Have you ever wondered how we perceive green differently from blue, or even the various tones of blue, such as turquoise and baby blue? Color perception consists of two dimensions. The first dimension suggests that the colors we see are determined by the specific wavelengths of light that are reflected or emitted by an object, which are then captured by the eye’s retina. It’s all about physics. The second dimension suggests that after this process, the retina sends these signals to the brain for interpretation. Now, let’s delve into the perception of color and its benefits, or perhaps the tricky nature of it!
We often take for granted the ability to see and distinguish colors, but color perception plays a crucial role in our ability to navigate and understand the world around us. From the beginning of life, both humans and other animals used the clues they got from the colors. Sometimes, it plays a role in choosing mates for animals; and in finding food. When you look at the black and
white picture (Picture 1), it’s not that easy to decide what you should eat. However, when you perceive vibrant colors, as you can see (Picture 2), you’ll probably be drawn to the red vibrant things, like apples!
Picture this: you’re out at night and you come across a stop sign. If you were to take a photo of it and analyze it with an eyedropper tool, you might be surprised to find that the tool perceives the color as brownish, even though we all know it’s supposed to be red. Similarly, imagine waking up in the middle of the night and reaching for a banana on the kitchen table. Even if there is no light, you can still distinguish the banana and know that it is yellow, not gray, right?
Let’s add some excitement with a demonstration. When you look at this picture (Picture 4), which square do you think is brighter, A or B?
This is a good example of how color perception can mislead us. This is an optical illusion created by Edward H. Adelson, a professor of vision science at MIT, in 1995. The illusion is due to the way of our brains interpret the shadows and highlights of the checkerboard pattern about the surrounding context. It consists of a checkerboard pattern that appears to have different shades of gray on different squares, even though the squares are the same color (Picture 5)! With this jaw-dropping illusion, he vividly demonstrated how our perception can be manipulated by context, revealing its startling lack of reliability.
Now, we’ll delve into the captivating and iconic phenomenon of “the dress”. In 2015, a photograph of a dress posted on the social media website Tumblr sparked an intense debate on the internet about the colors of the dress. Some people saw the dress as blue and black, while others saw it as white and gold. This debate quickly spread to other social media platforms. I initially belonged to the black-blue group, yet while preparing visuals for this post, I experienced a shift. For the first time, I perceived it as white and gold. However, moments later, it reverted back to black and blue. Regarding the dress’s true colors, it’s indeed blue and black. But what accounts for the differing perceptions? According to the article published by Lafer-Sousa and Conway (2017), the reason for this disagreement is that the way we perceive color is a complex process that involves not only our eyes but also our brains. Lighting conditions in which we view an object can also affect the way we perceive color. In the case of “the dress,” the photograph was taken under poor lighting conditions, contained vague information. Is the incoming light white or yellow? Was the photo taken during the day or at night? Is the dress outdoors or indoors? Does the light come from behind or from the front? Your brain attempts to address all these questions when you view that picture. Since we all possess unique brains, colors manifest differently for everyone. This is a powerful and significant illustration of how our brains can mislead us…
Overall, it’s evident that color perception is noteworthy for both our daily lives and sometimes for survival. On the other hand, it might be illusive! The significant conclusion is that while we should usually trust the effectiveness of our abilities, we should also remember that our perceptions and interpretations of reality are not always objective and can be influenced by a variety of factors. In other words, to quote Emre Özgen, a famous psychologist from Boğaziçi University, “What we see is not always accurate, and we should always question our perception.”
