It’s Not Easy Seeing Green: The Complexities of Color Blindness | Bryan Kett | TEDxPasadena

Storyteller, scientist and humorist, Bryan Kett, shares a witty poignant tale on the science of color blindness and how the reconciliation of seeing things differently can be a catalyst for acceptance. By exploring the genetics, social implications, philosophical elements, and technological advancements surrounding color blindness, Bryan digs into the larger idea of how perspective is relative. After all, since we cannot see through each other’s eyes, who is to say what defines green...or red...or blue?
Bryan Kett is a writer and storyteller from the Midwest who now lives in Los Angeles. After earning his Bachelor’s degree in biology and education, he spent his first few years out of college teaching high school science in Chicago.
On a whim, after his first year teaching, he began taking writing classes at Chicago’s famed Second City. There, he fell in love with the craft of writing, and went on to earn his Master’s degree in Writing and Publishing at DePaul University. Still a scientist at heart, Bryan loves weaving personal narrative and scientific explanation to create illuminating, entertaining stories for the screen and stage. In his free time, Bryan loves fishing, despite the fact that he hasn’t caught a fish in years. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@sirsethimiticus2757]

I'm protan colorblind, when he was going on about the question he gets asks the most I started laughing know it was gonna be "whAt cOlor Is ThiS

[@aidanburley1939]

I have a protan colorblind ness too, and every time someone finds out they immediately ask me what color everything is. It’s so annoying.

[@JeroAlmufakir]

fr same here haha being diagnosed young gave me some annoying experiences in school :P

[@theskyisblue8979]

Yes I don't get it, I mean its not that I don't see green or red, it's like a filter where red overpowers green.

[@Riaz-exe]

​@@theskyisblue8979 isnt it green to overpower red?

[@Gigi13396]

Are TED talks supposed to be adorable? Because THAT was adorable! AND interesting! His timing is impeccable. Learning while also being entertained is the best thing ever! Please do more talks! TED or otherwise....

[@mintyglitches]

my moms boyfriend is colorblind and works in website design and building etc. he does a lot of work with color and its always really interesting because he has an understanding of color based on the color spectrum in the programs he uses. Looking at his work, you'd never know he was colorblind, but then he looks at the wifi router and has to get one of us to help because he cant tell if the light is flashing red or green

[@dlarge6502]

I work in IT and moan about red and green led's.

[@saed-muhammadmuslimov2980]

the same :) I'm working as a 3D Artist while being Moderate Protan. Caused a lot of issues in the beginning, but by the time I started to adapt more and more

[@thomasrouse8861]

Great sense of humor, thanks, sharing with my AP Psych students who are currently learning about sensation and perception!

[@Locke_daisy3786]

I am a color reader/teacher who sees color like that one tribe that sees just about every shade there is of a color as individual. I was surfing the Tube as I do and am super happy I found this video. I also love knowledge and understanding what makes color blindness is helpful to my life as I didn't get it before other than it felt sad to me. Thank you, your Tube is outstanding!

[@jdub0107]

I mean...come on! So good. The writing is exceptional

[@dedicatedspuddler7641]

Thanks for this! I also am color blind, and identified very much with the presenter.

[@carolinecrow4487]

This was brilliant. I shared it with my seventh grade honor students. We are reading The Giver- where the community is color blind due to sameness. This was so awesome- all three of my blocks (classes) clapped at the end. Thank you so much for your clever analogies! Your bold and stylish humor was enjoyed by all!

[@bpark10001]

It may be brilliant, but I suspect he was not patient enough (or was oversold by the Enchroma retailer). With strong protan color deficiency he has, he needs 1 MONTH trial to see results. I am shocked the retailer did not encourage him to try longer. He should forget the garden & "just" use the sunglasses for 1 month without fanfare. I am frustrated that he may be missing out on something he may be able to benefit from. How his TED Talk could be different!

[@SkinneeHippo]

me with strong deuteranomaly colorblindness dying when he says wHaT cOlor iS ThIs

[@judithtylersheherhers3155]

Great science! and very entertaining.

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

My mother is colourblind. Growing up was fun because she couldn't correct me on anything 😄 Thank you for speaking out for our community.

[@GoodeyKnowsAlot]

If your mother is colourblind that means you are too

[@bpark10001]

@@GoodeyKnowsAlot If Ggdivhjkjl is male, yes. But if not, she can inherit "good" gene from her non-colorblind father. She would be a carrier, but not colorblind herself.

[@stuartjacobson4512]

Smart and entertaining. This guy is very sensitive and has a dry sense of humor. Bravo!

[@guitargeek4208]

I never knew my colour blindness was called a “ strong protan “ incredibly informative, and refreshing to finally have a name for my colour blindness.

[@Jrollinjs19]

I thought Ted talks were supposed to be given on a red carpet pad? Kinda cool they did a green one for you.

[@suncheroz6541]

Lol I think you might be colorblind the carpet is red

[@arshsingh1984]

That went over their heads

[@vivianh936]

As a colorblind person, that was mean lol

[@adamh8908]

That was actually lame. That’s not how colorblindness works.

[@emster9222]

God this thread is brain dead. It’s a joke guys 💀

[@mtburton909]

I get that too all the time when other people find out I'm colour blind. "What colour is this?"

[@henryroberts-coussons385]

Every time, without fail.

[@procopischristofi9158]

And the worst part is that they show you white and think that we'll mess it up

[@coreyarentz6063]

And when you get it right they don’t even believe you

[@Alis-Teyn]

@@henryroberts-coussons385 pöpö

[@janwa8924]

perfectly explained ❤️❤️❤️

[@anthonywilliams8956]

Thanks for explaining

[@shankeyadi1]

Brilliant ..

[@MosesStorm]

This was great!

[@mtburton909]

Ted talks are always great.

[@jasonwegrzyn2435]

Well said! The glasses didn’t work for me either! I was very disappointed.

[@lorekeeperxvii2408]

from what i remember when i took my test, enchroma said that strong protans have a 50 50 chance at the glasses working. i was in the lucky half i guess. and i know he doesnt care, but i cant help feel bad for him, because now my unique perspective is an immense appreciation for something many take for-granted every day. i guess i just wish everyone could have that chance.

[@bpark10001]

I am curious, what chance did it give you? is it "just" a matter of education, or is it something you use daily? The problem is that the testing has a hard time of differentiating between strong protan-ANOMALY ("red" cone shifted, glasses can help) and protan-OPIA ("red" cone non-functional, glasses can't help). He MAY have the latter condition. ...but then he may not. What may have happened: because the enhancement is less, it takes time to "see" the difference, perhaps as a long as a month of use. He probably "drove 7 hours" & used the glasses for 1/2 hour at a retailer, & concluded "they don't work" & drove home. That is not enough for a strong protan! What was your experience? Was it instant, or require time?

[@lorekeeperxvii2408]

@@bpark10001 outside of just appreciation for the world the glasses help me at my job (i currently work in the produce section in a grocery store with the glasses i dont need to ask for help on anything except bananas . they also halp a little in my analytical chemistry lab (mostly titrations which use a color indicator, kinda terrible and once again they dont help me with the green to yellow shift so my TA still needed to babysit. also makes it possible to see red in a stoplight in direct sunlight. there a few more but i cant really recall the full effect of the top of my head. as for how long it took to take effect, i got a strong effect immediately and as my eyes adjusted it became slightly stronger. actually have my obligatory enchroma video on my channel.

[@mrbluepencil_]

The Enchroma glasses really do work. I can say that from my own experience, they worked for my son who is a Strong Protan. He now sees reds and pinks and oranges. Also Green is actually green now and not yellow. So do your research, go try them for yourself, and you also might be one of the lucky ones who the glasses do work for. This guy is has like got Protonopia where the red cones are not actually working vs Strong Protan which is when the green and red cones overlap and get confused. Just go try them!

[@Twisted_Logic]

I asked my brother that question when I was little, not realizing that I, too, was colorblind. Now I get asked the question as karmic retribution.

[@BC-xm6pm]

Thank you! I thought I that you said you see green as maybe red or brown and blue as purple or pink. That’s how I see my colors too. And I also just narrow it down to what I think it’ll be.

[@bioteach36]

So funny, poignant, and interesting!

[@yesterdaysaregone]

Thank You🤝 I'm trying to learn about color-blindness & also regarding other disorders. If by any chance such rare cases meet up with me, like encountering someone who have these. Those informations will help me to not go astray, will help me to understand them better.

[@endima6204]

Lovely.... one up for us colorblind!

[@GaryB101]

Amazing pants!

[@michaelmcclure1419]

One might almost say "Worldwide"! Great job, Bryan!!

[@BramBrijanBass]

I like this guy

[@YBIagent]

Excellent done presentation guy! Signed, your fellow deutan friend, Brad.

[@beaurichards6146]

That it literally the worst single question EVER!!!!!!!!!!! I can relate soooooooooo much

[@frog2091]

I had a somewhat similar story cuz I thought certain traffic cones where red

[@aimeemclernon1492]

Some of them are.

[@illosionmouneen2468]

Linguists study color theory because of this. In my language, there’s no name for purple. Purple and violet is the same color to me. Maroon is just red. But green is atleast 5 types.

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

Which language is that?

[@Locke_daisy3786]

Fascinating!

[@Azzaleas777]

Im reds greens and blue ....and with snooker I often hit the very light pink ball onto the white and my mate would say what are you doing ...you sunk the white ball .. the only problem I have with being protan is I couldn't distinguish a small green area on a bbq chicken i was cutting up that was off because of a ruptured gaul bladder.... it just looked like a spot of darker meat and my wife said no it's green and took it back to the BBQ chicken shop .... I would have eaten it

[@nopapajones4254]

omg. i remember i had a friend in middle school who was color blind. when she told me i asked “what color is my shirt” and she said green. it wasn’t green. but now i know to not to ask that question 😅

[@sibub21]

Me too ✋

[@kris2384...]

Theres new glasses designed specifically for strong protan. I have them. They have let me see colours i hadnt seen before. Flowers that looked grey are actually pink. Orange stands out against green. The negative side thow is that they have a very strong red filter. They sky now has a pinkish tone and greens are a bit muted. As you said, everyones perception is different, im not used to colour and maybe thats how things should look 🤔

[@RESPONDI433]

I have the same color blindness, dark red and dark brown look the same. Dark Blue and Purple look the same. Pale Green and Pale Blue look the same, some light greys look blue.

[@shevonmullings4131]

Bro what colour do you see peanut butter as????? I'm 22 and all this time I thought it was green (because that is what I see)..... Friends told me it was brown tho, still in shock

[@meganmorrow7304]

I have a hard time differentiating dark reds from browns, greens from oranges, blues from purples, bright greens from yellows, and even pinks from grays. 🙃

[@lifeinlimbo2186]

Wow! Me too! I mean..i see like you see!

[@MightyRob1]

The glasses didn't work for me either. Felt deflated afterwards, I had the same expectations. What I don't get though is that since it is so common, why does every LED have to be red or green? Can't there be another combination like red and blue or whatever I had a macbook for years and years with magsafe and never knew the LED changed color when the laptop was fully charged

[@what-uc]

Two reasons, 1. it took science decades to figure out how to make blue LEDs. 2. Red and green have symbolism, partly instinctive, partly learned. To normal-visioned people it's the obvious way to indicate bad/good, stop/go, wrong/right. I'm CVD.

[@deshbhakta6943]

Same i am also color blind what is the cure for this ....

[@Crowntes]

10:52 "thats what she said"

[@Jonathan-em3uj]

P I C K L E

[@commandermark5254]

Try being a colorblind art teacher. That one always blows their minds.

[@trenthockenberry791]

When I saw the image of the fruit was identical i went and took the test- turns out I am a strong protan as well

[@harryharsono1644]

I'm color blind too, and strong protan. So the glasses can't effect to me

[@beefjerky6817]

Oh no thats not good! I have tritanopia so they wouldn’t work for me either.

[@saed-muhammadmuslimov2980]

But they actually have glasses for Strong Protan as well. They have Normal Lens glasses for Mild and Moderate Protan and have Strong protan Lens glasses for Strong Protans. I am between Moderate and Strong, mostly being Moderate, so I bought Normal lens for myself. I wouldn't say they made a huge difference for me, but sometimes they work like magic at specific colors converting one color to another. Once I saw a brick wall which I thought is brown color and with glasses I saw it red, and it is actually red :D

[@TheWinterHorizon]

LOL this guy was my fresh man biology teacher

[@TheWinterHorizon]

thegrandfinale2 He’s always trying to be funny in the class and it works because a lot of my classmate laughs. Great teacher

[@TheWinterHorizon]

thegrandfinale2 I do too

[@arunraj9411]

I am a red green colour blind and was disqualified from the production design course for film, even though I topped in exam.

[@dlarge6502]

That is discrimination, you may be able to get a lawyer involved.

[@jennajustman]

Colorblind ladies unite!! :)

[@esthershih5575]

yay!! not red green colorblind though but Blue-green colorblindness here :)

[@esthershih5575]

haha alright mate

[@Ext1ncti0nNV]

Being colorblind i hate when people ask me what color is this or that

[@wisegal._]

I spanked my friends that I was colour blind and they always asked me what colour is this 🤣🤣

[@bobbobson5245]

@thegrandfinale2 its a bad analogy, a better one is: you wouldn't ask someone with a speech impediment to recite something.

[@teemingwithasininitea]

You wouldn’t ask someone with dyslexia to spell the word “dyslexia”.

[@aabifauzi5087]

like

[@immigrantworld4899]

Jay neitz and maureen neitz. I have been writinf your name for many times in email, website and your social media. You ever said with thomas chalberg that gene therapy human trials for CVD would be began in 2017. Show your promise if you are intregrited person

[@alterego3734]

We're all color blind. Most birds have four types of cones. Butterflies typically have five. But even mantis shrimp, with up to 16 types, still only produce low-dimensional projections of a tiny portion of the vibrant spectra around us. The world is literally unimaginably more colorful than what we perceive.

[@bpark10001]

Your statement is true in that the close spacing in spectrum between the "red" cones & the "green" ones EVERYONE has, just to a lesser extent. The glasses can enhance colors for everyone.

[@johnelle3196]

So, identified. That's why I went with my friends to buy a new car. 🤔😂

[@SnekNHide]

I have green blindness not fun

[@NickPRoss]

That graphic design though

[@ZeinRozzykin]

no, it's not bold. ow, i forgot that i am colorblind too

[@amulyamishra5745]

Still waiting for the day, Indian Army lets people like me in 😅

[@immigrantworld4899]

I am so weak brothers, I cant cook well, get jobs, distinguish green or yellow traffic light, match the clothes, and etc. Protan color blindness, is very big disabillity for me.

[@bpark10001]

Not so fast! How long did you try the glasses? If you are "strong protan" as you say (I assume you verified this by test), the glasses SHOULD make things look different. (If you have protan-OPIA, then you will "see no difference".) But it may take some time, which I assume you did not if you tried them only "once" in that garden. Forget the garden, just use them as you would any other sunglasses. Even if you choose to not use them, wouldn't be informative to understand where everyone else is "coming from", to KNOW what the "greener grass" is about? It is an element of education! Aren't you curious? Unlike learning what "getting high on LSD is like", this one does not risk your health, nor is it illegal, not require you to endure medical procedures.

[@SteveSweetness34]

cute....but sucks that you can't be a pilot.... police officer.... electrician...chef...florist etc...super depressing.

[@darranwilkins4648]

COLOUR IS CULTURAL. ITS A CONCEPT THAT MAN MADE IT IS JUST WORDS THAT BEEN INVENTED TO EITHER BECOME ALOOF OR TO DISCRIMINATE TO BE PUTTING YOUR SELF ABOVE

[@darranwilkins4648]

So 1 in 12. Are colour blind. Hmmmm i dont think thats a deformity. Or means that the others are normal

[@darranwilkins4648]

No colour as burgandy its just green brown or red. Or all