Primary Colors

 
 
POSTED: January 4, 2018
 
 
 
 
 

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January 4, 2018

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Over the New Year I read I, Mammal, the story of what makes us mammals, by Liam Drew. I found something unexpected.

In Chapter Eleven, Scents and Sensibility he discusses the five senses. On page 254 of my edition, Drew writes about the rods and cones in the eyes that make up the visual equipment that mammals use to detect light.

He points out that

Humans have three distinct cone types – one activated by longwave light that we see as red, one activated by the medium wavelengths perceived as green, nd a shortwave receptor that evokes blue.

I didn’t know that.

My question now: does this offer an “objective” starting point for arguments about what constitute primary colours?