you see something as white, it actually exists as black. If you see something as green, it actually exists as magenta.
So, it's a fun game I try to play with my eyes. I imagine the world around me as actually existing as the opposite colors than what I'm actually perceiving. Of course, this would mean I'm actually one of the blackest people I know and I hang out with people who cherish white objects and have closets filled with white clothing. Although, it's also a good thing we don't get so horribly philosophical on the whole subject of ontology versus perceived colors of objects. Because then I'd have to admit that the polar bear really is white and is hanging out on a landscape of black snow, and that would just be messing which my head.
*I now want to do a science fair project in which thousands of teeny tiny prisms are lined up facing every which way.
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