3 ms·

"for you, turquoise is blue." Well no, it's turquoise, that's why we gave it a whole different word.

TZubiri 6mo ago
But turquoise can be a blue, just because we have a specific word, doesn't mean more general words are invalieated or made as specific. For example, things can be small or big, a mouse is small, if you refine the vocabulary to include 10 size words, and the mouse is now minuscule, it is still small.
- philipwhiuk 6mo ago
  For many people this is like saying 'for you red is blue'.
  - TZubiri 6mo ago
    But in terms of the physical properties of color, namely wavelength of the photon waves, red is diametrically the opposite of blue, they are literally the most different colors. While turqouise and blue have quite adjacent centers and wider definitions. I get that our subjective definitions can be different, but in this case the subjective differences suggest a difference in objective understanding of color (and countries apparently.)
muzani 6mo ago
This is the first time I realized that turquoise is the gray area.
throw0101c 6mo ago
> Well no, it's turquoise, that's why we gave it a whole different word. For some people "pink" does not exist as a concept, it is "light red". In English we talk about "light blue", but an Italian may talk about azzurro (galazio (γαλάζιο) in Greek; kachol (כחול) in Hebrew). Is azzurro its own colour different from "blue" for everyone, or only for Italians? Is "pink" a different colour than (light) red? Before the different word of "turquoise" was created, did the colour still exist and/or be perceived? * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise#Names https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise#Names If a language/culture does not have a word for "blue" does that mean the colour does not exist? * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Color_Terms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Color_Terms * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue–green_distinction_in_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue–green_distinction_in_lang... Where does "white" end and "grey" begin? Where does "grey" end and "black" begin? * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_white https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_white * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_gray https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_gray * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_black https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_black Also, a bit of fun with brown: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh4aWZRtTwU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh4aWZRtTwU
- D-Machine 6mo ago
  Sapir-Worf and its ilk (if we don't have the language/concept, we can't perceive the difference/thing) are widely disproven and debunked, and don't even pass the smell test (learning new concepts and perceiving new things would be impossible). That kind of thinking is so tedious and decades out of date with modern cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, etc.
- driverdan 6mo ago
  Not everything you listed is the same. > Is "pink" a different colour than (light) red? No, it's a different word for it. > Where does "white" end and "grey" begin? When any amount of black is added to white. > Where does "grey" end and "black" begin? When the color is 100% black. White and black are not the same as red, green, or blue. Tinting or shading a color with white or black does not change the color, it lightens or darkens it. That's not the same for RGB. Combining those results in other colors, regardless if a culture has a specific name for it.
  - positr0n 6mo ago
    >> Where does "grey" end and "black" begin? >When the color is 100% black. But what does this mean? Only vantablack is black, everything else is grey?
    - driverdan 6mo ago
      The test is done on a computer monitor. Vantablack is irrelevant. 100% black on a monitor means the pixels in the display are turned off.
Grimblewald 6mo ago
Agree, this seemed silly. It seems to be more a question of "would you say turquise is blue or green?" Rather than a question of our blues match. Better imo would be to ask something like paired colours and pick the "more blue" one. Cool idea for a website, but imo poorly formulated.
- martin- 6mo ago
  But if cyan for me is blue, and for you it's green, or neither (though that option is not available in this test), then that DOES tell us if our definitions of the word "blue" match. For me, the concept "blue" covers the cyan part of the spectrum, while for others it clearly doesn't.
  - Grimblewald 6mo ago
    A neither option would also work. Point is half the colours i was shown fall into neither
mavamaarten 6mo ago
Haha I got "for you, turquoise is green" and I was like... Yeah, is it not?
mrweasel 6mo ago
Some languages uses the terms "turquoise green" and "turquoise blue", but still have "turquoise" as a standalone. It would be interesting to have that tested, e.g. when do you use each term, when do you go from "turquoise blue" to "this is just turquoise"?

But turquoise can be a blue, just because we have a specific word, doesn't mean more general words are invalieated or made as specific. For example, things can be small or big, a mouse is small, if you refine the vocabulary to include 10 size words, and the mouse is now minuscule, it is still small.

philipwhiuk 6mo ago
For many people this is like saying 'for you red is blue'.
- TZubiri 6mo ago
  But in terms of the physical properties of color, namely wavelength of the photon waves, red is diametrically the opposite of blue, they are literally the most different colors. While turqouise and blue have quite adjacent centers and wider definitions. I get that our subjective definitions can be different, but in this case the subjective differences suggest a difference in objective understanding of color (and countries apparently.)

muzani 6mo ago

This is the first time I realized that turquoise is the gray area.

throw0101c 6mo ago

> Well no, it's turquoise, that's why we gave it a whole different word. For some people "pink" does not exist as a concept, it is "light red". In English we talk about "light blue", but an Italian may talk about azzurro (galazio (γαλάζιο) in Greek; kachol (כחול) in Hebrew). Is azzurro its own colour different from "blue" for everyone, or only for Italians? Is "pink" a different colour than (light) red? Before the different word of "turquoise" was created, did the colour still exist and/or be perceived? * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise#Names https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise#Names If a language/culture does not have a word for "blue" does that mean the colour does not exist? * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Color_Terms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Color_Terms * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue–green_distinction_in_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue–green_distinction_in_lang... Where does "white" end and "grey" begin? Where does "grey" end and "black" begin? * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_white https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_white * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_gray https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_gray * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_black https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_black Also, a bit of fun with brown: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh4aWZRtTwU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh4aWZRtTwU

D-Machine 6mo ago
Sapir-Worf and its ilk (if we don't have the language/concept, we can't perceive the difference/thing) are widely disproven and debunked, and don't even pass the smell test (learning new concepts and perceiving new things would be impossible). That kind of thinking is so tedious and decades out of date with modern cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, etc.
driverdan 6mo ago
Not everything you listed is the same. > Is "pink" a different colour than (light) red? No, it's a different word for it. > Where does "white" end and "grey" begin? When any amount of black is added to white. > Where does "grey" end and "black" begin? When the color is 100% black. White and black are not the same as red, green, or blue. Tinting or shading a color with white or black does not change the color, it lightens or darkens it. That's not the same for RGB. Combining those results in other colors, regardless if a culture has a specific name for it.
- positr0n 6mo ago
  >> Where does "grey" end and "black" begin? >When the color is 100% black. But what does this mean? Only vantablack is black, everything else is grey?
  - driverdan 6mo ago
    The test is done on a computer monitor. Vantablack is irrelevant. 100% black on a monitor means the pixels in the display are turned off.

Grimblewald 6mo ago

Agree, this seemed silly. It seems to be more a question of "would you say turquise is blue or green?" Rather than a question of our blues match. Better imo would be to ask something like paired colours and pick the "more blue" one. Cool idea for a website, but imo poorly formulated.

martin- 6mo ago
But if cyan for me is blue, and for you it's green, or neither (though that option is not available in this test), then that DOES tell us if our definitions of the word "blue" match. For me, the concept "blue" covers the cyan part of the spectrum, while for others it clearly doesn't.
- Grimblewald 6mo ago
  A neither option would also work. Point is half the colours i was shown fall into neither

mavamaarten 6mo ago

Haha I got "for you, turquoise is green" and I was like... Yeah, is it not?

mrweasel 6mo ago

Some languages uses the terms "turquoise green" and "turquoise blue", but still have "turquoise" as a standalone. It would be interesting to have that tested, e.g. when do you use each term, when do you go from "turquoise blue" to "this is just turquoise"?