IUBio

"New" colours possible?

Nick Lilavois no-email-reply at newsgroup-only.com
Tue Oct 30 17:43:07 EST 2001


"Urs Enke" <urs.enke at web.de> wrote:

>For some years now I've wondered
>-- whether the (red-green-blue-mixable) colours we know are all there are in
>this universe, and if not,
>-- whether it might be possible to neurologically change the visual cortex
>(or whatever necessary) to create the sensation of other colours, and
>-- whether there has been any research suggesting that other animals are
>actually seeing different colours than we do.
>
>I am neither talking of broadening the EM-spectrum we can see by changing
>the eyes' perception (as this would supposedly simply distribute our known
>"rainbow colors" over that new spectrum), nor of mixing pseudo-new colours
>from the base colours that we already know. Also, I wouldn't consider any
>eye-related limitations essential, as I really mean directly tapping into
>one's brain.
>
>I'd be glad to get any feedback, be it on physical possibility, neurological
>practicability or philosophical thoughts. Thanks in advance for brightening
>or dimming my hopes to see "Color X" before I die... ;-)
>
>Urs
>
>PS: Maybe someone even has information on people reporting previously
>unknown ("unmixable") colours after having been under the influence of
>drugs...?


I don't get your question- Colors only exist because we
perceive them as colors. the only way to have colors beyond
the ones we have is to expand what parts of the EM spectrum
we perceive as color. The various wavelengths are already
there. If we could perceive infrared or ultraviolet, those
would be new colors to us.

There is a disease called Synesthesia, where those people
can "see" sounds and "hear" colors, because the sensory
impulses are being sent to the wrong areas of the brain.
Psychedelic drugs can supposedly induce synesthesia.

Even then those are not new colors- they are just doing a
remapping. I'm guessing low pitch sounds are reds, high
pitch sounds are violets, and the other colors fall
inbetween.




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