"Urs Enke" <urs.enke at web.de> wrote in message
news:9rn4t1$2nr$1 at nets3.rz.RWTH-Aachen.DE...
> 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...?
What is interesting (imo) is that people whose ancestry have lived in
forested areas have a different sense of green hue discrimination than those
that have lived by the sea, and those that have lived in hot arid desert
areas detect less of a 'red', more toward a deep orange hue. (source:
Encyclopedia Britannica before it became a pay site) When two people
disagree about color matching, it's due to slight variations in "center"
frequencies and sensitivity to discreet intensities.
But you can actually "see" infrared under some circumstances. If you stand
away from a really fresh hot iron casting, it will appear the normal greyish
color, and as you walk closer to it, it will begin to glow red. This is due
to the saturation of infrared energy being sufficient to stimulate the
red-sensitive cone.
The same might be true of ultra-violet if it weren't for rapid cellular
decay!
