There's no purple light

Even though you can see purple, there's no purple light. This also explains why we can use a colour wheel when the electromagnetic spectrum is linear.
Patreon- www.patreon.com/user?u=849925
Twitter- / jesseagaryt
Images
Paul Longinidis Purple Flower (CC BY 2.0) flic.kr/p/qG6xJa
Music
Drum Solo Birdman by Michikawa
www.pond5.com/stock-music/709...
Sources
silversneakers-wp-prod.azuree...

[@rainmaker5199]

As a color blind guy, glad I'm not missing out on a REAL color. (cries in a lack of red)

[@colbyhowto8535]

Rainmaker519 red is in your profile picture, did you notice this

[@fishotic4237]

are you sure it's not a lack of green?

[@rainmaker5199]

Fishotic yea it's protanism, red is there but it's weaker. I can see strong red but no purple really.

[@CloutmasterPhluphyy]

F

[@symmeta7168]

4head

[@CyberianFaux]

So, my favorite color doesn't actually exist outside of my brain? Neat

[@felipevasconcelos6736]

It does exist outside your brain. It exists in my brain, which I know for a fact isn’t inside your brain.

[@yea885]

@@felipevasconcelos6736 🤯

[@moonee2595]

Whatever purple is ugly color anyways so happy 😁 hahahahnanababan

[@sergpie]

Purple has also changed throughout history as far as the hues included in that color range; nowadays, when people say “purple”, they usually mean violet or indigo. Purple, classically speaking, is akin to the color of congealed blood, or of porphyry stone. To the average person today, they’d think that’s maroon or burgundy.

[@AmandaLeeJones]

@@felipevasconcelos6736 Assuming that we aren't all just part of CyberianFaux's brain. No way she can know for sure. ;)

[@WangleLine]

The sound design in these videos is SO GOOD

[@volkerswille]

By far the best explanation of purple/violett confusion I've ever come across! Thanks!

[@gonzalezm244]

volkerswille I asked my bio teacher this back in high school, my question was never really answered until now lol

[@Seedzification]

In my language purple and violet means the same, so I'm still confused.

[@gonzalezm244]

Seedzification in this video, violet is considered to be bluer than purple

[@DANGJOS]

@@gonzalezm244 But it still doesn't explain why violet looks purplish

[@xenontesla122]

@@DANGJOS Your long wavelength (red) receptor has a small peak in the shortest visible wavelengths and your medium wavelength (green) receptor has a dip: techmind.org/colour/spectra.html

[@zachpark1022]

The animation for this episode was fantastic

[@briancherry8088]

Totally. So clearly shown.

[@hejoric]

The sound effects were lit

[@user-uw4uv3cy7l]

Friend: can you pass me the purple crayon? Me: there's no purple.. Friend: ITS RIGHT THERE!! Me: there is no purple light.. Friend: die

[@42mateos]

Friend #2: He didn't ask you to pass the purple light...

[@thomasvesto]

@@42mateos what we see as we look to a crayon is the light coming from it

[@42mateos]

Yeah, he still asked for the purple crayon and that has meaning. Language is by consensus. Moreover, the concept of purple was explained in the video. It is a real color despite not having a single corresponding wavelength.

[@MultiSteveB]

@@42mateos Right. Just as there is no brown (single-frequency) light. They are both "composites".

[@succubus1615]

just pass me the blue and red please .. and gtfo

[@Snuggles_the_Unholy]

It takes a brilliant mind to explain things in a way that the subject appears easy. Congrats on your brilliance. And your animation rocks as well.

[@unboiledegg5765]

this place- *spends a year not doing anything* this place after a year- Hey, why don’t I just say that there’s no purple?

[@spybloodjr]

it just never came up.

[@coltonbates629]

I have a feeling he played lots of pinball, actually

[@bradbeattie]

Worth noting that outside of lasers, we (almost?) never experience light of a single wavelength. That light you see that looks red is far from a pure red.

[@bapanada9446]

Now I want a purple laser

[@bradbeattie]

@@bapanada9446 Doable if you're willing to have two lasers outputting together (not dissimilar to how LCD monitors produce purple using blue and red).

[@buddyclem7328]

@@bapanada9446 You could, in theory, have a violet LASER.

[@NightHawk71000]

@@buddyclem7328 I saw a violet laser once. It was really weird cuz you couldn't focus on the beam; kinda like staring at a black light.

[@buddyclem7328]

@@NightHawk71000 That sounds even stranger than I imagined! I want to see one.

[@playerguy2]

Finally! Great to see your channel isn't dead (anymore). One of the best science/explanation channels I've ever come across.

[@JodyBruchon]

This is the kind of quality content I signed up for.

[@douadouard1009]

OH MY GOD I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS EXPLANATION FOR SO LONG

[@unclvinny]

I'm color-impaired, and a scientist, and despite reading a lot about color mixing over the years, have somehow never realized that the color wheel mixes the two ends of the spectrum to create the purples. This clarifies a lot! I still am confused by a lot of colors I see, but this is a really helpful framework. Thanks!

[@Marcoplo]

I have extra sharp cones and I see purple in a rainbow in the sky..

[@RonuPlays]

This vid taught me more about light than 6 years of physics, by far the best explanation of color perception ever Edit: I should've said biology instead of physics

[@justindie7543]

it's not really about light in itself though, it's about how our brain perceives light, it's pretty understandable that you were never tought it in 6 years of physics, this is biology.

[@nowonmetube]

Maybe it's because they didn't teach about light waves for 6 years?

[@SkillUpMobileGaming]

+RonuPlays 6 years of physics, you say? Sorry to break it to you, bro, but 5 years of elementary school science classes and 1 year of middle school science doesn't count.

[@kiyvro2601]

I learned about all this in an astronomy class

[@AnalyticalReckoner]

Probably should have taken 6 years of optics.

[@asub3292]

Food for thought: If you only had 1 type of color receptor, then you can only see 1 dimension of light. That is, your vision can only see brightness. If you had 2 color receptors, then you can see in 2 dimensions of light, which is brightness and hue. Having 3 allows us to see in 3 dimensions, which we call brightness, hue, and saturation. Where this really gets interesting to me is with butterflies. The species Graphium sarpedon has 15 different types of photo receptors. Which means it can see in 15 dimensions because it can create so many more combinations of light that arent possible with only 3. The mantis shrip, Order Stomatopoda, is a close second with 12 different types of photo receptors. For anyone who wants to experience something close to this, try a quick experiment. Take a pair of cheap polarized sunglasses (they have to be polarized), pop out one lens and rotate it 90 degrees. Youll notice that some light appears to shimmer, namely light thats reflected (e.g. off cars). This is because relfected light is polarized, but because your lenses are at 90 deg, only one eye can see it. This causes the light to exist in one eye and creates a dichotomy your brain doesnt know how to show. But by doing this youre simulating a 4D version of vision, with brightness, hue, saturation, and polarization.

[@TheOtherOne7isBlueMaid]

I was confused why this only has 6 likes until I saw it was posted 13 hours ago lol This is really cool

[@asub3292]

@@TheOtherOne7isBlueMaid glad you enjoyed it :)

[@bobcarn]

That's awesome to know! How about if you put on a pair of 3D glasses? Aren't they polarized in different directions?

[@asub3292]

@@bobcarn yes! Those should work too

[@Lundy.Fastnet.Irish_Sea]

The receptor for light and dark is not a colour receptor. There are rod cells and cone cells. Cone cells detect light. Rods tell us if it's dark or bright. Colours on the colour wheel are all the same brightness. They're just different hues.

[@DheerajBhaskar]

This is sooo good, so marvelously, tastily, so good. This is good because of the animations and the tight script

[@ZardoDhieldor]

When I explain this fact to others I often choose pink instead of purple. It's a fun way to delegitimize my least favorite color! Hey, it's so good to see you in action again. I hope there are more videos to come. I really like your way of presentation and the topics are really interesting!

[@aguti1111]

You're back! Thank you, missed the content!

[@kirstanjones2175]

This has been the best visualization of how we see colors that I've yet seen, nice work! Made it so simple to understand

[@macronencer]

This is FANTASTIC. It's simplified of course (the cone cells have sensitivity distributions that are more nuanced than that), but it definitely gets the idea across, and I don't think I've ever seen it explained this clearly. Well done!

[@funkyflames7430]

After a whole year! YESSSSS! I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL AND YOUR CHANNEL!

[@DDRational_]

Welcome back! You've been missed! Great explanation as always!

[@fr4ggle4]

Thank you for creating. You do an incredible job of breaking down complex ideas in a humorous and engaging way.

[@sahilbhujbal8373]

I finally understood how we can see purple and pink even though they, "dont exist". Well done

[@Victor-nt8wb]

Omg he is finally back and not dead it a miracle welcome back dude we miss you

[@o0Avalon0o]

This editing style is so *beautiful.* I didn't know I could think that about editing. Ha

[@chloroplast8611]

o0Avalon0o its expensive software probly

[@chloroplast8611]

marshall branin k thanks for that

[@JamesGibsonVideo]

Wow! this is such an awesome explanation. I've heard about this in the past but it never clicked like your visuals did for me. Wonderful.

[@Canyon_Lark]

Amazing. I've watched a lot of videos on this exact subject because I've been really curious about it, and I'd had a pretty good understanding up until this point, but this was by far the most thorough and succinct explanation I've seen. Truly great job, thank you. I loved the bit when you explained why we've turned the linear nature of light into a wheel by arranging the cones into a triangle and showing them light up in a circle like that. Simple, genius, and effective visuals throughout.

[@sleepyzeph]

I wondered about this exact topic in my previous semester, glad you made a video on it. Keep up the good work!

[@jennabarrett4341]

Thanks for emphasizing that "yes, purple exists" because I so often see people calling purple and magenta "fake" colors which is... not recognizing that everything you experience is just an interpretation.

[@joshuabrown4952]

Your uploads make me happy!

[@elijahizere]

Fucking extraordinary explanation skills, I have so much respect for people who can convey difficult topics in such an easy to understand way. Well done!

[@portevent]

4 minutes. Really Well explained, well animated, you don't waste watch time on useless content but you keep focused on the important part and explain it correctly. It was a very good experience, you deserve more :)

[@oscarfreudenthal4754]

Great stuff, I´m glad you´re back

[@meestyouyouestme3753]

I’ve seen so much talking about how light works with our eyes but for some reason only this one made it click thanks to the purple example. Thanks for the video!

[@GlaceonShiny]

You are honest to goodness my favourite youtube channel it is always exciting to see new videos from you!!!

[@AgglomeratiProduzioni]

Among the best explanations of this I've met, good job!

[@semidemiurge]

Excellent work. This is very much appreciated.

[@JonathenPetrie]

You are a clear explainer and lucid educator. Thank you for creating this.

Best explanation of perception of colour I've ever seen! It shows so well how light wavelength is one thing and percieved colour another.

[@axelandersson6314]

I hope you won't go back to hibernation again. I really liked this video and I have really enjoyed your previous works. The perspective video was fantastic.

[@harryli5979]

Omg ur back I love ur vids been here since 1000 subs

[@DaltonHBrown]

3:35 "who can even tell the difference?... I cant" the way you delivered that line was very funny to me.

[@jaquo25]

This is awesome! I had heard explanations relating to this before but hadn't really understood what was going on. After watching this one, it all clicks for me now. Thank you!

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Nicely done!

[@VoonNBuddies]

Wow! When you make a comeback you make a comeback! This is such an intuitive explanation for something that feels intuitive but is not.

[@samueltukua3061]

I have heard this explained about 10 different times and this still managed to make it interesting by adding a perspective I never considered. Sub quickly earned.

[@masonbloomquist2124]

i love your ending to this just really simple

[@Szobiz]

"IN YOUR BRAIN" rofl! killied me!

[@woodfragment1384]

wow I just had my greatest aha moment on youtube thanks for explaining how colors mix.... for us

[@soshial]

You really have an explanatory GIFT!! I couldn't understand the color perception theory in any other manual/video etc. Only with your video this all thing clicked!

[@hsm4983]

One of the best description of color I've seen in my life time. Thank you very much. I will be rewatching.

[@Jona69]

Great explanation! Can't wait for the next video tomorrow...

[@myaphelps3848]

this comment solved my friend's existential crisis, thank you

[@Zalamandar]

I have been wondering this for ages and you just explained everything to me so clearly! Wow.

[@MsGokdemir]

This is such a nice illustrated explanation. Liked it a lot

[@oxiosophy]

Wait, violet and purple are different things?

[@declantecho1717]

Yes, in fact, they are. That is why they have different names.

[@tjs200]

so in fact the limitations of our biology have allowed us to see the world with more diversity and beauty than there really is.

[@thereaction18]

Evolution or design?

[@jarlfenrir]

It's not more diverse, than it really is. You got one extra color: a purple. What you've lost? Ability to see a real yellow and many other colors. I mean you can't tell the difference between yellow and mixture of red and green. What you see is a mixture of red and green, and you have never seen a yellow! You have never seen many more colors.

[@Zellonous]

@@jarlfenrir how can you know if you can't see it?

[@jarlfenrir]

@@Zellonous W can't see many things, but we know about them because of science.

[@Zellonous]

@@jarlfenrir certainly, but we're talking about "real yellow". What makes real yellow even yellow if you can't see it? I can see yellow. If I can't see real yellow how is that more real than the yellow I can see? Even if we made something that could see it. How would it show it to us?

[@RyanK-100]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. After a degree in physics and several graduate classes, having taught it for a few years and keeping up with the trends, I haven't learned anything really new in BASIC physics in 20 years. I even taught the additive and subtractive methods of color combination with appropriate demos. I taught how it worked but never WHY it worked. This video changed everything. Basic physics (almost high school level) that I didn't have a clue about. And a complete description using the best of teaching methods. And great graphics.

[@valmetj]

The sound design in this video was very enjoyable.

[@kage-fm]

first no pluto and now no purple? science you're doing me wrong

[@Bogdanko93]

For the last god only knows how many years I've been staring at the screens that have only 3 color lights (rgb) but my brain doesn't know that. The next generation will probably spend more time experiencing sceen lights than any other lights. I can imagine people in near future that don't leave simulations, and all they see is just 3 waves length light unless we develop new kind of screens that use different ways to show a picture.

[@eviethorne2511]

O.O

[@Humty2K]

This is some next level explanation. Well done!

[@ITR]

Of the three videos I've seen about this, this is the best one. Easy to follow and straight to the point, thus short.

[@spazout805]

reminds me of that Nat geo video "animals can't be blue" Do suns/stars in other solar systems give off different colors, since their color depends on their age?

[@no-lifenoah7861]

Yes

[@no-lifenoah7861]

It also depends on the atmosphere of the planet you view the star from.

[@nobodyuknow2490]

380 - 420 nm wavelength light would like to have a talk with you...

[@svankensen]

You mean violet? It is not purple

[@nobodyuknow2490]

@@svankensen And yet, violet is purple in color, and purple is violet in color, and both are found at 380 - 420 nm wavelength of the spectrum... Of course pedantically semantic videos like this one try to insert the limitations of pigments into the visual spectrum, and they are not the same, and that is where the video and you are wrong.

[@ntdscherer]

@@nobodyuknow2490 More information about the difference between violet and purple: jakubmarian.com/difference-between-violet-and-purple/

[@WallHaxxx]

Yeah, he's wrong. There is no PINK light. (magenta)

[@nobodyuknow2490]

@@ntdscherer From your own link: "Purple and violet look similar only to humans To us, humans, purple looks like a more saturated shade of violet[...]" Ok, show me the species that isn't human but can conceptualize and discuss the finer points of purple vs. violet, and we will then divest Purple from Violet... Until then, it's semantics and 380-420nm wave length light is PURPLE, the video is wrong, and it's nothing but splitting hairs of semantics to try and suggest that "der iz no such thing!" when it is empirically evident that there is.

[@fjzucco]

This is one of the best videos of all time--in my view. Fascinating topic. Tour de force explanation. And so concise! Great visuals too. Nice work! This is like the 10th time I have watched this.

[@Tact012]

Fantastic explanations accompanied by great animation. I have seen information like this in 4 separate physiology/pathology/neuroscience courses but none of them explained this relationship between the rate of action potential generation and color mixing. Was really enjoyable to see the concept put together like this. Just earned a sub on first video I've seen from you (I'll still be evaluating that with more content viewing).

[@TheDeen987]

what if we're all just colorblind

[@eviethorne2511]

No matter how you look at it, everyone is colorblind. The electromagnetic spectrum is very big and visible light is only a tiny sliver of it.

[@barkatullah1620]

Dude finally a video in a year. Great video though.

[@jessicaonymous4352]

I think this is the best explanation as to how/why we see purple I've seen. Thank you! Seeing the distributions really helped for me

[@tylerharrison7850]

Awesome video, just blew my mind with that. I wonder what you come out with next

[@imaytag]

I'm colourblind and purple looks pretty much the same as blue :(

[@edwardfanboy]

Colorblindness is just like having two types of photoreceptor cells rather than three. In the case of red-green colorblindness (deuteranopia) there would be one that is most sensitive around yellow and one that is most sensitive around blue.

[@oldnosoul4183]

Why are you sad? You never saw purple in the first place so you don't even know what your missing.

[@clarkie5]

Agreed. Purple is just a reddish shade of blue, not worth getting excited over.

[@DA-bm2mj]

02:20 so why didn't you put them together? YOU HAD THEM RIGHT THERE!

[@themexis]

i think he was trying to showing yellow in the middle.

[@flamixflame2685]

@@themexis there was no yellow

[@lopark3512]

@@flamixflame2685 There was, but he said that his flashlights were shitty so they didn't work as well as they should. If you look closely where the two lights cross each other you can see a faint greenish-yellow light.

[@bohneneintopf]

Your animation is a gift, thank you!

[@HitBoxMaster]

Beautifully done video. Well done.

[@chozen3769]

this place: leaves for a year also this place: **decides to come back and make a video confronting the idea that there is no purple** I love it

[@erhan3736]

Also u know what? *There's no black light*

[@ChamChamRealSmooth]

Because black is a lack of light. For that matter, there is no "cold" either. It's just a lack of warmth. Same thing applies almost everywhere.

[@MelvinGundlach]

Cham But we defined „cold“ to be the lack of heat.

[@cazpj]

@@MelvinGundlach EXACTLY LMAO. Saying that "cold is not cold, but lack of heat" is the same of saying "cold is not cold but it is cold"

[@haveiszalfaroqie1628]

There's no heavy light, because heavy is not light, but lack of heaviness, but it's light

[@Brindlebrother]

There's no lettuce light.

[@Arahaon]

I'm fascinated. So simple and perfect explatation. Much thanks

[@mr.fluffyface431]

I think this is why purple has always felt like the most magical color to me.

[@spyfox260]

Nobody: Eric Andre: WHAT IF IT WAS PURPLE

[@buzzfeedteal4775]

This guy: "There is no purple light" Me: *sees purple colors on things* Me: okay clickbait

[@lt3880]

them: makes actually very accurate and well argued point you: cant admit being wrong about something

[@DenniWintyr]

@@lt3880 Them: Decides to nonsensically decide that indigo & violet aren't shades of purple, even though they're both called purple by literally every person on the planet

[@TheBytegeist]

@@lt3880 The title is definitely clickbait. Or demonstrates ignorance of what color actually is. Color is by definition a perception, *not* a physical property of light. Technically, neither objects *nor* light have color. Even Sir Isaac Newton already knew this and wrote "Indeed rays [of light], properly expressed, are not coloured. In them there is nothing else than a certain power or disposition to stir up a sensation of this or that colour." On the physical side, you have reflection or emission spectra, but not color. Colors are a perception, created by the brain in response to those spectra hitting the retinas, and therefore are subjective and depend on context. Meaning that physically identical spectra can be perceived as different colors. There are many optical "illusions" that demonstrate this, such as the checker shadow illusion, or that infamous black/blue white/gold dress. And conversely, different physical spectra can be perceived as the same color. Yellow is a simple example for that (spectral i.e. single wavelength yellow vs. yellow made from red + green - physically different, but perceptually identical, and therefore the same color). To say that "there is no purple light" is technically correct, but makes it sound extraordinary, although it isn't, because "there is no red light" either. Because technically, light is colorless. Colloquially, it's of course fine to talk about materials and light as if color were an inherent property of them, because that makes life simpler. A more accurate way to rephrase the video title would be "purple (magenta) isn't a spectral color (i.e. cannot be evoked with a single wavelength of light)".

[@Hope-kl6gy]

Glad to have you back!

[@ABLACKDOT18]

Glad to see another video :) Love the hard work. Keep it up

[@CountJeffula]

Video not 100% accurate concerning retinal signal transmission. Good basic summary though.

[@BitterMonday]

Point out a missinformation pls

[@hoteldelirio9292]

Do you know where I can find a scientific source for this subject?

[@overlyconducktive]

2:32 : "But it sorta works, you can see it sorta working." Me: nope, i just see red and green... guess my eyes are broken.

[@thunderborn3231]

the yellow is the light mixing in the middle you may have red green color blindness legit

[@Dice-Z]

@@thunderborn3231 It's faint though. Noticeable, but barely.

[@StaK_1980]

thank God I am not the only one - and I am not colourblind!

[@tinybabybread]

You guys just aren't used to isolating what you see. The yellow is there. Here, let me help you isolate your vision --> gfycat.com/fluidunlawfulatlasmoth

[@4otko999]

your eyes are probably ok (but don't quote me on that). he was talking about the mix of green and red where cones intersect. it's hard to call that "yellow", it's more like greenish-redish blob of something

[@jdirksen]

Oh shit this is the exact sort of thing I been looking for a while! Thanks for making this vid!

[@efenty6235]

what I really love about this video is that it's the same _place_ throughout. it really makes it easier to focus on the logic (especially on a friday)

[@Azurade]

Is this why colourblind people see 2 colours the same?

[@darkmethods9149]

Yes and no... it's complicated. A color-blind person usually has a deficiency where one cone is weaker than it should be making the other two receptors pick up their signals stronger. But it really depends on the type of color-blindness and can even differ on the individual. Take for instance a Red-Green color-blind person... if their "red" cone is deficient then the blue and green cones will be more pronounced. To that individual the colors in the purple/magenta range will seem more blue and less red and the violet range can look totally like blue (think of it like a shift or squish towards blue). This is because the red cone isn't as strong as it should be. Likewise on the red-green side of things colors in the yellow range might look more green and be confusing. One of the common tests for Red-Green colorblindness is red-on-brown or brown-on-red pattern detection. But like I said there are many different types of color-blindness and even differences between each category so it is just how I see the world being red-green colorblind (most common type among men).

[@jarlfenrir]

I'd give a simpler answer than Darkmethods: yes. That's exactly why colorblind people see two colors the same. Eg when a person is hit with a yellow light, a red and green cones are giving a signal. But when the red cone is not working, one gets output only from green one - exactly the same situation as he'd be hit with a green light. So a person blind for red, wouldn't be able to tell a difference between green and yellow.

[@jaymeselliot8181]

culture the photo receptors/neurons of pistol shrimp and then dope a human retina with them. We have three photo receptors, pistol shrimp have 22 get some serious sensory overload going

[@kazimir8086]

wow, that's the most intuitive explanation I have seen on this topic

[@Jaur-jaur]

You’re incredible! Missed your work!

[@cogwheel42]

You're describing Magenta, not Purple, imo. Purple is a more general term that includes magenta, violet, etc. Violet light causes red receptors in the eye to fire a little bit.

[@Jamesoh]

'We don't see it in rainbows' I'll have you know! "Red and yellow and pink and green. Purple and orange and blue" the world famous *Sing a Rainbow* song clearly states that purple is in a rainbow so I don't believe you.

[@ERROR204.]

Dude, well done. This is a really well made video, keep it up!

[@MsJeanneMarie]

I love detailed explanations like this. I love the science behind our perception of colors. I'm glad I stumbled upon this video!

[@TheStrGzr-zq1qq]

1st？

[@ahva2280]

Probably.

[@Direblade11]

Oh gee oh man I wanted to be first

[@TheStrGzr-zq1qq]

Ah jeez, oh no, I'm sorry bro/brozette .. But It's ok. I've been watching KZbin since 2006 and I ain't never got 1st on a good, new video like this .. It feels like Leo winning that Oscar for the Revenant though. Wasn't even worth the wait. Appreciate the video though my KZbinr homie though. I love the electromagnetic spectrum and quantum subatomic particles.

[@TitansTracks]

Yo! I like how easy this was to understand. Not to mention the superb animations. Keep up the good work! 💎

[@zalambdalestes7394]

This is some high-quality content! Great video!

[@_Bread-_-]

This is one of my favorite topics, and now this is my favorite video on it.