misperception
Imagine:
Life under a star other than our sun; one with light of a different wavelength. Or perhaps imagine living on a planet with a different atmosphere that that scatters light in a whole other way. Maybe a reality where everything evolved differently or just imagine that you perceive colours differently; that what you call "Red" isn't the colour you associate with the word today. How do you think life would be? Would the flowers and scenery you consider beautiful still be beautiful or would you now consider them repulsive?
Image courtesy of Roy L. Caldwel
Consider the Peacock Mantis Shrimp which has 12 colour receptors in its 6 eyes versus the 3 colour receptors that we have in ours, perhaps allowing them to see colours we cannot begin to imagine. However, they struggle to differentiate the colours we see with ease. [x]
Some people - namely 12% of women- have tetrachromacy; a rare trait that causes them to have 4 types of cone receptors in their eyes opposed to the typical 3. This allows them to see colours more nuanced than the average person but only a small fraction of that 12% are actually able to see more colours [x}.
With that being said, here are some images to jump-start your imagination about perception.
