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Could this be a factor in why we didn’t evolve to see a wider range of wavelengths? Is the visual spectrum just barely within the range that our brains can cor

• jjk166 5y ago
  Water is relatively opaque at wavelengths above and below the visible spectrum. Air is also much more absorptive outside of the visible range. These two effects compliment eachother - water has a very sharp increase in opacity in the ultraviolet, while air has a sharp increase in the infrared. Our eyes are full of water and we look at things through air. Coincidentally, the visible spectrum matches the peak output from the sun. While you can go a little further into the infrared and ultraviolet ranges, there simply isn't much more to see, it would be as if we were looking through muddy water and dimly lit fog. Any mutation allowing you to see these wavelengths would convey no advantage.
• culebron21 5y ago
  I think our brain would have evolved some sort of post-processing algorithm to deblur the signals from blue cones, if blue was so necessary. But blue comes mostly as diffused light from the sky. And the effect is especially pronounced in dusk, when blue color floods everything and reduces contrast. That's why yellow glasses help to increase it back and are used in sports and in driving.