April 12, 2008

13Apr08

We could, of course, study color solely on its biological mechanisms of being perceived, and the pathways it involves, that leave us with the colorful objects we are able to see. However, it is little known that color in fact has the capability to affect so much more than merely seeing a red light versus a green light. It would be interesting to touch upon a few of these various aspects of life that are effected by the world of colors. To begin with, color has the supposed ability to effect one’s appetite. The color blue is, for some strange reason, thought to be the one color in the color spectrum that is in fact an appetite suppresant. Weight loss researchers encourage those attempting to diet to do things such as dye their foods blue, eat on a blue plate, and change their refrigerator lightbulb to one that emits a blue color, rather than the usual yellow! Black and purple are the two other, somewhat minor colors, that are viewed as appetite suppresants. The hypothesized reasoning for this is simple enough. First, it is quite difficult to find food in nature that is blue in color. Therefore, humans are thought to not have an appropriate biological response to the color blue, in regards to one’s appetite, in comparison to other colors such as red (meat) and green (leafy vegetables). Correspondingly, it is thought that humans also instinctively avoid poisonous foods and colors indicating possible lethal foods. When humans first came about, it is thought that black, purple and blue were seen as the three prime colors indicating something poisonous to be avoided. Color is a part of what contributes to the overall experience of tasting something, as people who eat in the dark tend to report a certain element lacking in their dining experience. Food is first processed through the eyes, in regards to what it is and what it will taste like. With blue coloring, the eyes automatically send a signal to the brain to avoid eating this particular food, which will seemingly decrease the appetite. On this note, as each sense has a pathway to the brain, when a color is perceived, these sensory pathways may accidentally cross over. Therefore, a yellow-green color sometimes produces a sour taste. A pink color can sometimes produce a sweet taste, while a grey color can produce a smoky taste. Another way that color is thought to affect us is in regards to how we react to our environments. Colors can actually cause environments to bring about sensations of fatigue, stress, a decrease of visual perception, a loss of orientation, and a feeling of danger. For instance, when walking on a bright-colored object, such as a rug consisting of bright colors, someone may trip and fall because the bright colors actually triggers somewhat of a motor response, as bright colors seem to “jump out” more than dull colors. When concentrating on something, even the slightest brightly colored object anywhere in one’s field of vision can cause that person to entirely lose concentration on what he or she is attempting to do and be put into a state of distraction. Bright colors can also strain one’s eyes and if someone observes them for extended periods of time, they can actually hurt your optical power. There are so many more ways that are being explored in which colors effect us on a daily basis. One would never think that colors have so much power and can effect the mind in such ways!

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