9 Answers To Science Questions You All Had As Kids

5. Is My Blue The Same As Your Blue?

This is one of those questions that you begin to ponder as a kid, but science still hasn't really figured it out.

We know that some people see the world differently to others, we call it colour blindness. We're able to measure this kind of colour perception because colourblind people will not be able to spot certain patterns that non-colourblind people will.

However, the actual perception of those colours is much more difficult to measure. When somebody points at a lovely ripe strawberry and tells you it's red, you learn to call that colour red.

But who's to say that, were you somehow able to perceive it via someone else's brain, that they wouldn't actually see it as your idea of blue?

There are some experts who are convinced that we don't actually see colours the same. Whether the difference is as pronounced as "my blue is your red" remains to be seen (no pun intended).

The reason they think this is down to the fact that colour doesn't really, objectively exist in the real world. It is something that happens in your brain as a response to photons stimulating the cones in your eye - as opposed to something like gravity which exists whether or not you perceive it.

In an experiment with monkeys, who were essentially red/green colour blind, scientists were able to actually alter the cone cells in their eyes so that they could then perceive red. The monkeys' brains then rewired themselves to be able to do this. It is thought that this is what the human brain does when we are born (as babies are colour blind), and there is no "default" way that the brain wires itself for colour. The chances of our brains all rewiring in exactly the same way strikes some scientists as near impossible.

So, in short, no, you're blue is probably not quite the same as my blue.