Is my blue your blue? (2024)
An online color quiz that asks people to label turquoise-like shades as either “blue” or “green” has sparked broader reflection on how we perceive and name colors. Commenters trade anecdotes about marital arguments over paint, cultural and linguistic differences (such as languages that lack separate words for blue and green), and the philosophical problem of whether two people ever experience the same “blue,” while also criticizing the test’s forced binary choices, lack of a “neither” option, and sensitivity to screen calibration. Many see it less as a measure of vision and more as a window into subjective categorization, language, and context in color perception.
Perceptual Differences and Anecdotes
- Many describe recurring arguments (often with partners/family) over whether objects are blue vs green, turquoise vs blue, blue vs gray, etc.
- Some find the test result (e.g., “greener than 95%” or “bluer than 98%”) matches long‑standing disagreements in real life.
- Others say they cannot honestly label mid-range hues as either blue or green; they experience them as “teal/turquoise/cyan” and end up guessing or quitting.
Test Design and Methodology Critiques
- Core complaint: forced binary choice between blue and green with no “neither/both/unsure” option, especially when shown obvious cyan/teal.
- Several argue this measures linguistic classification, not raw color perception, and is “scientifically junky” as a single-item forced-choice instrument.
- Concerns about anchoring and binary search: prior colors bias later answers; repeated runs can yield different boundaries.
- Some suggest Likert-style “more blue vs more green,” multi-point sliders, randomization, context colors, or intermediate “palette cleansers” to reduce adaptation.
Devices, Calibration, and Environment
- Many note results vary significantly across monitors, phones, brightness levels, HDR/SDR, blue-light filters, Night Shift/f.lux, and ambient lighting.
- Some test across devices and see large shifts; others report factory-calibrated displays are often “good enough,” but cheap panels can be wildly off.
Biology and Individual Variation
- Reports of different color balance between left/right eyes, cataract implants, age-related yellowing of lenses, and mild color vision deficiencies.
- Red–green colorblind participants share results, sometimes surprisingly near the population median.
- Discussion touches on cone sensitivities, opponent color processing (blue–yellow, red–green), and how that yields “families” like cyan or magenta.
Language, Culture, and Color Categories
- Extended discussion of languages that group blue and green, or split blue into distinct basic terms, and how this shapes categorization.
- Examples include historical lack of distinct words for blue/green or orange, culturally specific terms (e.g., traffic lights called “blue”), and banknote colors.
- Some emphasize that “turquoise/cyan” may be a basic category for them, making the test’s framing feel wrong.
Philosophy of Perception (Qualia)
- Multiple comments revisit the classic “is my blue your blue?” and qualia/inverted spectrum questions.
- Some argue there may be no absolute inner color, only learned relations among stimuli; others highlight this as part of the “hard problem” of consciousness.