Any other 'color blind' forum members here? (advantage, men, eye)
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Statistically, I'm sure there are quite a few other men on this site that have some form of color blindness. It's a widely accepted estimate that 7-8% of Caucasian American men have some type of color blindness. The figures for women range from 1 in 8000 to as few as 1 in 25,000. Using the 7% figure for men and 1 in 8000 for women, that would mean that for every woman with color blindness there are 540 men affected by it.
The reason for such a vast disparity between the sexes is simply genetic. Color receptors are found on the 23rd X chromosome, so a woman with damaged or abnormal color receptors has a 'backup' X chromosome that is usually healthy and normal. Color blindness is actually passed from mother to son. The vast majority of women and a small number of men are color blind due to disease or injury to the retina.
I learned that I was color blind as a teenager (I'm 41 now) and I am somewhat fascinated by the condition. I have read countless pages of scientific and medical studies and stay current on any news or related discoveries. One of the more interesting items is the discovery that an estimated 4% of women can actually see a fourth dimension of color. So not only are they largely immune from color blindness, but some have the ability to distinguish tints, shades and tones that mere mortals can't see! =)
Color blindness can have serious consequences for some men. In particular, it can limit some career choices. Obviously, interior design or anything fashion-related would be a problem. But the FAA requires that pilots pass a color vision test before they can fly. The U.S. military also requires pilots to pass a stringent color vision test. Various other military jobs also require accurate color vision. Although it varies greatly from one jurisdiction to another, many police officer and firefighter candidates are also required to pass a color vision test.
In some countries in Asia and Europe, those who are color blind can't get a driver's license or have restricted driving privileges. Electricians dealing with colored wiring is another profession with potentially catastrophic implications for those who can't distinguish between certain colors.
One of the few benefits of color blindness was discovered during World War II. The predominant (est. 95%) type of color blindness is known as Red-Green Color Blindness. This means that a person with the condition has difficulty (or the inability) to see some or all shades of red and/or green. Men with more severe green color blindness could identify camoflauge worn by the Japanese military. It provided a substantial strategic advantage for our boys in the South Pacific!
A few other interesting facts-
Facebook is blue because founder Mark Zuckerberg is Red-Green Color Blind.
Very few (less than 100 in the U.S.) see in black and white. The condition is technically known as Achromatopsia and many experts don't consider it a type of color blindness. In particular, almost all cases are 'cerebral achromoplastia" caused by damage to the cerebral cortex. That makes it a defect in perception rather than a defect in vision.
Cats, dogs and rabbits see everything in gray.
I've never considered it a disability, just a minor nuisance at times. Wearing dark blue socks with black shoes is probably the worst thing that has happened to me. I've learned to stick with khaki and navy pants and shirts that will go with either. Sadly, I'm a 41-year-old man who still takes his mom (or a friend) shopping to verify my color selections!
It has also determined my choice of car colors. I've always gravitated toward White (more on that in a moment), Silver and Gray cars. White is rarely an option for me anymore because the vast majority are "Pearl White" which just looks like iridescent beige to me. Volvo and BMW still have a pure white that I like, but I'm not so crazy about their price tags!
Even with one of my "safe" colors (Gray), I almost made a bad decision with my last car purchase. I bought a new Mazda CX-9 in late 2012 and based on the brochure, website and even seeing it on the dealer's lot, I chose a color called Dolphin Gray. My best friend found the color name a little strange, thinking that Dolphin Gray probably had some degree of green that I might not be seeing. It turns out that he was correct and it was a Greenish-gray. At night, under the fluorescent lights of the service department canopy, even I was able to see it and was thankful that my friend intervened. I chose 'Liquid Silver' instead.
I'd love to hear from other color blind folks (or those who have know and/or love someone who is color blind, because having a color blind friend or family member can be amusing, according to the most important people in my life)!
My husband has red/green colorblindness, and so does his only sibling, his brother.
The funny thing is, my husband has some really excellent decorating skills when it comes to shape, texture, style, placement, that sort of thing. But he just absolutely cannot tell what color many things are. So we make a pretty good pair together.
His color blindness doesn't really seem to have much effect on his daily life. However, as much as I love color, I can't imagine not being able to see so many beautiful colors clearly.
My 17 year old son went to MEPS and was told he was totally colorblind. Imagine our surprise after 17 years of life! After all those years of public school, not one person, plus myself an RN, ever knew or noticed! Let's not ignore that fact that he was saying it was horse ****. So we went and had him diagnosed by a real eye doc.
I took him to the optometrist's office. After the tests, the doc held up colored sharpies, and my son identified every one of them. The doc said it's just so mild; a mild red-green deficiency. So now that lady at MEPS (who my son said was all stressed out, the place was packed, and it was complete chaos) has him ineligible for every program he was going for in the military!
My son's recruiter said all we have to do is have an eye doc write what he really has and that he's no longer disqualified for any of the positions he was going to try and get.
I don't think it's going to be that easy. I know they will probably have their own doc examine him and that's OK. Just crazy; so, all of your post, I had researched it and found the same thing...just crazy. Not that color blindness is crazy, but how I came to researching the whole thing.
I also found out that the creator of Facebook is colorblind with red-green and that's why Facebook is blue
My 17 year old son went to MEPS and was told he was totally colorblind. Imagine our surprise after 17 years of life! After all those years of public school, not one person, plus myself an RN, ever knew or noticed! Let's not ignore that fact that he was saying it was horse ****. So we went and had him diagnosed by a real eye doc.
I took him to the optometrist's office. After the tests, the doc held up colored sharpies, and my son identified every one of them. The doc said it's just so mild; a mild red-green deficiency. So now that lady at MEPS (who my son said was all stressed out, the place was packed, and it was complete chaos) has him ineligible for every program he was going for in the military!
My son's recruiter said all we have to do is have an eye doc write what he really has and that he's no longer disqualified for any of the positions he was going to try and get.
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I don't think it's going to be that easy. I know they will probably have their own doc examine him and that's OK. Just crazy; so, all of your post, I had researched it and found the same thing...just crazy. Not that color blindness is crazy, but how I came to researching the whole thing.
I also found out that the creator of Facebook is colorblind with red-green and that's why Facebook is blue
So anyway, there's a story for you.
I very recently learned that Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder) is red-green colorblind. I was reading an article a few weeks ago and it mentioned that. Blue is definitely my "safe" and favorite color. It's a primary color and I can distinguish between various blues as long as they're in the light to medium-dark range. Dark blue (along with dark green and sometimes very dark reds) usually look black to me.
Each individual instance of red-green color blindness is pretty unique. Some are very mild, like your son's, which I'm glad to hear. Many (possibly most) have trouble with only one of the two, red or green. The rest of us tend to have moderate to severe difficulty with one of the two colors and slight to moderate difficulty with the other. Green is where I have the more severe deficiency and my Red deficiency is fairly moderate in comparison.
It's kind of funny (and by funny I mean odd and/or unusual) but I collect Fiesta dinnerware (commonly referred to as Fiestaware). The bright colors have always attracted me, even if I don't see some of them the same as everyone else. The great thing about Fiesta is that you can mix and match any of the colors, even ones that don't "match" (according to the color wheel). I have two China cabinets full and nine of their "disc pitchers" in different colors across the top of my kitchen cabinets.
I always wanted use Fiesta for my regular dinnerware, but there was never a color or even mix of colors that I thought I would enjoy using every day for years. But in late 2013, they introduced a color called Lapis (intense azure blue) and I fell in love with it. I have six place settings and several serving bowls in the color.
The only frustrating thing is that they made a color (oddly named 'Peacock') that was also blue but with a hint or aqua that was unappealing to me. It was discontinued in 2014, but most stores like Macy's and Kohl's still have significant inventory. More than once, I've walked out of Macy's and when I get outside in the sunlight, I can tell that I've bought the piece in Peacock instead! BTW, I'm never seen a slightly aquamarine/blue peacock in my life.....so I don't know how they came up with that name. But thankfully, most of the stores that carry Fiesta have the color name printed on the sticker with the bar code and price.
My bedroom and bathroom are painted a color that Sherwin Williams calls 'Denim'. And I've even had a few cars with blue interior (both were white Honda Accords from the 90s). I was toying with the idea of trading in my 3yr old SUV for a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. I've always loved the Grand Cherokees, but since 2014, the 'Overland' (the next to the highest trim level) has been available with Indigo Blue Nappa Leather with Brown piping. But I like not having a loan or lease payment better than I did that interior, so I talked myself out of getting one....for now....
As far no one realizing that your son had some degree of red-green deficiency, it is thought that more than half of people with red-green color blindness don't know it. Most parents, teachers and other adults don't realize that a child has it unless it fairly severe in one or both colors. There's no way that they could detect it. And the kid doesn't know because what he/she sees is completely normal to them.
Many times, I've wondered just how differently I see some colors compared to everyone else. For example, I'll see a car in a color that looks hideous to me, but anyone who is with me doesn't think it looks bad. I'm not sure if they have bad taste or I'm seeing the color wrong??? I saw a Volvo SUV a while back and couldn't fathom someone walking into a Volvo dealer and paying $45k for something that looked like that! I did some research and discovered that the offending color was called Terra Bronze (a combination of Terracotta and Bronze). They dropped it after one year and I hope the people who bought the ones they made in that color got a really good deal. I had my best friend and my mom look at the color online and they agreed with me that it was awful looking. =)
Oh, that's hilarious...it was your post that told me about the Facebook guy. I knew I had just recently read it (lol). You are handling your color blindness with great strength. When my son gets home I'll have him read this, and I know he'll be more inspired. Even as mild as his color blindness is; I know it's bothering him. I think once this whole mess gets settled it will be more acceptable to him.
I thinks it's a riot that you collect Fiestaware. I do know what Fiestware is, as my kitchen is a South Western theme!
I just called my son's brother (my other son) he use to work for TSA; he's not aware of any color blindness in him. I don't think it will affect my son too much except for the initial shock, and acceptance.
I was looking at the Ishihara test, and I'm telling you those numbers did not pop out to me. I think I'll get tested.
I am red and green color blind. I cannot pass those 'dot' test to save my life! I can identify red and green signs and have never ran one stop light. Even though retired; I still hold a class A CDL. I am allowed, by law, to drive the 80,000 rig behind the school bus; but not the school bus - school bus drivers have to pass the 'dot' test and CDL drivers only have to identify the colors.
Light shades of the colors are my downfall. One time I was putting on my favorite 'brown' pants when my wife asked me why I like those pink pants so much! I had been wearing them off and on for the last year when she told me they were pink! That was the last time I wore them!
Some jobs will discriminate against color blindness. Forget about being an Air Force pilot, telephone wiremen or doing some inspection work. There are plenty of other jobs that will discriminate against the color blind. Here is one article that points out some of the pitfalls: Professions | Colblindor | Page 2.
Color vision is a requirement in many professions. In medicine, being able to pass the color vision test is a pre-requisite for some jobs. Unfortunately, some schools fail to screen their students, allowing them to end up with massive student loans and unable to use their degree (unless they get lucky with an employer who fails to test for this). Or the student will start the program and be unable to finish it because he 'finds colors difficult'. I think this is a major issue that schools need to address prior to accepting students into color-sensitive fields..
My hubby cannot tell the difference in "shades" of color. He can tell red from blue, in most cases....other than that, he's lost! Thank goodness I can keep track of his wardrobe! Otherwise, he'd look the fool with his color combinations!
My hubby cannot tell the difference in "shades" of color. He can tell red from blue, in most cases....other than that, he's lost! Thank goodness I can keep track of his wardrobe! Otherwise, he'd look the fool with his color combinations!
Khaki pants and jeans go with everything...that's my rule of thumb! All of my shoes and belts as are all of my 'dress' socks.
I'll never forget the time that I wore a pair of aqua shorts (thinking they were gray, because I had an identical pair that was gray) to school when I was 17. The shirt I wore would have matched the gray, but not the aqua ones. (Note- this was in 1992, when aqua was "in style"....if it matched the rest of your outfit). Thankfully, I went to school early that day to do some research in the library. The librarian was actually a friend of mine (and still is, 24 years later) and she quietly mentioned that I didn't match. I didn't know I was color blind at that point, but I'm so thankful that she felt comfortable enough to tell me. I managed to sneak back out to the parking lot to my car and ditched first period while I went home to change. =)
My son has red green color blindness, but he's never seemed to have much of a problem with red. He's thought that a rather vivid rust, terracotta was some sort of red shade, but that's one of the few instances I can remember. Green, on the other hand, has been a bigger problem. When he was a teen, I once stopped him to point out that he was wearing olive drab shorts, a Kelly green T-shirt, and a plaid button up with a deep grass green stripe. He assured me that they matched well enough and left the house.
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