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Full Idea
A unique yellow experience may be evoked with monochrome light of 580nm, or a mixture of 540nm and 670nm. ..Our interpretation of colour experience is a highly idiosyncratic artefact of our visual system.
Clarification
'nm' are nanometres. 'Idiosyncratic' means unique and unpredictable.
Gist of Idea
The way in which colour experiences are evoked is physically odd and unpredictable
Source
Alvin I. Goldman (Phil Applications of Cognitive Science [1993], p.117)
Book Ref
Goldman,Alvin I.: 'Philosophical Applications of Cognitive Science' [Westview 1993], p.117
A Reaction
This confirms what I have always thought - that colour (as qualia) is strictly a feature of minds, not of the world.
4047 | Gestalt psychology proposes inbuilt proximity, similarity, smoothness and closure principles [Goldman] |
4048 | Infant brains appear to have inbuilt ontological categories [Goldman] |
4049 | The way in which colour experiences are evoked is physically odd and unpredictable [Goldman] |
4044 | Rat behaviour reveals a considerable ability to count [Goldman] |
4045 | Children may have three innate principles which enable them to learn to count [Goldman] |
4043 | Elephants can be correctly identified from as few as three primitive shapes [Goldman] |