Color

Color

What is color and how does it affect us? Color is the light we see reflected from an object, and it can affect us in ways we wouldn't expect. But to understand some of the ways color affects us, we have to understand how it works. There are three different "cones" that interpret what your eyes are seeing and they are made up of red, blue, and yellow. Then from those initial 3 cone receptors, a myriad of colors is relayed back to our brains, through the combination of levels of light we receive through the different cones. However, this very technical process can have a surprising impact on our emotions.

In the "Do You See What I See? The Science of Color Perception" video, it talks about how strongly the colors red and blue can impact us in our daily lives. The color red can effectively make players more confident in sporting events, and even officials tend to score red players more generously. Whereas the color blue calms us to a point that our sense of time is made less accurate. 

I am fascinated by the way color affects us as a people universally. No matter age, ethnicity, or cultural background- most of us experience color in the same way, whether it is Tie Kwon Do, a traditionally Asian sport, or Football (Soccer), a traditionally European sport, red has the same effects on sports, officials favor it and those who don it are more confident and less fearful players.

In the videos about color, what made the biggest impact on me was finding out that not only do colors affect us on an emotional level, but that color actually influences the neurological, and hormonal processes that go on in our bodies. That the color red can impact our cortisol levels, and that the hypothalamus is involved in our light intake when it has nothing to do with vision.