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Re: Color constancy



Larry Smith wrote:

But you haven't made a case for it varying from person to person
(assuming they have the same chemicals in their retina).

Why would you perceive a different color than I do under identical
circumstances?

Suppose the chemistry in your retina is dramatically different
from the chemistry in my retina, when we are looking at grass.
This would not prevent us from using the same word, green,
while referring to sensations.

This is certainly true, but 1) is there any evidence that anybody (other
than color-blind people) has different retinal chemistry than anybody
else?, and 2) I explicitly assumed that most people have the same
chemistry; given that assumption why would the perception be >different for
different people?

Even if the chemistry of the retina was the same for everyone, that wouldn't
prevent different people's brains to act differently.
When the example was made of kindergarten kids being 'taught' colours, i
think there is a crucial phenomenon going on. As John said 'colour' in this
sense is semantic problem. What is interesting is that even in this way
discrepancies are alike. In italy blue cheese is percieved as being green, i
am bilingual in english and italian and i remember being very upset as a kid
because my mum would tell me the cheese was green and my dad told me it was
blue!
What seems crucial to me is that, although we might percieve colour
differently because of differences in the retina's functioning (as in
colour-blind people) or differences in cultural devolpment of the brain, we
all agree on the property of 'colourdness'. That is i may not be able to
describe the colour blue 'objectivelly', but i can say universally that
objects differ because of colour, that there exists 'colourdness'.
James Kirkpatrick