Page 72 - Darwin's Dilemma: The Soul
P. 72
Darwin’s Dilemma: The Soul
ferent hues altogether. Yet someone else may see a far more limit-
ed variety of colors and yet still interpret this as a full spectrum.
We have no way of comparing our perception with that of anyone
else looking at the same object.
We imagine that we are looking at the same thing. But perhaps
the things that we perceive and what another person sees are actu-
ally completely different to one another. Since our perception of the
external world is limited to our five senses, we cannot know
whether “blue” means the same thing for any other person, or
whether coffee tastes the same. Neither can we describe these per-
ceptions.
Color-blindness is one of the significant pieces of evidence
that colors are formed solely in the brain. A minor inherited genet-
ic variation arising in the retina is known to cause color-blindness.
Many people in this situation are unable to tell the difference be-
tween red and green. The only reason for this is our different ways
of perceiving the concept of color. Something we are certain is
“green” being perceived as “grey” by another party does not show
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