I've noticed that if I ask certain questions, the thread seems to die. I invite everyone to post their apparent threadkillers here. That way if someone wants to come back to a topic, you can simply come back to this thread and find the unanswerable, unpalatable question.
in response to-science answers all yaddayadda. Why is blue? Not, why is blue, blue, but simply, Why is Blue?
You have a point. I guess there is an answer to every question, when you get right down to it. What is the square root of negative 1? Squirrel. I see.
"Blue" is the word we ascribe to that particular sensation of color: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color#Color_in_the_eye
It's not that they refuse to answer, it's that they refuse to admit they can't answer. There are a lot of questions that don't have answers and it is our inability to accept that, which makes us form religions. Far too many humans are far too arrogant to say "I don't know" and must come up wioth explanations. Sometimes the question is far more important than the answer and sometimes there is no answer.
one raven-I think you are exactly correct. I'm hoping to gather some of these unanswerables here for further consideration.
The Buddha said there are fourteen (or four, depending on how you word them)... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_unanswerable_questions
Linguistics is not my field. I'm sure someone else will be able to explain to you why the collection of sounds we ascribe is "blue," "bleu," "blau"... I think I exhausted the subject of why blue is blue. Perhaps it's not the answer you had in mind, because it's not mysterious at all.
It's not mysterious, but the question appears to be exceedingly difficult. IT is not "Why is blue,blue" or "What is blue" or even "How is blue" It is very simple. Why. Is. Blue.
"Why is Blue" is not a question, it is a statement. I could as easily say, "Why is Orange." I declare that it is Orange.
And I explained why it exists. Light comes in different wavelengths, our eyes respond to them, giving us particular sensations. Blue is a sensation. Some people and animals don't see it.
Click on my name and check out every thread I have ever created. No one gives a shit about what I give a shit about lol. I found that after I posted in a thread, the thread would often die, so I dubbed myself "Thread Killer" under my handle...