You may be aware that inaugural poet Amanda Gorman has written a book entitled, “Change Sings”. As it turns out, it was illustrated by my colorblindguy colleague Loren Long. He has also illustrated children’s books by President Obama and Madonna. Two years ago, I reached out to him by writing him an actual letter and he was happy to pose with some of my items. Want to be as cool as Loren? You can pick up colorblindguy items at my etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ColorblindGuyStore

While researching colorblindness, I found an interesting article from Kazunori Asada, he’s an expert on topics of concerning color–I had no idea there was such a career. He was asked to speak at a conference and the conference had created a “Color Vision Experience Room”.  The room optically filtered and modified the spectrum of light. While in the experience room he had a revelation about works by Vincent Van Gogh that were in the room.

“…Each picture had changed into one of brilliance with very delicate lines and shades. This was wonderful to see and experience.”

In a nutshell, Kazunori drew the conclusion that van Gogh was most likely colorblind because his works looked better in the “experience room”. He noted that the painting looked more natural and had more depth when viewed in the “experience room”.

Which of these paintings looks better to you? I can’t tell the difference in either case, but supposedly people who are not colorblind prefer the painting that is viewed as a colorblindguy sees it. Which leads to my favorite quote in the article: “color deficient people can better understand his pictures”.

The ones on the left are the ones as seen by a colorblind van Gogh and on the right seen as non colorblindguys.

Here’s a link to Kazunori’s essay.

Rarely do you hear about the importance of the “colorblind vote”, but it appears that this voter segment may have provided Joe Biden the boost he needed. Once he outlined the letter “E”, the colorblind were able to take notice and reward him on Super Tuesday. I may personally be responsible for his catapulting into the lead. I suspect that someone on his staff saw my post: http://colorblindguy.com/no-big-deal-but/
on my web site. Wisely they changed some of their signage and the results were seen on election night. It may be the first of many seeking elections to take the “colorblind” vote.

Updated signage:

Original sign with difficult to see “E”

“She went that-a-way!”

Being a colorblindguy can pose an issue with entering certain professions.

A colorblind man (Danny David) was originally offered a position at Penn State as a policeman, but the offer was rescinded after learning he was colorblind.

University officials responded to the lawsuit Wednesday, contending that allowing David to circumvent the colorblindness parameters for police would “pose a direct threat to the health and/or safety of the university community.”
(TribLive 2/13/20–link to entire story)

The primary reason for not allowing a colorblind person to enter the law enforcement profession is the ability to provide and receive descriptions of suspects.

He should be considered a “specialist”
and hired at a premium!

What if the person providing the description of a suspect is colorblind? The witness would state the suspect was wearing a gray coat when it is actually pink. He would state she drove away in a gray car when it was actually pink. Only a colorblind officer would properly interpret this description and be able to apprehend the suspect. As seen below Moe and Larry are thrown off while Curly is pointing in the correct direction.

Additionally there was a story stating that in World War II, a colorblind person was all to spot 100% of the camouflaged fieldpieces while an other non-colorblind person saw 25%. This is another area of expertise needed on a police force.

One man in 20 is color-blind in greater or lesser degree and for that reason ineligible for training as an Army Air Corps pilot or observer. Last week the Air Corps’s School of Flight Medicine reported an interesting incident.

In a plane at Fort Sill, Okla. early this summer, an Air Corps observer was able to spot only ten of 40 camouflaged artillery fieldpieces on the ground. An observer of the Field Artillery in a plane spotted all 40 and accurately plotted their positions on his map. The explanation: the artilleryman, selected under less rigorous examination than the Air Corps man, was colorblind. Camouflage, designed to deceive the normal eye, fooled him not a whit.

Last week, at the School of Flight Medicine, clerks combed the files preparing a list of candidates rejected for color blindness. But the Air Corps still wants no color-blind pilots. A pilot must be able to distinguish between colors in Very signals, field lights, etc., where a mistake would be costly.
(Time magazine August 5, 1940)

True Story

When I was wearing one of my famous guy colorblindguy shirts, a server (sorry can’t use the work barista) at Starbucks in Waban, MA commented that his grandfather was colorblind. Without any questioning, he went on to explain that in WWII he was used to spot howitzers. It confirmed for me the theory that this was actually practiced. I asked about getting a first hand account, unfortunately the man had passed.

 

What Red Seat?

Unless you are an avid Boston Red Sox fan,
you probably don’t know about the famed red seat.

Here’s a picture I took of it in July 2013 .
As a colorblindguy, it doesn’t jump out at me.

Here’s the story or is it a fable?!

Legend has it that on June 9th, 1946, Ted Williams hit a home run that landed in the right field bleachers. The extraordinary thing about the home run was the distance. It traveled 450 feet. The estimated total distance was set at 535 feet– reason being the seat was not at field level so it would have gone further if it didn’t run into the seats.

David Ortiz, the former Sox slugger said “I don’t think anyone has ever hit one there,” said Ortiz. “I went up there and sat there one time. That’s far…”

I checked out the longest home runs at Fenway in the 2019 season. Michael Chavis hit one 549 feet and another 451 feet. So it seems this distance is achievable. When comparing the size difference, I was surprised at what I learned. Williams was 6′ 3″ and weighed 205 pounds while Chavis stood 5′ 10″and weighed 216 pounds.

Additionally, the ball landed right on the top of the head of a spectator making a hole in his hat.

Read more from the Boston Globe.

 

You can show your colorblindguy pride with the shirt seen below. The seat is easily spotted by most people, but colorblindguys will need some “extra time”.