TIL: Ancient Greeks couldn't see blue!

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Here is something really cool I stumbled upon today.

Apparently, ancient Greeks couldn't see the color blue. And neither did any other old civilizations! Well, short of.

It's been a while since I have seen something so interesting. Enjoy:

On an off topic side note, it's good to see a video this days that get straight to the point instead of dragging a simple answer for hours and hours just to suck up on the YouTube algorithm!

Posted with STEMGeeks



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16 comments
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Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
!BEER
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since ancient Egyptians had blue I'm curious how they named it and contextualized it. I think he oversimplified things a bit

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I'll ask your indulgence as I get serious here (a little bit, anyway). The implications of this are amazing. According to this gentleman's explanation, what we call something changes the way we understand that thing. That old question, "What's in a name?" finally has an answer: "There is a lot in a name." So if names, if labels matter, if they influence perception and understanding, then cultural attempts to change language have real significance.

For example, way back in the seventies, women began to insist that they not be called Miss, or Mrs. The change was seen by many as being annoying symbolism. Why bother? many asked. Why upset custom, tradition? Well, obviously, (according to the gentleman in the film) because the way we address women (anyone) affects the way we see women (anyone). It affects the way we understand their status, their place in society.

The same argument could be extended to other terms, such as gender identification. Is this one of the reasons for seeking the change in terminology and one of the reasons for resisting it? Will a change in terminology eventually affect our understanding of gender?

Ok, I'm done. A fascinating video. Time for lunch :))

Thanks for sharing.

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Ha, yeah you could May well be right! I guess this would have implications on all kinds of things and how we perceive "reality"!

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Interesting video! I never thought blue would be the last color to enter a language considering, of course, our sky or the sea. Well, the sea I understand because its color can be ambiguous. The partb about being able to create the color itself made a lot of sense though. It's hard to make blue, even for nature. Thanks for sharing!

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