The other day, a student of mine shared that he was color blind. Particularly, he cannot see red or green colors... only shades of gray in their place. It was my first time to meet someone like him.
I was absolutely stunned.
Imagine... riding a banca over the Pagsanjan rapids, looking up at majestic emerald cliffs covered with trees and grasses and shrubs... Imagine not being able to see the lush, beautiful shades of green!
Picture these... a delicious apple, long-stemmed roses, cheeks smeared with lipstick... Imagine not being able to be delighted by the bold, electric shades of red!
Imagine seeing violet and recognizing only the blue (red plus blue equals violet, remember?)... Or mistaking an orange for a circular lemon (red plus yellow equals orange, yap)...
Imagine not being able to read traffic signals!
The encyclopedia shows that color blindness occurs primarily in men (thank goodness), with eight percent of the total population... as compared to women, with only 0.44 percent.
I cannot imagine a world without colors... Even my dreams come in multicolored episodes!
I wanted so much to explain to my student how "cool" green was and how "hot" red was... how soothing, gorgeous and wonderful they were! But how could I explain this to someone who has never seen them?
We live in the same world. And yet a slight difference in genes alters our whole universe. And that's just talking about eyesight. Imagine differences in culture, language and ideas. I remember what my psychology teacher once said, "Each one of us has a totally different way of looking at the world."
So... how can I describe red and greed to someone who sees only shades of gray?
I don't know... but I'd certainly like to try.
