How Light and Environment Shape Our View of Colour.

The world was captivated by a viral image of “the dress,” sparking heated debates over whether it was blue and black or white and gold. This seemingly simple photo divided millions and baffled scientists, revealing fascinating insights into how we perceive colour. Years later, research has shed light on how environmental factors and subconscious assumptions shape our visual interpretation, offering a deeper understanding of the interplay between light, colour, and human perception.
Some time in late February 2015, a picture of “the dress” went viral and broke the internet. Within a week, more than ten million tweets had mentioned the dress with hashtags such as #TheDress, #BlueAndBlack, and #WhiteAndGold. By the end of the following month, we were all sick of seeing or talking about it. There were clearly two definitive, unwavering views, and try as we might, none of us could switch to the other. Some saw the dress as blue and black, whilst others saw it as white and gold. There was nothing in between.
Why was that? At the time, no one had any idea why some people saw “the dress” differently from others. Neuroscientists and vision experts were equally baffled. Even when the dress was finally revealed as being blue and black, those who saw it as white and gold (like me Callie van der Merwe) simply could not see the other side.
Years later, with hundreds of papers now written about the topic, there is finally some agreement in the scientific community. It seems that the contrasting colour perceptions boiled down to one universal, natural, and instinctive human behavioural trait: when humans face profound uncertainty, we confidently fill in the gaps in our knowledge by making assumptions based on what we most frequently encountered in the past.

“Our perception of colour depends not just on the wavelengths of light entering our eyes, but on our brain’s assumptions about the environment.”
Dr. Pascal Wallisch, neuroscientist and expert in visual perception. The quote highlights the fascinating complexity of colour perception. It’s not just about the physical wavelengths of light that reach our eyes; our brains play an active role in interpreting those signals. This interpretation is influenced by assumptions about the environment, such as the type of lighting or contextual cues around an object. In the case of “the dress,” these assumptions caused our brains to subconsciously adjust for perceived lighting conditions, leading to two drastically different interpretations. This demonstrates how deeply our past experiences and environments shape what we see, often without us even realising it.
In this specific case, it was more a matter of where than what. Those who spent more of their time outdoors or were exposed to more daylight assumed that the dress was photographed in natural light (daylight) and were more likely to see it as white and gold. Why? They mentally and subconsciously eliminated short-wavelength light (natural blue light) from the image, making the image appear more yellow.
Those who spent more time indoors under artificial light (specifically incandescent light) mentally subtracted long-wavelength yellow light from the image, leaving an image looking more blue, and thus seeing a blue and black dress.
The mystery of “the dress” highlights the intricate ways our brains process colour, influenced by light, environment, and past experiences. This phenomenon underscores the powerful role of perception in shaping how we interpret the world around us. Understanding these factors deepens our appreciation of the complexities of human vision and its connection to behaviour.
Information Reference Index:
Why Do We See The Dress Differently?
What Science Says About "The Dress"
The Neuroscience of Colour Perception
The Science Behind How We See Colour
Colour Illusions and Human Behaviour
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