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What it's like to be color blind
- Thread starter Doctor Q
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It's not weird, you're just unique! 
Actually, the result is not surprising. We're all somewhere along the scales in how much red, green, or blue we can detect.
Actually, the result is not surprising. We're all somewhere along the scales in how much red, green, or blue we can detect.
Wow, you guys are inspiring! I've never imagined living in a colorful world and yet I couldn't even distinguish some of the colors or look at them and see how they really appear colorwise. My respect goes out to you who are experiencing this situation and yet still maintain a positive outlook in life. Kudos to all of you!
It's all relative. If you've never experienced something, it doesn't feel like something is missing. It's never really bothered me, except when I tell people I'm colorblind and they start pointing at things and asking me what color I think it is haha.
What are we missing?
One side effect of not seeing red is that bloody scenes in movies have much less impact. See my example in an earlier post. That's an advantage or disadvantage depending on whether you enjoy horror shocks or would rather be "immune" to them. Among the color blind, poor perception of green is 4 times more common than poor perception of red. I don't know how that affects movie or TV watching. Maybe it makes golf and nature shows less interesting.
I wonder if people with little or no red vision are less apprehensive about donating blood. If so, here's a protanopian call to action!
One side effect of not seeing red is that bloody scenes in movies have much less impact. See my example in an earlier post. That's an advantage or disadvantage depending on whether you enjoy horror shocks or would rather be "immune" to them. Among the color blind, poor perception of green is 4 times more common than poor perception of red. I don't know how that affects movie or TV watching. Maybe it makes golf and nature shows less interesting.
I wonder if people with little or no red vision are less apprehensive about donating blood. If so, here's a protanopian call to action!
From ehow.com: "How to Cope with Being Color Blind"
I do these things myself, except #4 (I ask people when I need help) and #6 (I don't have color blind children). And I've been very careful to remind myself, each and every morning, not to become an airline pilot that day!
- Organize your closet by color. This will make it easier to find clothes that match. Enlist the help of someone you trust to help you organize your outfits so that getting dressed in the morning is no longer difficult.
- Learn to distinguish important symbols, such as traffic signals, by shape and location, rather than color. For instance, if you cannot distinguish between red and green, you must learn that the top signal on a traffic light means stop and the bottom signal means go.
- Pay attention to the actions of others. If you are in a situation where you need to choose the green item, for example, watch which item the person in front of you chooses.
- Avoid situations where you will be required to ask for help when you would rather not. For instance, purchase luggage that is in a color you can distinguish, and consider putting a strap or belt on it to make it easier to judge which piece is yours when you are collecting it at the baggage claim.
- Discuss your condition with those around you, including family members, your boss, and friends. This will clear up any potential confusion that could occur because of your color blindness.
- If your child has color blindness, be sure to discuss the condition with his teacher. The teacher can make the classroom environment friendly to the child by avoiding contrasts that he cannot see.
- Avoid putting yourself in a situation where your color blindness could put you or those around you in danger. For instance, you cannot be an airline pilot if you are color blind, as there are too many lights and controls that you could miss with your condition.
I do these things myself, except #4 (I ask people when I need help) and #6 (I don't have color blind children). And I've been very careful to remind myself, each and every morning, not to become an airline pilot that day!
We had a boss at work that loved to play practical jokes (we all worked at an electronics store) so some associates decided to get him back one day and yanked the VGA cables of the monitors out on all of the electronics just enough so the whole screen went red. The boss was color blind and he could tell something didn't look quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it and he'd go around asking everyone if the monitors looked OK and we all said yes. This went on for hours and since he knew nothing about computers he didn't know to jiggle the cable.
Eventually and old lady came by and complained that the monitors were all screwed up which ruined the prank : /
Eventually and old lady came by and complained that the monitors were all screwed up which ruined the prank : /
An app for the iPhone and iPod touch:
Perhaps this is a better choice:
Color N Cam
If you are colour-blind and have difficulties in perceiving differences between some colours, this program can help you. This application identifies the colour and displays the appropriate name, in relal time with back-camera.
It sounds good but it crashed when I tried it and the support site is in Hungarian.If you are colour-blind and have difficulties in perceiving differences between some colours, this program can help you. This application identifies the colour and displays the appropriate name, in relal time with back-camera.
Perhaps this is a better choice:
Color Curious
Ever looked at something and wandered what color it is? Want to know what name best describes the color you see - or the color you cannot see due to color blindness? Whether you are simply curious, or truly unable to perceive differences between certain colors, Color Curious is for you - it is a simple app designed to answer a simple question: "What color is it?"
However, its support site no longer exists.Ever looked at something and wandered what color it is? Want to know what name best describes the color you see - or the color you cannot see due to color blindness? Whether you are simply curious, or truly unable to perceive differences between certain colors, Color Curious is for you - it is a simple app designed to answer a simple question: "What color is it?"
I'm beginning to wonder if my almost 3-yearl old son might be color blind. He recognizes colors on their own - brown, green, blue, etc. However, I've been noticing that he seems to have trouble seeing things that are tone-on-tone. i.e., Chocolate Teddy Grahams on a brown/green swirly carpet. And before I get beat up, no he wasn't eating them.. I was trying to make him pick them up as he had thrown them all down on the ground. He kept reaching for them, but kept missing. Possibly color blind or just a stubborn child?
Note that these kinds of test (the spotting a number written in dots) aren't all that reliable - a lot of people who can't see the number have no problem with colours, just aren't good at spotting the pattern.
I "failed" one of those tests many years ago now, but did a follow-up test (more reliable, but more time consuming hence why they don't do them as often) and had no problems at all with that.
So don't take the fact you can't see the number as any more than an indication that there *may* be a problem with your colour vision.
I "failed" one of those tests many years ago now, but did a follow-up test (more reliable, but more time consuming hence why they don't do them as often) and had no problems at all with that.
So don't take the fact you can't see the number as any more than an indication that there *may* be a problem with your colour vision.
According to an iPhone app named The Moron Quiz, people are morons if they can't correctly identify colors.
Here's one of the quiz questions it gives you:
I think that the author of this app is a ..., um...
Well let's just say that he or she is a misguided individual.
Here's one of the quiz questions it gives you:
Well let's just say that he or she is a misguided individual.
From an article in the New Yorker last September, about Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg:
He walked into the house, which is painted in various shades of blue and beige, except for the kitchen, which is a vibrant yellow. Colors dont matter much to Zuckerberg; a few years ago, he took an online test and realized that he was red-green color-blind. Blue is Facebooks dominant color, because, as he said, blue is the richest color for meI can see all of blue.
Many, many moons ago I went round my mates house where they were admiring his freshly painted Kawasaki KE175.
John - "What do you think?"
Me - "It's very well painted but why did you pick that nasty browny-orange colour?"
John - "It's not browny-orange, it's red!"
Me - "I thought you were colour blind?"
John - "I am, that's why I took Bod with me to help chose it."
Bod - "I'm colour blind too!"
John - "What do you think?"
Me - "It's very well painted but why did you pick that nasty browny-orange colour?"
John - "It's not browny-orange, it's red!"
Me - "I thought you were colour blind?"
John - "I am, that's why I took Bod with me to help chose it."
Bod - "I'm colour blind too!"
Regarding today's announcement of the MacRumors 2011 Redesign, which included a redesign of the Buyer's Guide:
What about the colored triangles next to the products? Is the text sufficient even if we can't identify the colors?
Screenshot:
What do we color blind MacRumors users suggest as an alternative? Should the icon shapes at the top be a red diamond, green circle, and yellow square, or are there more elegant choices?
What about the colored triangles next to the products? Is the text sufficient even if we can't identify the colors?
Screenshot:
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Have arn do a toggle, like in iChat. (red is square, just don't have anyone away)
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Well when you go to press one of the 3 buttons in the top left hand corner of a window in Mac OSX a X, and - and a + appear in each circle.
Different shapes are fine, different colors are also fine. Just not red/green. About 7% of the male population is red/green color blind.
Assuming these simulations worked properly, here's the Buyer's Guide header as seen by someone who is green deficient:
And here's the Buyer's Guide header as seen by someone who is red deficient:
And here's the Buyer's Guide header as seen by someone who is red deficient:
Hmm, that color is on the edge of being a very dirty light green or muddied yellow.
Honestly, as someone who is slightly color blind, simulations don't do a good job of conveying what someone who is color blind sees. For me at least, it's really much more subtle. For the most part it's hard for me to tell when something is a slightly different shade (orange and gray/green are my issues). As soon as I know what it's supposed to be my brain fills it in and I can see it. It's rather strange honestly.
Shapes, completely different colors or larger traffic lights (OS X size) would be a lot better than the small traffic lights in the buyers guide.
Shapes, completely different colors or larger traffic lights (OS X size) would be a lot better than the small traffic lights in the buyers guide.