Last week, I researched Synesthesia and how it impacted the people who have this condition. On a (loosely) similar string of topics, this week, I will focus on color blindness.
If you haven't already read my
second post on how we perceive the world, I recommend reading it before-hand. You will have a better understanding on how normal cones and rods work in accordance to the light-color spectra for color perception.
Overview
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| Color test (Retrieved from Torsani) |
Color blindness, as many of us already know, is the decreased ability to see color or differentiate colors. Normally, humans with normal color vision uses all three types of light cones correctly. Those with color blindness often have at least one cone that is affected, altering vision of color. Color blindness can be identified through various color tests, as shown in the figure to the right. It is said that world-wide about 8% of men and about 0.5% of women have a color vision deficiency (
Color Blindness Awareness).
Color vision deficiencies can be classified in two ways: 1)
Acquired and 2)
Inherited. Acquired color blindness can be through diseases, drugs, chemicals, or organic solvents. Whereas, inherited color blindness is... well, just that: genetically inherited. Though I will not go into the specifics of how color blindness is inherited, this
article does a good job explaining and portraying how the genetics works.
There are three types of inherited color vision deficiencies:
anomalous trichromacy,
dichromacy, and
monochromacy.
Anomalous trichromacy is a common type of inherited color vision deficiency, which occurs when one cone pigment is altered in its spectral sensitivity. In other words, all three cones can perceive light colors, but one specific cone perceives it out of alignment. The effects of anomalous trichromatic vision can range drastically from normal perception to almost total absence in the "faulty" color. Their vision is similar to that of those with dichromacy (as seen below); however, unlike dichromacy, anomalous trichromatic vision has ability to properly perceive color will change based on lighting (
Color Blindness Awareness).
Dichromacy occurs when there's only two types of functioning cone cells in the eyes. Thus, a specific sections of the light spectrum can't be perceived. People suffering from
protanopia cannot perceive red light; people with
deuteranopia cannot perceive green light, and people with
tritanopia cannot perceive blue light. Interestingly, because the sections of the light spectrum which the red and green cones perceive overlap, people with green and red deficiencies often see the world in a similar way (
Color Blindness Awareness). People with both red and green deficiencies live in a world where blues and yellows stand out with murky green undertones. Hence, browns, oranges, reds and greens are easily confused for those with red/green color blindness. Those with tritanopia confuse light blues with grays, dark purples with black, mid-greens with blues, and oranges with reds (
Color Blindness Awareness). Dichromacy is hereditary and sex-linked, predominantly affecting males.
Monochromacy — known as "total color blindness" — is the inability to distinguish colors, thus the person can only view the world in terms of black and white grayscale. This occurs when two or all three cones pigments are missing, thus reducing color and light vision to one dimension (
Color Blindness Awareness).
How Color Blindness Affects Everyday Life
Similar to how people with Synesthesia can adapt to their unique differences, people with color blindness can do the same. When driving, most people can simply differentiate the different traffic light colors. Those with color blindness can generally differentiate between red and green, too; however, some who cannot differentiate color will learn to differentiate the "colors" based on the position (
Colour Blindness). For instance, red/stop is at the top, no matter what the color looks like. Even when cooking, people can normally differentiate what is cooked and what is uncooked, what is ripe and what is unripened, based on color. Sometimes, the best way around this frustration, is to ask others or to buy cooking temperature gadgets. Those with color-blindness may have to limit their career options, as working in a fashion industry may be a bit impractical (challenging, but not impossible as seen by the example of this inspiring
designer who has red/green colorblindness!). Meanwhile military and some engineering jobs may simply be not allowed due to risks (
Colour Blindness).
I found an interesting account of color blindness from
Brooke Swanson, a woman who lives with deuteranomaly (red/green color blindness). Because she is able to identify primary colors pretty well, she uses those true shades as references when attempting to identify different shades. Color blindness didn't impact Brooke's daily life until high school, where makeup and matching clothes began to matter. On a certain occasion, she mixed up her bright red lip liner for brown eye liner and wore that all day. A boy commented "I think your eyes are bleeding," and since then, she has always double checked her brands to ensure such a mistake would never happen again. Her clothes are monochromatic and simple to avoid further embarrassment. In other words, her life is full of small adjustments that accommodate her color blindness. Interestingly, Brooke was gifted
Enchroma glasses, which filter out specific color wavelengths so that people with color-blindness can see normal color vision. Her experience with these glasses can be eloquently summed in her own words:
"I realized that even when I see a color accurately, I miss the shade and tone of the things around it — the highlights and shadows that create dimension and give life to things. That’s what got to me the most. It wasn’t discovering that green to me looks tan. What felt like a strike to my heart was realizing that, by comparison, my world is very flat...[Yet] I wouldn’t want to permanently correct my color vision. As an adult, I can appreciate it, because I know my perception of the world is different, and there’s value in that." — Brooke Swanson
Final Thoughts
I don't have color blindness, though I watch an
art YouTube channel in which one of the artists has color blindness. It's interesting to hear his account on color-blindness, and how he continues to draw and create art despite the difficulties. Learning about how people overcome their weaknesses never stops to amaze me in the resilience in humans. Dear reader, do you have color blindness, or do you know of someone with color blindness? If so, are there any stories? I would be interested to learn more personal insights.
Next week, I will branch off from cases of altered color perceptions, and — with new profound appreciation for color — focus on how different color and lighting arrangements can completely change my art compositions.
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