10 Shocking Advantages of Being Colorblind
- Amir Kosari
- Aug 1, 2021
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 11, 2024
Almost all the articles on the internet talk about the problems that come with being colorblind. However, the good news is, there are also advantages, that I will share with you in this article.
I believe that there is a reason why natural selection hasn't completely removed red-green color blindness. Are there circumstances where this trait provides an evolutionary benefit?
Just Google It
If you just google "Advantage of color blindness", you will find these results:
people with red-green color blindness can differentiate between many more shades of khaki than unaffected people. This might help in detecting camouflage in a green environment.
Color vision deficient people tend to have better night vision and, in some situations, they can perceive variations in luminosity, that color-sighted people could not.
Outlines, rather than colors, are responsible for pattern recognition. In the military, colorblind snipers and spotters are highly valued for these reasons. During the Second World War, it was suggested that color-deficient observers could often penetrate camouflage that deceived the normal observer.
That's it!? Camouflage! Such an advantage for these days, right!?
In This Article, I Want To Share With You Other Advantages Of Being Colorblind That Are Rarely Mentioned Anywhere Else.
THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING COLORBLIND
1. Colorblind People Can Save More Money
There's really only one way to save money. You have to spend less than you earn. Advertising is big business. No doubt about that. It is everywhere in all sorts of forms. When you surf the internet you’re bombarded with them, put on the TV, and the very same happens.
Ads have one big main goal. Its main goal is to convince you to buy the product or service. That’s it.
According to the Financial Best Life website: The average person spends around $161 per month on clothes – women spend nearly 76% more than men do on clothing in a year.
Color meaning and the psychology of colors can powerfully impact people’s behavior and decision-making. People make subconscious judgments about a product within a few seconds. Color plays into this initial impression. Advertising companies know certain colors, tints, hues, and shades evoke emotion and move people to action. This effect is both subtle and powerful.
Have you ever noticed how most fast-food joints have a red and yellow logo? Apparently yellow makes you hungry and red accents its companion to get your brain thinking about food.
The most common colors used in advertising are Red, Green, orange, blue, and purple. Guess what? People with color deficiency can't see most of those colors in the same way others do, and advertisers can't make them take action to buy unnecessary products. So colorblind people spend less and save more!
2. Colorblind People Actually See More Details in the Whole Image
Just imagine you are out and it's a beautiful sunset, you probably staring at the colors of the sunset, and different shades of colors on the clouds while you enjoy its beauty.
I showed the image below to normal vision people and asked them to explain to me step-by-step details they see in this image:
"I see a sunset with beautiful yellow, red, orange, and purple colors.
OH! There are dark bluish-greyish clouds on the bottom too, I just noticed them, they are so pretty.
OH! Is it a bridge there? I see it now."
I asked the same question from a person with color deficiency:
"It's a sunset or could be sunrise they are not so different for me.
There is a bridge between fog and blue clouds.
I see some lights underneath the bridge, it's very pretty."
As you can see normal vision people spent more time seeing the colors of the sunset and slowly moved to other details of the image. People with a color deficiency were not so interested in describing colors, they were mostly concentrated on seeing patterns and shapes, like those lights in the fog. From my survey, I noticed that many normal-vision people spent way more time recognizing the bridge and the city lights at the bottom of the image.
This can also happen when a normal vision person goes to the forest and starts looking at all of the colors around in nature, like leaves and flowers, while a colorblind person might see some insects or find some piece of wood between the grass.
3. There Are Plenty of Successful Colorblind People Out There
The finely tuned human brain has a keen ability to recognize a multitude of colors, but this basic ability may be robbing you of productivity.
Somewhere in our developmental past, we probably had to be able to tell good fruits, nuts, and other food sources from bad ones and our ability to distinguish color played a big role in that. But now that the whole “hunter-gatherer” thing isn’t so hip, colors may be working against us.
Intelligence is linked to the ability to ignore distractions, and colors can affect our concentration, while people with color deficiency have fewer problems with colors and get distracted less than other people. It helps them to focus on specific tasks, without distractions, which is a crucial part of any success.
And here is a list of successful people with color deficiency:
BILL CLINTON
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
EDDIE REDMAYNE
HOWIE MANDEL
KEANU REEVES
MARK ZUCKERBERG
PRINCE WILLIAM WINDSOR
NEIL HARBISSON
DANIEL ARSHAM
LOREN LONG
LOGAN PAUL
FGteeV DUDDY
4. Colorblind People Have 'Exercised' Memory
What causes some people to lose their memory while others stay sharp as a tack? Genes play a role, but so do choices. Proven ways to protect memory include following a healthy diet, exercising regularly, not smoking, and so on.
Do you remember the last time you memorized something — even a phone number? With technology ever at our fingertips, we don’t need to commit much of anything to memory now.
According to Harvard Health Publishing Living a mentally active life is important, too. Just as muscles grow stronger with use, mental exercise helps keep mental skills and memory in tune.
Learning a new language, and other activities that strain your brain are better bets.
Colors are like a new language for people with color deficiency because they should memorize the colors of everything around them, like different flowers, fruits, colors of their clothes, etc.
People with color deficiency need to learn tricks to avoid color-related conversations; those of them who have color-related careers need to learn so much more about colors and how to use them correctly in their projects.
From these examples, you can see how people with color deficiency use their memory more than people with normal vision. Educators have found that students who were required to memorize from an early age often go on to have more capacity to focus.
FUNNY STORY
I had an aunt who was totally colorblind and ran an embroidery business out of her home. She had a huge mental catalog of "color matches" for all the threads and had the thread item numbers memorized (A2206 is blue like the Blockbuster sign, D5778 is blue like the American flag). She just built those associations based on other people's descriptions, and it usually worked fine until the manufacturers changed the item numbers on the threads.
5. Colorblind People Waste Less Time
According to data collected by the US Census, the average person in the US (15 or older) spent about 10 hours shopping for consumer goods per month. Add a few hours to this number for transportation to go to the store and come back if all of your shopping is not online.
Clothes are tricky because they often indicate the first impressions of people. Figuring out what to wear to work, especially in an office, where everything needs to be clean and pressed. Your shoes need to match your belt, and your shirt needs to match your pants and all these other unspoken rules of fashion. We have all spent hours staring at our closets, drawers, cabinets, armoires, etc. But not people with color deficiency.
They usually wear black, white, gray, and blue colors that match all other colors, so colorblind people save lots of time and so much less stress every day.
*As much as it's a good thing to save time in life if you are colorblind be aware of the consequences of being a bad dresser. It can affect your relationship, friendship, communication, and even your position in the company.
If you experience this struggle, here is a little treat for you to help you dress better tomorrow.
6. People With Color Deficiency Are Unique
THEY ARE BELIEVERS
Colorblind people have to constantly rely on what people say about colors. It's like a blind belief in the existence of colors that they are not able to see (depending on type of colorblindness).
They should believe in colors like purple, pink, and green color (depending on the types of color blindness).
This can be similar to what religious people or believers experience. Maybe we can't see the god, but we can see the signs of a bigger power.
7. They Understand Others
Most people with color deficiency keep their condition a secret, they usually avoid any conversation about colors, while others openly talk about them.
Having a different vision helps colorblind people to understand others better, especially those who are different in our society.
8. They Have Unique Stories
Any person with color deficiency has funny stories that happened to them in life.
Once my colorblind friend told me that he liked a girl, he felt shy every time he saw her, but always tried to cover it up with confidence. Then, a few years later, when they already got married, the girl shared that she remembers those days when they used to date, he was always blushing a lot, and she loved to see him being shy but acting confident (Colorblind people can't see blushing).
Another funny story that almost every color-deficient person has, is about a day when someone told them, that their favorite blue shirt is actually purple.
Colorblind people always have a story about strange questions that people asked them:
How do you know that what you see isn't right and what the rest of us see isn't wrong?
How do you see black people?
If you can't see green then what color is it for you? Is it blue?
Usually, close friends make fun out of everything. What could be better than colors?
Some colorblind people who are not so sensitive about being color deficient, are always get surprised by friends who buy a Rubik's cube as a birthday gift.
9. They Can Be Successful Artists
There are a few famous colorblind artists who have unique styles.
Some of these artists learned how to work with colors so professionally, that nobody in the world would even guess that they are colorblind! While other colorblind artists show a tendency to concentrate on shape and design more than colors, they still manage to bring a lot of creative and unique artworks to our world. Some of my fella color deficient artists told me, that when people heard that they are colorblind they felt so excited and looked at their artwork differently.
Being colorblind can't prevent you from being an artist or designer, see it as a path that will lead to creativity.
10. Job Opportunity
More than 350 million people or about 4.5% of the world population are colorblind. As a normally sighted person, it’s hard to imagine what your work is going to look like to a colorblind eye, so many companies need to hire colorblind people to make sure their products or services are colorblind-friendly.
Are there any benefits to being color blind?
Colorblind people are not easily fooled by camouflage.
Some colorblind people have better night vision.
Colorblind people can better distinguish textures and patterns.
Colorblind people are affected less by advertising.
Colorblind people see more details in the whole image.
People with color deficiency are distracted less by colors, so they can have better concentration.
Colorblind people have 'exercised' memory because they memorize the color of so many things in the environment.
Read More & Learn More
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Your take on the evolutionary benefits of red-green color blindness is fascinating! While most discussions focus on its challenges, exploring potential advantages—such as enhanced night vision or better camouflage detection—adds a fresh perspective. Looking forward to reading your insights!