Color-blindness

[Slim Trashman]

Randomly been thinking about this lately, just about how "strange" it would be to be color-blind. It's strange to me to think that it's really not that uncommon. I feel bad thinking about how color-blind people have never and will never see color, or really understand what it is at that. I've heard some color-blind people can actually be "trained" to distinguish which colors are which, I don't understand that at all. It's confusing to me.

So are any of you guys color-blind? What is it "like", if that's really possible for you to actually describe in contrast to being able to see color? Are there ways in which you can identify color? Do you ever wonder what color looks like? Do you ever feel like you're missing out on something? Although it's so simple, it may be something people take for granted. As a designer, being color-blind would be miserable for me, though only after having "experienced" color.

Post your thoughts. Something about this just interests me.

[rappo]

Color blindness is really misconceived. The majority of color blind people are red-green color blind, which means their perception of red and green aren't like what non-color blind people see. Most people think that color blind automatically means someone who is unable to see colors or recognize the difference between them, which is pretty rare I believe.

I'm not color blind myself but I do know people that are. You can go a long time not knowing you have a certain type of color blindness - most people wouldn't even know were it not for some sort of test. Colors are relative, we all define our own red, green, blue, yellow, etc. Same for color blind people - what they've grown up knowing as yellow still is yellow to them, it might just not look the same to us. They don't know anything other than what they've seen, so there's really no difference.

[Slim Trashman]

Originally Posted by rappo

Color blindness is really misconceived. The majority of color blind people are red-green color blind, which means their perception of red and green aren't like what non-color blind people see.

Oh I know, but they're just generally falsely classified; they are actually color deficiencies. Examples:

Originally Posted by rappo

Colors are relative, we all define our own red, green, blue, yellow, etc. Same for color blind people - what they've grown up knowing as yellow still is yellow to them, it might just not look the same to us. They don't know anything other than what they've seen, so there's really no difference.

Not sure I'd really put it that way though. I see what you're saying, but colors are all defined the same among the dominant non-color-blind people, and is proven to be the physically accurate representation (light wavelengths and such and other fancy science). It's the difference in perception that boggles my mind the most. It seems like it would get to be very confusing.

[rappo]

I get what you're saying, but if I have lived 20 years of my life thinking that something is red, what does it matter if it looks yellow to you? I would still know the difference between colors and to me that would be red anyway. I doubt red-green color blind people are envious of non-color blind people - I don't see how you can miss out on something unimaginable and unattainable.

[devil chevelle]

i wat at meps and there was this other enlisted guy who had sat next to me and we talked for a little bit he had told me he had this job as a uav speciliast reserved for him but when he came to meps the first time they gave him the color blind test and he had failed so the only two jobs he could take were 13 bravo (cannon crew member aka artillery) or 11 b (infantry)
so he chose 13 bravo and we may see each other at ait in oklahoma. thought to myself for about an hour how huge of a revelation that must have been to be taking tests in the military only to find out your color blind and cant do what you want to do.

[Slim Trashman]

For some reason I just imagine typical conversations could get heated very quickly between the two parties (as if color is the only thing people talk about).

Non-CB: Like my new shirt?
CB: Pink is gay, dude.
Non-CB: Huh? My shirt is blue.
CB: No, it's clearly pink, gaylord.

Originally Posted by devil chevelle

so he chose 13 bravo and we may see each other at ait in oklahoma. thought to myself for about an hour how huge of a revelation that must have been to be taking tests in the military only to find out your color blind and cant do what you want to do.

Ever seen Little Miss Sunshine?

[Layorz]

All I can say is that having lived with a legally blind eye my whole life, that there is no point feeling sad for people who are colour blind. Sure, if they lose it suddenly and have to adjust, I understand. But I'd probably feel angry if people fussed too much over my blind eye. Like giving me their sympathy etc, telling me they feel bad for me. I've lived with it for 19 and a half years, I'm fine thanks.

[Pablo Escobar Jr.]

I'm colorblind. I don't know what I'm missing so yeah, I'm cool with it. Comes in handy sometimes though.

[Layorz]

Also I get what rappoop is saying I think, and I've thought about it before.

for example, I have a handkercheif and it's blue. But if I had rappoops eyes it would look yellow. I'm sure we aren't actually like that, but it'd be interesting

[Slim Trashman]

Originally Posted by Layorz

All I can say is that having lived with a legally blind eye my whole life, that there is no point feeling sad for people who are colour blind. Sure, if they lose it suddenly and have to adjust, I understand. But I'd probably feel angry if people fussed too much over my blind eye. Like giving me their sympathy etc, telling me they feel bad for me. I've lived with it for 19 and a half years, I'm fine thanks.

So it's legally blind as in very poor vision?

[Layorz]

Yeah, as in if you suddenly had your right eye reduced to the kind of vision I have, it could take you weeks to relearn how to perceive depth, to adapt to having no peripheral vision on one side, which would mean having to adapt to shit like driving etc.

I basically have one eye, and the other just causes a slight doubles effect if I try to focus on seeing out of it, on top of that it can't read anything but very large text. It can barely read your sig, and only cause I already know what it says. I couldn't hope to read posts with it at all. Take the UGO circle at the bottom, couldn't read that with my right eye.

[Olin]

So nothing like glasses or lasik eye surgey could help?

[Layorz]

Not at all. I needed glasses from 2 onwards probably up until early teens to train my eye, make it stronger etc. But well, not every 2 year old is gonna keep glasses on. But as my eye is now, nothing can fix it. It's not that there is something physically wrong with it, just that my brain never learned how to use it, and after a certain age it never can learn.

[Jay]

My dad's colourblind, luckily I'm not. I mean I probably wouldn't mind, but its nice to not be, I guess.

[GaMeR_123]

I might be colorblind. Who knows? I don't know what red looks like for anyone else other than myself, and frankly that scares me a bit.