Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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How do blind people identify colors? (self.Blind)
submitted by Fallenleader
Hello everyone!
I have a younger brother who is legally blind, and thus to some degree understand many things regarding such. I highly love my brother, but as he and I are able to see and identify colors, I haven't been able to get an answer to this question:
How do you identify colors?
When someone says "The sky is blue." What comes to mind?
I see blue as a cool color, comforting, and associated with cold or cooler temperatures (in fact, blue tends to represent cold on AC units or things related to cold temperatures).
I have heard blind people can "see" the "colors" of music, and despite having perfect pitch myself, I cannot make such claims, as I can only imitate what I hear, not identify what notes are what.
Being colors are highly visually oriented, I am curious as to how people who are visually impaired identify them and comprehend them.
I have a younger brother who is legally blind, and thus to some degree understand many things regarding such. I highly love my brother, but as he and I are able to see and identify colors, I haven't been able to get an answer to this question:
How do you identify colors?
When someone says "The sky is blue." What comes to mind?
I see blue as a cool color, comforting, and associated with cold or cooler temperatures (in fact, blue tends to represent cold on AC units or things related to cold temperatures).
I have heard blind people can "see" the "colors" of music, and despite having perfect pitch myself, I cannot make such claims, as I can only imitate what I hear, not identify what notes are what.
Being colors are highly visually oriented, I am curious as to how people who are visually impaired identify them and comprehend them.
drury 3 points 6y ago
Tommy Edison on the matter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59YN8_lg6-U
The guy just goes by memory of what people told him about colors. He even confused white with black and their meaning. It's an alien concept to him.
Some people have weirdly wired senses and can smell colors, or see music, as you described. I don't know if this can happen to a blind person, but I don't think it's common or has anything to do with blindness at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59YN8_lg6-U
The guy just goes by memory of what people told him about colors. He even confused white with black and their meaning. It's an alien concept to him.
Some people have weirdly wired senses and can smell colors, or see music, as you described. I don't know if this can happen to a blind person, but I don't think it's common or has anything to do with blindness at all.
KillerLag 2 points 6y ago
You are probably asking about someone who was born blind, with no visual memory.
To identify colours, there are devices and apps for smartphones that can do that.
If you are asking what someone is picturing what they "see" when asked about colour, that is a different matter. For someone who was born blind, they lack the sense of sight. It is like a shark asking if you can feel the electrical sense in the water (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroreception) or a a homing pigeon asking if you can detect the magnetic field around the earth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoreception).
To identify colours, there are devices and apps for smartphones that can do that.
If you are asking what someone is picturing what they "see" when asked about colour, that is a different matter. For someone who was born blind, they lack the sense of sight. It is like a shark asking if you can feel the electrical sense in the water (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroreception) or a a homing pigeon asking if you can detect the magnetic field around the earth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoreception).
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