Colorblindness

I am red-green colorblind, but I find that my brain adapted to recognize visual patterns and details more readily than people that are not colorblind.
Is this a common phenomenon, do others have experience with this ?

 

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Most mammals are red-green color blind, and most other vertebrates see in UV-Blue-Green-Red (tetrachromatic), so in a way we are all color blind.

 

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I are not detectably colorblind by any test I've taken, but red-green (protanopia and dueteranopia) is the form that trips up my flying students most often on their physical exams (if they're seeking a pilot's license requiring one). It's resolved for Private Pilot applicants when they show they can discriminate red from green signals from a local control tower's "light gun" signaling device (a legacy backup communications device that predates radio). It's easy for most motivated (but entirely red-green neutral) individuals to learn the perceived intensity difference in that situation beforehand, and pass the SODA (Statement of Demonstrated Ability) Test. I've noticed that people who make personal compensations with little fuss generally make better pilots overall. One of my students, who consistently displayed excellent visual skills as a pilot (seeing traffic, interpreting symbology) passed his FAA-required SODA test even though he is completely achromatopsic (sees in greyscale).

I've seen a lot of evidence that differing hues of perception can inspire compensations that become strengths.

 

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Good for civilian pilots, but can they get into the air force? I'm not saying the military should forbid color blind pilots, I just know they do for reasons unknown to me.

 

Oh yes, I forgot that. I go on brightness more than others as well.
I once read that red-green colorblind people can distinguish more shades of beige than others and that they because of it can actually point out people in camouflage suits better than others.

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The military is more strict, but applicants who are already aware of a deficiency can "study" beforehand for their eye exams and have a considerably better chance of passing it- Or at least learn of a disqualifying condition sooner. I advise students interested in the miltary aviation to test their vision independently- and if they are borderline, to consider "training" their vision before being officially tested. The numbered plates on paper are the first screen, and the definitive military test is the FALANT lamp.

It's much better to know where you stand before actual military screening. I suffered a bitter dissappointment in my youth over near-sightedness, that I wasn't aware of until age 17. The military screens people much more stringently initially, than they do after being selected for flight training. I think it's a shame when people unaware of a borderline, manageable color-perception deficiency get rejected because they haven't trained themselves to compensate for the particulars of the tests given. There is a lot of debate about whether the tests are a reliable measure of how pilots perceive indications and signage from the cockpit.

You can follow some discussion of this topic among aviators here.

Enmos: "I once read that red-green colorblind people can distinguish more shades of beige than others"

That's interesting: That could present a vision advantage over "normal" vision in certain situations, and I imagine it involves more neural processing than any color filter would emulate.

 

I almost applied to become a fighter-pilot back in the day, but they told me straight out that I didn't need to bother because of my colorblindness..

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That's tough. I know just how you felt, having been disqualified for slight, correctable myopia (correction is fine in the military after you've been selected).

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Anyway, because there are so many nuances, I always advise aspiring aviators to get independently tested first.

 

I fail about half the tests. Of some of those I failed I can see the number (or whatever) when they tell me what it was.

 

Like I was saying, maybe all of us are color blind: http://www.cs.utk.edu/~evers/documents/tetraChromat.txt

 

And we can't see radiowaves or gamma waves, either.

When talking of colour blindness, obviously we take a relative point of a modal person since it would be absurb to consider sensitivities to all frequencies as normal!

 

How does a person figure out they are colorblind?

I mean, if they differentiate between red and green based on grayscale values, they in effect do see red and green as two different colors / hues of grey anyway.

If a colorblind person looks at a beech tree, does it seem to them to be all in hues of one color?

 

I love these things, they are so pretty:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishihara_color_test

It would be nice to see in the same 4 colors that most other organism see in.

 

Thank you for that link! I remember taking those tests in school.

But what is in image no. 19? I can't tell. It could be an 8 or a two, or neither.
In the no. 11 I hardly recognize the number 6.
In the no. 23, I barely see the 2 of the 42.

Am I colorblind in some way?

 

I have a hard time telling dark blue from black, but otherwise I'm ok.

 

Take in mind that you are seeing these in your monitor not as they are supposed to be seen printed out, so it might have something to do with your monitor settings.

 

This could be a problem, yes.

But images on the web otherwise seem normal.

 

Well, if you are worried, go to an optometrist and do the test.

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I too have trouble seeing 2 in No.19, but on a closer look there is no chain that connects top left with bottom right, so it can't be a 8 and, so it must be a 2.

 

Not really, they usually see it as a different colour. I remember reading about a guy who saw apple trees with brown leaves and black apples.

 

Those are just examples, I barely see them too, you can take an online test: http://colorvisiontesting.com/ishihara.htm, I can complete it in 24 seconds all correct, you don't feel its that easy then see an optometrists or try a different monitor color setting.

Hey guess what color this is:

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