this is my great uncle Kurt growing up I
idolized him he was a wood carver he
wore suspenders and he was a
ventriloquist which I was able to look
Kurt embraced life and he was many
things including an artist despite the
fact that he was colorblind and when I
was in kindergarten I was given an
opportunity to be an artist just like
Kurt each student in my class was
assigned to write and illustrate a page
in a class book titled as read as a
blank and you could fill in whatever you
wanted so some students created pages
that said as red as an apple or as red
as a firetruck but I made a page that
and my teacher called my parents and
said we have to talk about Brian so I
was given tests tests where these
colored dots were organized into circles
and by differentiating between the
colors of those dots the viewer should
be able to see all sorts of shapes and
numbers hidden in their patterns but I
couldn’t see any because it turns out
that just like uncle Kurt and 250
million other people worldwide I’m
colorblind
my grandmother Kurt’s sister was a
carrier for colorblindness
she passed this trade along to my mom
who passed it along to me thanks mom and
while there are many variations the
standard human genetic makeup is 23
pairs of chromosomes and that 23rd pair
determines sex so if that final pair is
xx that person is female if it’s XY that
person is male and the genes for the
most common form of colorblindness the
form I have are found on the X
chromosome of that 23rd pair so if a
female has those genes on one of her X
chromosomes she won’t be colorblind
she’ll just be a carrier for the trait
like my grandmother and like my mom this
is because her other X chromosome covers
everything up in order for her to have
my form of colorblindness she would need
those genes on both of her X chromosomes
which is less likely to occur but for a
male to have my form of colorblindness
he would only need those genes on his
single X chromosome those genes have
nowhere to hide there’s nothing to cover
them up and because of this
colorblindness is far more prominent
among males in fact it’s estimated that
one in 12 males has some degree of
colorblindness
whereas for females that number is
closer to one in 200 now I am aware that
as far as biological deficiencies are
concerned that colorblindness isn’t a
serious problem but it still causes
when I was in grade school I used to
just read the names written on crayons
so I could know what color I was using
but that tactic went out the window and
I became lost when Crayola decided to
colors like timber wolf and tumbleweed
and razzmatazz I still don’t know what
razzmatazz is and I don’t think anyone
does and today I have to grovel before
the sales associate at the department
store to help me pick out clothing that
actually matches what I’m wearing right
now
took an entire team of professionals to
assemble apparently these pants are
burgundy which I’m told is quite bold
and quite stylish so you’re welcome
everyone but I have other issues too I
never know when I have to put on more
sunscreen I struggle picking out produce
that’s ripe I have a hard time telling
when meat is properly cooked so I just
play it safe and I burn everything
growing up my friends thought all of
this was hilarious they used to
circulate messages hidden inside of
colorblind tests right in front of man
like this one I always thought they were
and whenever anyone learns that I’m
colorblind
they don’t ask about my lineage they
don’t ask about my struggles they ask
one question that every single
colorblind person has heard over and
over again without fail it’s always
you’re color blind well then what color
is this and they they point to something
like it’s like it’s some sort of party
trick and I understand they’re just
curious but to be fair this is like the
only example I can think of where some
sort of deficiency causes the need for
public verification case in point if
someone were to say they were allergic
to nuts
no one would slide them a ball of
swell up a little bit the common
perception is that I only see in black
and white and while that’s true for some
colorblind people it’s extremely rare
most colorblind people myself included
simply have a hard time differentiating
between colors to me green looks like a
reddish or a brownish blue looks similar
to purple and pink I can narrow down the
possibilities as to what color something
is but I can’t say for sure so if you
were to show me a green shirt I might
think it’s brown but I know that it
wasn’t blue to me these two images are
identical now before all of you with
your standard vision start to feel high
in my tea
consider the discrepancies in how all of
us perceive color you’ll likely agree
that the screen behind me is green but
you’re only agreeing on the word you’re
using to identify this color your
perspective is your own you haven’t seen
through anyone elses eyes no one has so
we can’t say for certain that what
you’re seeing is the exact shade and hue
that your neighbor is seeing you’re just
using the word that you associate with
what’s behind me and this association is
learned it’s conveyed through language
language which can actually impact how
we perceive color Western languages defy
color into eleven different categories
red orange blue gray etc but members of
the Himba tribe in northern namibia they
only divide color into five categories
they lump colors together to them red
and orange and brown are all considered
the same thing and because of this it’s
hard for them to differentiate between
those colors they don’t have the
language to do so on the other hand
however the Himba have developed such
in-depth terms for shades of green that
they’re able to observe and articulate
subtleties in that category of color
that people outside their tribe can’t
and color permeates so many languages
including English
think about it something can come right
out of the blue make us green with envy
we can be tickled pink or red in the
face someone can be seen as a black
sheep or is having a yellow streak we
can wave the white flag and defeat or we
can succeed with flying colors
but without language to serve as a
framework for color how would we be able
to make sense of our own unique
interpretations of it the retinal cone
cells in our eyes respond to wavelengths
of light reflected from different
colored objects they then pass that
information along to our brains so when
someone with standard vision sees
different colors their cones are
stimulated in specific ratios this
creates a unique response a message that
says this is red or this is green but
when I see different colors my cones
aren’t stimulated in those same ratios
there’s not a unique response for
different colors so regardless of
whether I’m looking at something that’s
red or green that same message is sent
to my brain and that’s why those colors
look similar to me
but recently technological advancements
were made in correcting color blindness
special glasses were invented that
filter out the wavelengths of light that
causes these same messages to be sent to
the brains of colorblind people when
viewing different colors these glasses
essentially help colorblind people to
differentiate between colors and maybe
you’ve seen these glasses featured in
videos on your social media feeds they
usually show some color blind person
skeptically putting on the glasses for
the first time and then breaking down
people send me links to those videos all
the time and the first time I saw one of
those videos I freaked out with
excitement and I drove seven hours to
the company’s facilities so I could try
on the glasses for myself I was ecstatic
I was ecstatic because the grass was
literally going to be greener on the
other side come on right and so
eventually I arrived and my tour guide
led me outdoors so I could try on the
glasses in this garden that was full of
all these flowers and bloom and she did
this because she quote wanted my first
I put on the glasses and I opened my
eyes and there was no difference in what
I saw
because it turns out that I am what is
considered a strong Pro ten my cone
cells are exceptionally impaired they
don’t detect enough red they’re too
sensitive to oranges and greens and
yellows and in short the glasses don’t
work for me I guess what I’m saying is
please stop sending me links to those
videos and I ask this not because I’m
upset but because quite frankly I don’t
need those glasses even though what you
see and what I see might be different
isn’t it powerful to understand that all
that’s really going on is just a
difference in our interpretations of the
same thing perspective is relative it
would be easy for me to be upset to
claim that I’m the victim of some sort
of biological injustice but that would
just be a story I’d be telling myself
and stories are powerful while stories
aren’t fact they can impact how we view
the world and how we interpret the hands
that life has dealt us stories like
genetics and language can shape our
perspectives and knowing all this now
I’m excited for whatever’s next
I’m a writer by trade but maybe I’ll
take a page out of uncle Kurt’s book and
maybe I’ll even start wearing suspenders
burgundy ones because that would be bold
and stylish well I really can’t be sure
as to what’s in store I am certain of
two things and that’s one I am NOT going
to get into ventriloquism because that
still scares me more than ever and two
like uncle Kurt I’m going to continue to
celebrate my unique perspective because
it’s okay that the grass isn’t greener
on the other side I’m thrilled with that
grass being just as reddish or brownish
as it’s ever been thanks
idolized him he was a wood carver he
wore suspenders and he was a
ventriloquist which I was able to look
Kurt embraced life and he was many
things including an artist despite the
fact that he was colorblind and when I
was in kindergarten I was given an
opportunity to be an artist just like
Kurt each student in my class was
assigned to write and illustrate a page
in a class book titled as read as a
blank and you could fill in whatever you
wanted so some students created pages
that said as red as an apple or as red
as a firetruck but I made a page that
and my teacher called my parents and
said we have to talk about Brian so I
was given tests tests where these
colored dots were organized into circles
and by differentiating between the
colors of those dots the viewer should
be able to see all sorts of shapes and
numbers hidden in their patterns but I
couldn’t see any because it turns out
that just like uncle Kurt and 250
million other people worldwide I’m
colorblind
my grandmother Kurt’s sister was a
carrier for colorblindness
she passed this trade along to my mom
who passed it along to me thanks mom and
while there are many variations the
standard human genetic makeup is 23
pairs of chromosomes and that 23rd pair
determines sex so if that final pair is
xx that person is female if it’s XY that
person is male and the genes for the
most common form of colorblindness the
form I have are found on the X
chromosome of that 23rd pair so if a
female has those genes on one of her X
chromosomes she won’t be colorblind
she’ll just be a carrier for the trait
like my grandmother and like my mom this
is because her other X chromosome covers
everything up in order for her to have
my form of colorblindness she would need
those genes on both of her X chromosomes
which is less likely to occur but for a
male to have my form of colorblindness
he would only need those genes on his
single X chromosome those genes have
nowhere to hide there’s nothing to cover
them up and because of this
colorblindness is far more prominent
among males in fact it’s estimated that
one in 12 males has some degree of
colorblindness
whereas for females that number is
closer to one in 200 now I am aware that
as far as biological deficiencies are
concerned that colorblindness isn’t a
serious problem but it still causes
when I was in grade school I used to
just read the names written on crayons
so I could know what color I was using
but that tactic went out the window and
I became lost when Crayola decided to
colors like timber wolf and tumbleweed
and razzmatazz I still don’t know what
razzmatazz is and I don’t think anyone
does and today I have to grovel before
the sales associate at the department
store to help me pick out clothing that
actually matches what I’m wearing right
now
took an entire team of professionals to
assemble apparently these pants are
burgundy which I’m told is quite bold
and quite stylish so you’re welcome
everyone but I have other issues too I
never know when I have to put on more
sunscreen I struggle picking out produce
that’s ripe I have a hard time telling
when meat is properly cooked so I just
play it safe and I burn everything
growing up my friends thought all of
this was hilarious they used to
circulate messages hidden inside of
colorblind tests right in front of man
like this one I always thought they were
and whenever anyone learns that I’m
colorblind
they don’t ask about my lineage they
don’t ask about my struggles they ask
one question that every single
colorblind person has heard over and
over again without fail it’s always
you’re color blind well then what color
is this and they they point to something
like it’s like it’s some sort of party
trick and I understand they’re just
curious but to be fair this is like the
only example I can think of where some
sort of deficiency causes the need for
public verification case in point if
someone were to say they were allergic
to nuts
no one would slide them a ball of
swell up a little bit the common
perception is that I only see in black
and white and while that’s true for some
colorblind people it’s extremely rare
most colorblind people myself included
simply have a hard time differentiating
between colors to me green looks like a
reddish or a brownish blue looks similar
to purple and pink I can narrow down the
possibilities as to what color something
is but I can’t say for sure so if you
were to show me a green shirt I might
think it’s brown but I know that it
wasn’t blue to me these two images are
identical now before all of you with
your standard vision start to feel high
in my tea
consider the discrepancies in how all of
us perceive color you’ll likely agree
that the screen behind me is green but
you’re only agreeing on the word you’re
using to identify this color your
perspective is your own you haven’t seen
through anyone elses eyes no one has so
we can’t say for certain that what
you’re seeing is the exact shade and hue
that your neighbor is seeing you’re just
using the word that you associate with
what’s behind me and this association is
learned it’s conveyed through language
language which can actually impact how
we perceive color Western languages defy
color into eleven different categories
red orange blue gray etc but members of
the Himba tribe in northern namibia they
only divide color into five categories
they lump colors together to them red
and orange and brown are all considered
the same thing and because of this it’s
hard for them to differentiate between
those colors they don’t have the
language to do so on the other hand
however the Himba have developed such
in-depth terms for shades of green that
they’re able to observe and articulate
subtleties in that category of color
that people outside their tribe can’t
and color permeates so many languages
including English
think about it something can come right
out of the blue make us green with envy
we can be tickled pink or red in the
face someone can be seen as a black
sheep or is having a yellow streak we
can wave the white flag and defeat or we
can succeed with flying colors
but without language to serve as a
framework for color how would we be able
to make sense of our own unique
interpretations of it the retinal cone
cells in our eyes respond to wavelengths
of light reflected from different
colored objects they then pass that
information along to our brains so when
someone with standard vision sees
different colors their cones are
stimulated in specific ratios this
creates a unique response a message that
says this is red or this is green but
when I see different colors my cones
aren’t stimulated in those same ratios
there’s not a unique response for
different colors so regardless of
whether I’m looking at something that’s
red or green that same message is sent
to my brain and that’s why those colors
look similar to me
but recently technological advancements
were made in correcting color blindness
special glasses were invented that
filter out the wavelengths of light that
causes these same messages to be sent to
the brains of colorblind people when
viewing different colors these glasses
essentially help colorblind people to
differentiate between colors and maybe
you’ve seen these glasses featured in
videos on your social media feeds they
usually show some color blind person
skeptically putting on the glasses for
the first time and then breaking down
people send me links to those videos all
the time and the first time I saw one of
those videos I freaked out with
excitement and I drove seven hours to
the company’s facilities so I could try
on the glasses for myself I was ecstatic
I was ecstatic because the grass was
literally going to be greener on the
other side come on right and so
eventually I arrived and my tour guide
led me outdoors so I could try on the
glasses in this garden that was full of
all these flowers and bloom and she did
this because she quote wanted my first
I put on the glasses and I opened my
eyes and there was no difference in what
I saw
because it turns out that I am what is
considered a strong Pro ten my cone
cells are exceptionally impaired they
don’t detect enough red they’re too
sensitive to oranges and greens and
yellows and in short the glasses don’t
work for me I guess what I’m saying is
please stop sending me links to those
videos and I ask this not because I’m
upset but because quite frankly I don’t
need those glasses even though what you
see and what I see might be different
isn’t it powerful to understand that all
that’s really going on is just a
difference in our interpretations of the
same thing perspective is relative it
would be easy for me to be upset to
claim that I’m the victim of some sort
of biological injustice but that would
just be a story I’d be telling myself
and stories are powerful while stories
aren’t fact they can impact how we view
the world and how we interpret the hands
that life has dealt us stories like
genetics and language can shape our
perspectives and knowing all this now
I’m excited for whatever’s next
I’m a writer by trade but maybe I’ll
take a page out of uncle Kurt’s book and
maybe I’ll even start wearing suspenders
burgundy ones because that would be bold
and stylish well I really can’t be sure
as to what’s in store I am certain of
two things and that’s one I am NOT going
to get into ventriloquism because that
still scares me more than ever and two
like uncle Kurt I’m going to continue to
celebrate my unique perspective because
it’s okay that the grass isn’t greener
on the other side I’m thrilled with that
grass being just as reddish or brownish
as it’s ever been thanks
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