Are black and white colors

[Twista]

Are black and white colors? Yes or No

Hopefully, i made the poll make sense.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

No

 

[Tiamat]

yes

 

[SlitheryDee]

Sure. If you can clearly tell them from other colors then they must be colors in their own right. Of course white isn't ever pure white and neither is black, but the measuring stick by which we judge them both is based upon the imperfect examples that we encounter in our lives. We simply agree on a combination and intensity of attributes to arrive at a mutual conclusion.

 

[woodie1]

They were when I went to school but who knows today.

 

[Cyco]

Nope, they are neutrals.

 

[her209]

Depends. Do you consider green, orange, or purple as colors?

 

[Random Variable]

It depends if you're referring to pigments or light.

 

[cKGunslinger]

I thought black was the absence of color, while white was all colors? Is that only for light?

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: Random Variable
It depends if you're referring to pigments or light.

 

[imported_Devine]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
I thought black was the absence of color, while white was all colors? Is that only for light?

Not really an absence of color but an absence of light.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Devine

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
I thought black was the absence of color, while white was all colors? Is that only for light?

Not really an absence of color but an absence of light.

kind of like how a leaf is not green....but every color BUT green!

omg.......

 

[Fenixgoon]

white is the combination of all wavelengths of visible light. black is considered indigo, which is now part of the violet section, IIRC.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Only Roy G. Biv knows for sure.

 

[zach0624]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
I thought black was the absence of color, while white was all colors? Is that only for light?

That's what I thought too, but it may apply only to light.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Not only are they colors but both words are found in every one of Steve Harvey's jokes.

 

[Ruptga]

It depends if you're talking about, say, color of a car or "color" of a photon, etc. However, I'm a practically-minded guy, so I say they're both colors. Arguments can be made either way, but the arguments are really over how color is defined, and to some degree it's simply a matter of perspective.

 

[imported_Tick]

No, they are not. Colors are uneven spectra of light. White and what we percieve as black are contiguous spectra.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Tick
No, they are not. Colors are uneven spectra of light. White and what we percieve as black are contiguous spectra.

Not true at all.

You can blast yourself with purely red light and you'll see white as it will overload your green and blue cones as well. Thus perceived white can be in reality pure red.

Also we would see black even if we were getting hit with a single spike of IR. This is not continuous.

 

[silverpig]

I would say if brown is a colour then black and white have to be as well. Why? Well first, if you grant that there are some colours, then you'd probably allow the entire rainbow spectrum we can perceive. That would probably be the narrowest definition of colour. However, to make a "colour" like brown, you have to combine two or more single wavelengths of light. If you grant two, you might as well grant them all. Hence white is a colour. To patch up black, I'd say that 0 is just as much a part of the number line as 1...

 

[Deeko]

what is "color"...wavelengths of light? So is anything really "colored", if all it does is absord/reflect/transmit different bands of light? How do I know what I perceive as red looks the same to you?

*head explodes*

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: Devine

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
I thought black was the absence of color, while white was all colors? Is that only for light?

Not really an absence of color but an absence of light.

kind of like how a leaf is not green....but every color BUT green!

omg.......

No. The leaf is absorbing all light APART from green! GREEN LOSES!

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

There is no black & white answer to the question.

 

[aircooled]

White objects reflect light of all colors equally. Black objects absorb light of all colors equally, so they are technically not a color.

 

[BrownTown]

so far as the technical definition or whatever I have always been taught that black and white are not colors, they are the presence and absence of colors. In terms of some everyday usage than sure go ahead and call them colors, make life easier. If you really want to get into the additive and subtractive color schemes and human color perception then go ahead, but personally when it comes to colors I can just let the technicalities slip by.