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| wonderer |
on Wed 30 Nov 11, 8:52 AM to wonderer's blog.
... when the world, and especially this wonderful strange world of kink, is in such glorious technicolour, full of diverse hues, tints, shades, tones and textures.
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Some, sadly, don't even appear able to perceive shades of grey, only completely black or completely white.
Colour perception is partly a feature of the sensory organs, specifically the retina. But it also has a high dependence on the optic nerve, the visual cortex and also higher neurological processes such as sensing, attention , perception and interpretation. Interestingly, as we grow older, some of our sensory processes often degrade, but we are often - without conscious choice - able to compensate by more sophisticated (and cognitively demanding) top-down interpretative processes.
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We all have to make the most of the capabilities and faculties and opportunities we have of course, and none of us is as fully functional as possible in every ability. In fact from an eagle's perspective, all humans are visually impaired. I trust it's possible to live a fulfilling life in spite of visual (or imaginative) impairments. And I guess there's an onus on all of us to make a world which is more accessible and less confusing for people who have particular limitations of that sort. And I guess many with such limitation will want to take advantage of any medical breakthroughs or assistive devices or gain greater mastery of interpretative skills so they can participate more fully in a world which isn't 100% accessible.
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I'm old enough to remember the days before colour TV; I can even remember watching snooker in mono. It is possible to interpret the world quite well in spite of perceptual limitations, if one makes the effort. I do remember the most difficult part was if the brown ball was sent down to the far end of the table among the reds. They were virtually indistinguishable by colour, and the position was no longer a helpful cue to interpretation.
Of course it did involve extra effort, but I was an enthusiast so I was prepared to put in the effort. I can well imagine some people would dismiss the game (or at least the televised version of it) as too confusing or somewhat arbitrary. When at last it came out in colour on BBC2, I found it much more accessible.
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I think if you view things from a number of angles, take multiple perspectives, you can learn far more, gain a far richer, fuller and truer understanding, than by taking just one snapshot - especially if it's in monochrome.
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Talking of snapshots reminds me of some of the wonderful photography on this site (including some of the highly rated images by Wykd Dave and Clover). Quite often they choose to use only the monochrome palette, and produce wonderful images using this deliberately chosen limited medium. It is possibly to convey and interpret rich imagery from a limited palette. Sometimes suggestion or symbolism can convey more, paint a truer and more evocative picture than a more precise but perhaps less imaginatively stimulating portrayal.
Seeing things in black and white, or at least seeing the possibilities of monochrome and using it wisely, can indeed be a great gift too.
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(AUP request / moderation note: I'm leaving this open for any comments, initially at least. Please try to keep them on theme and in a courteous and thoughtful tone; no arguing or unkindness please. I hope no-one would dream of it ...)
Edited Wed 30 Nov 11, 8:55 AM by wonderer
| 30 Nov 11, 9:49 AM gastro_masochist 6 mths |
I love the medium of black and white in film, movies and art but it has to be glorious technicolour for actual living. Nothing beats it. I am not sure which is worse, feeling that you live in black and white or watching other people living in it.. if that makes sense? Ib $%"^& BOUNCE ?&*&**& | |
| 30 Nov 11, 10:06 AM wonderer UK, 5 yrs |
Yes, that makes good sense to me at least. I don't know which is worse either. I like to live life to the full as much as I can, and I like others to do so too. "Wisdom begins in wonder” (Socrates) | |
| 30 Nov 11, 10:24 AM bohnanza UK(FK), 12 yrs |
If you are an achromat would the absence of colour be anything more than a mild inconvenience? You would be used to a colour free world and you would perceive things differently. I have never had 3D vision, but I manage to get on fine without it. I use size as my distance measurement, the only place it falls down is reversing a car. When I can't see the sides of the car behind it suddenly is an unknown distance away. I have the perfect accent for conflict resolution, shame about the personality. | |
| 30 Nov 11, 10:30 AM Belasarius UK(M), 8 yrs      |
Ultimately, there is only black and white; wrong or right; on or off; zero or one. No matter how gloriously complex an idea is it can be be reduced, through observation and examination, to axioms. They are black and white. When examining processes in business and elsewhere a common technique is "Five Whys?" Its annoying for the the person on the receiving end but no less valid for all that. You can apply this simple questioning technique to reduce almost any idea to a stark root. I find when I do it to myself I discover, what I knew but denied all along, that I am being less than honest with myself. Often, it's easier to revert to the dishonest view of the my world: but at least i have the discomfort of knowing I'm doing it. My goal - to save women from nature (Dior) Edited 30 Nov 11, 11:00 AM by Belasarius | |
| 30 Nov 11, 10:37 AM Lj_switch UK, 3 yrs   |
I'm partially colour-blind (red/green) so I lose quite a lot of differentiation that normally-sighted people have. "Look at the poppies in that field" usually elicits the response "what poppies?" Yes, you only know the world you see, as you perceive it. No, you can't imagine what others see. So you accept what you can see. Doesn't mean you wouldn't like to be able to see as others do. It is, IMHO, only possible to benefit from the change in perception, such as admiring a monochrome picture because it concentrates the mind on the nuances of detail, light and shade etc, if you can actually make the change. In terms of colour perception, the only way I can partially achieve that is to use colour filters to enhance the difference between red and green. This turns one towards black whilst shifting the overall colour balance towards the filter colour - being an Electronics Engineer, I use a red filter when I am unsure of the wire colour, to darken the green and highlight the red) It would be quite nice to see the poppies... be a switch, double your fun | |
| 30 Nov 11, 11:22 AM wonderer UK, 5 yrs |
Colour blindness tends to affect more men than women. I'm grateful I can see the poppies. I've never heard of lack of 3-D perception, but I can imagine it might be awkward. 3-D perception arises from a sophistictaed but unconscious interpretation of a very wide range of cues, most of which are in the image itself. "Wisdom begins in wonder” (Socrates) | |
| 30 Nov 11, 11:24 AM MistressStar UK(TW), 5 yrs |
It saddens me that so many people live in black or white, I feel like I live in a glorious technicolour "Wizard of Oz" type world (oh dear, that sounds terribly boastful!)
~ It is always by way of pain one arrives at pleasure ~ |
