Thoughts from the Depths of the Abyss...week 2 (11/10/09)

[Mindz]

Some color theory this week...


We've all come to know that red is the color of passion, green of envy, blue of sorrow/melancholy, yellow for happiness, etc. etc, but has anyone ever contemplated why we think this?


Why do certain colors provoke certain emotions?
Is it because we've been conditioned by society to think/react in a specific way? Is it something innate?

What would happen if everyone was colorblind tomorrow?
As a female, Would you feel different if you couldn't tell if a rose was yellow (friendship) or red (Love)?
As a male, would you feel any different if you couldn't tell if your shirts/pants were pastel or non-pastel colors?
As a Camaro5 member would you feel any different if no one could tell exactly which color camaro you picked except for white black and gray?

[Milk 1027]

Different cultures view colors in different ways. The emotional value behind some colors have simply to do with cultural differences.

The color blind issue, is a little weird. When people talk about colorblindness they dont realize that those people cant distinguish between certain colors. For example blues look green and reds look yellow.

However, if you mean what would happen if everything was balck and white. There still would be color distinction. It's not all black and white. There are shades of grey in between. Enough to still be able to distinguish colors from one another.

[Mindz]

Grayscale has nothing to do with hue (color), but how much white or black is added to the color. you can have three colors that are the exact same grayscale but different hues. They would appear the same color gray, no light or darker than the other two.


But the question is, why do we react to colors. Is it conditioned or innate?

[Milk 1027]

like I said. i't a cultural thing. So I would say conditioned.
It's just how we were conditioned to react to certain colors.

[Iwantone2]

Hmm...

As children, our eyes are more sensitive to color than those of an adult. Therefore, children are able to "see" another human's aura. It's been said that our aura changes with our emotions and those emotions are tied to a color, similar to the description Mindz has provided. So, when a mother is looking at her baby, a mother's loving sense will change her aura to red. A child will "see" this and can also sense the mother's love and thus associate to two together.

I believe this association is stuck in a person's mind for the remainder of their life. Although as we grow older, our ability to see the aura diminishes, but the association of colors remain.

[Mindz]

Interesting point of view. Being able to see an aura would be cool if we could still do it.

[springerpete]

If you are saying that certaion colors evoke certain emotioins; could you also say the favorite colors of different people somewhat show a personality trait? Meaning people that like yellow are more prone to happiness and blues are more susceptable to sadness.

Just thoughts.

[Mindz]

You could say that. But blue in some cultures means freedom and vastness, not always sadness.

[pinkcamaro10]

All i know, is the color pink makes me happy.

That's the only input I have on the subject.

[FarmallsForever]

Originally Posted by Mindz

But the question is, why do we react to colors. Is it conditioned or innate?

My opinion is that it is a bit of both. It is conditioned, in that depending on what type of society an individual grows up in. Colors mean different things and depending on what those colors mean to an individual in that society, an emotion becomes associated with that color. On the flip side some of it is innate. Seen several studies that point to some of the harsher colors (reds, black, etc) cause more stress on the eyes. This causes the brain to raise the levels of different hormones, leading to fatigue and other related issues. Other colors like blue and green seem to have a relaxing effect on the eyes and mind. Reducing stress in the body and promoting a more positive attitude in the individual. If one looks at nature, one seems lots of greens and blue tones (trees, grass, water, and sky) as opposed to reds and blacks.

Was reading a book on the first nuclear sub to go under the North Pole (USS Nautilus, 1958) the on-board psychologist found out that when under water for extended periods of time the air became “charged” with different ions (positive and negative). The crew felt better and was more upbeat when the air was “positively” charged and the reverse was true when the air had an abundance of negative ions. Whether this is true I haven’t seen anything recently confirming this or any other studies done on it. Have really looked either. My psychology teacher in college found it interesting though.

Cool site on what different cultures believe colors mean:

http://webdesign.about.com/od/colorc...lorculture.htm

[springerpete]

Well that explains why I love food so much. LOL

[CamaroSpike23]

I had a thought too....

how do you know what color you are truely looking at?

for instance, take a piece of blue construction paper..... the color (thru your eyes) that you see as blue might be different if you were looking thru someone elses eyes.
say that if you were looking thru my eyes at the same piece of paper and it was green thru my eyes. but I was trained that when I saw that color it was "blue" and if I looked thru your eyes at the paper, it might be red to me (thru your eyes)....

[Iwantone2]

To all of the above...


Cosmic...

[springerpete]

Originally Posted by CamaroSpike23

I had a thought too....

how do you know what color you are truely looking at?

for instance, take a piece of blue construction paper..... the color (thru your eyes) that you see as blue might be different if you were looking thru someone elses eyes.
say that if you were looking thru my eyes at the same piece of paper and it was green thru my eyes. but I was trained that when I saw that color it was "blue" and if I looked thru your eyes at the paper, it might be red to me (thru your eyes)....

I would assume that is why some people like certain colors better than others.

On another note colors are made up of wavelengths of light and the different wavelengths produce different colors. So there is some physics involved, but I think your right. It is how they are percieved.