The “I” in colorblind
Photo: Dino Ðula
I remember when I was a young teen, spending my evenings in front of the TV, watching whatever was on to pass the time. One night, a movie called Reservoir Dogs came up and I found myself struggling to follow the main plotline because all the characters looked the same to me.
And it wasn’t until I was 18 when I was first told I was colourblind, that I finally understood why.
Chasing rainbows
The most common forms of colour blindness revolve around the inability to distinguish one colour from another, in various degrees. This is due to the human eye, in normal conditions, containing three independent channels for conveying colour information - the colour receptors. And when one (or more) of them is faulty or missing, the colour vision is impacted in a specific way.
- Deuteranopia and Deuteranomaly – affect the perception of very long wavelengths, such as reds, causing the inability to distinguish green from red or appearance of green as red-ish, respectively;
- Protanopia and Protanomaly – affect the perception of medium wavelengths, such as greens, causing the inability to distinguish red from green or appearance of red as green-ish and less bright;
- Tritanopia and Tritanomaly – affect the perception of short wavelengths, such as blues, causing the inability to distinguish blue and green, purple and red, and yellow and pink, or difficulties in distinguishing blue and green, and yellow and red;
- Monochromacy – also known as “total colour blindness” is quite rare.
Most colourblind people will tell you that living with colour blindness is, in most cases, a light inconvenience, though this “disability” is known to affect everyday life and future careers of many people, including myself. Firefighters, police officers, doctors, electricians, (commercial) pilots, graphic designers, servicemen are just some of the many professions that rely heavily on colours to be done properly, with various degrees of risk factors involved. And while the issue of this particular vision deficiency has been addressed in some jobs, with modern society developing towards the point of total acceptance of people’s various conditions, the situation is still far from ideal.
It’s a hard-knock life
I know you are probably thinking “things aren’t always black and white,” but for some people they are. Literally. About 8% of people carrying XY chromosomes and 0,5% of those with the XX chromosomes, suffer from some form of colour vision deficiency, which is often hereditary. This is because the gene that carries colour blindness is found in the X chromosome making those with XY combination more likely to showcase the “affliction". In turn, XX individuals are thus more likely to simply pass on the gene without being affected themselves (unless in the rare case of both X chromosomes carrying the genetic mutation).
To understand this better, we can look back to European royalty in the 19th and 20th century, plagued by “the royal disease” - haemophilia. Significantly more dangerous ailment of the two, haemophilia (the inability of blood to clot properly) plagued the aristocracy through descendants of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and the excessive need to keep the bloodlines noble. Six female descendants (including her two daughters – princesses Alice and Beatrice) and nine male descendants (including one of her sons, prince Leopold) are all confirmed to have been haemophiliacs or carriers of the gene, which was subsequently spread to the royal houses in Germany, Spain and Russia. One of the reasons this disease somewhat disappeared afterwards can be found in the shorter life expectancy of those affected by it. Which is, thankfully, not the case with colourblind people.
The grass is always purpler…
The question “What colour is this?” is one I have heard numerous times before in many social settings from close friends and mere acquaintances. Even though it might seem quite innocent, the question can act as a trigger and induce anxiety not just on its own, but also because of the conversation that undoubtedly follows. It exploits people’s weakness and potential insecurity, forcing them to participate in a conversation where they will be judged for something beyond their control. And the question (almost) never comes just once.
But instead of casting the blame on others, or wanting to be like them, the way forward is to look inwards. Personally, I consider myself an incorrigible optimist, who looks at the world through his blue-tinted glasses. I believe that to embrace your own imperfection is to grow as a person and to be able to use humour to deal with discomfort, pain or any disarray in your life is to accept the things you cannot change, while trying to make the best of it.
So what if I am unable to buy ripe bananas in the store, by myself?
Or that I can’t pass the first level in Candy Crush?
Or that the Northern Lights to me are just very thin white clouds?
I understand colours are beautiful to those who can see them and are able to appreciate them to their full extent. And for me, well I have my colour-correcting glasses that help immensely, by allowing me a glance into the world of colours whenever I wear them. And whenever I do, trust me, the world seems that much more magical and exciting to me that even the green of the grass makes my heart skip a beat.
They do say you don’t really know what you have until it’s gone, but if you’ve never had it, a glimpse can be enough.