Seeing Red

1675 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The use of color theory research

Seeing Red

Humans receive about 70-80% of information about their surroundings from sight. Baring this in mind, it is clear that for humans, being able to see the environment in which we live can greatly determine how we interact with that environment. For people (as well as for other animals, although not all), color is an important component of sight. Socially, color is extremely important. For example, red, green, and yellow are all used in directing traffic. Stoplights and signs are red; a green light indicates that it is safe to proceed. Yellow symbolizes the need for caution, orange alerts drivers to construction. While all these signs could be executed in black and white (for the written messages would be the same), color is used to help drivers tell the difference between types of messages. Color usage in society is not limited to driving; advertising, school buildings, offices, etc. use color theory. Color theory is the idea that colors can influence people, and that different colors produce different reactions. A lot of people would agree that different colors mean different things or cause different moods, but cannot say exactly why or how. The answers are fuzzy to say the least.

One of the most widespread ideas is that different colors stand for or signify different things. However, one must keep in mind a basic fact; it being that "colors often have different symbolic meanings in different cultures. For example, white is the color for weddings in western societies but for funerals in traditional Chinese culture; red is associated with rage in America but with happiness in China. In American fashion and decoration, blue is for boys while pink is for girls, which is a symbolic use of color that are not shared by many cultures" (6). After saying something like that, the next question would be: does this mean that colors and the moods/reactions that they may (or may not) elicit are culturally constrained, or is there still some underlying biological reason for moods/reactions to alter due to color? A site on the server for Cornell University notes, "some of these responses seem to be powerful and fairly universal" (5). It is interesting to then look at the idea of chromotherapy; the use of colored light to heal. In a paper by Owen Demers he writes, "This [chromotherapy] is not a new age idea.

Show More
Related

  • Riding the Red

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    “I've told her and I've told her: daughter, you have to teach that child the facts of life before it's too late” (Hopkinson 1). These are the first three lines of Nalo Hopkinson's short story “Riding the Red”, a modern adaptation of Charles Perrault's “Little Red Riding Hood”. In his fairy tale Perrault prevents girls from men's nature. In Hopkinson's adaptation, the goal remains the same: through the grandmother biographic narration, the author elaborates a slightly revisited plot without altering the moral: young girls should beware of men; especially when they seem innocent.

    Read More

  • Riding the Red

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    “I've told her and I've told her: daughter, you have to teach that child the facts of life before it's too late” (Hopkinson 1). These are the first three lines of Nalo Hopkinson's fairy tale “Riding the Red”, a modern adaptation of Charles Perrault's “Little Red Riding Hood”. Perrault provided a moral to his fairy tales, the one from this one is to prevent girls from men's nature. In Hopkinson's adaptation, the goal remains the same: through the grandmother biographic narration, the author advances a revisited but still effective moral: beware of wolfs even though they seem innocent.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Molly Treadway Johnson's Memory Phenomena In The Law

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jurors opinions can be influenced by an emotional testimony. Deborah W. Denno’s article Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, and the Criminal Justice System is the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law’s publication of a panel at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools. The panel had three goals: “examine the interrelationship between neuroscience and substantive criminal law; to incorporate criminal procedure more directly into the examination in a way that past investigations have not done; and to scrutinize cognitive bias in decision-making,” (Denno

    Read More

  • Essay On Feminism In A Doll's House

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House" The Norton Introduction to Literature. By Kelly J. Mays. Eleventh ed. New York: Norton & Company, 2013. 1447-96. Print.

    Read More

  • Use of Symbols and Colors in Tennessee Williams' Street Car Named Desire

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    Why are colours important when trying to symbolize what is taking place in the mind of the setting and the characters of literature? Tennessee Williams have once said “ Symbols are nothing but the natural of drama the purest languages of play.” Tennessee William has exactly used symbolism and colour quite effectively in his play A Streetcar Named Desire. An impressive story about fading southern belle Blanche Dubois and her failure into insanity. A Streetcar Named Desire consists many symbolism and knowledgeable use of colour. This helps the audience to connect scenes and events to the themes and issues that Williams presents within the play, just as desire and death, and the conflict between the past and present of America. The significance of colours is a central theme in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire; the author uses colours to reflect states of mind, make further commentary on particular characters, and what sorts of things specific colours represent.

    Read More

  • Adversity In Forrest Gump

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is a great example of how persevering through life’s obstacles can make life even better than before. Being different creates many challenges for Forrest, however, he shows inner strength as he fights through these challenges. Along with this, Forrest Gump shows how having support while trying to escape a dark path will make success easier. Therefore, the movie reveals that life will not always be perfect, but it is important to persevere through the adversity that it is filled with. Ultimately, no matter the circumstances, any obstacle can be

    Read More

  • Essay On Eyewitness

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychological research shows, a witness's memory of details during the commission of a crime, has a high probability of containing significant errors. In response to these findings, the question is should witness testimony still be permissible in a court of law? Obviously, the answer to this question is an important one and is debatable. Consequently, what we know is many innocent people go to jail due to eyewitness misidentification. Therefore, it is imperative that all defense attorneys thoroughly evaluate the validity of eyewitness recollection events. Any defense attorney who does anything less is ignoring the findings of the psychological community and its’ study of how the brain functions. As a result, an intense analysis of an

    Read More

  • Symbols and Symbolism Essay: Color as a Tool in Heart of Darkness

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Color is used very effectively as a tool of symbolism in Heart of Darkness. Colors, especially black and white, are used to symbolize evil (black) and good (white). Other colors are also used, although less often than black and white. Throughout the story, people are thought to have white souls or black souls depending on their innate “goodness” or “badness” or the role they are fulfilling at the time. The color of a person’s soul is often contrasted to the color of their skin. A black- souled, white-skinned person is thought to be evil and dishonest. “I met a white man in such an unexpected elegance of getup…” (Conrad p.21). This demonstrates how a white man was not expected to be a good person. Elegance of dress was unexpected because the man was white. In comparison, a white-souled, black-skinned person is thought to be truthful and full of integrity. “An athletic black belonging to some coast tribe and educated by my poor predecessor….thought all the world of himself.” (Conrad p.45). People are described as black with hatred regardless of skin color. This is further evidence of black being used synonymously with evil. Black isn’t just used to describe evil people. “Often far away, I thought of these two, guarding the door of Darkness, knitting black wool as for a warm pall…” (Conrad p. 14.) The symbolism of black wool at the door of Darkness is clearly pointing to evil, and further supports black as evil. Heath 2 Colors other than black and white are used to describe moods and attitudes past the basic good and evil. Red signifies industry. “There was a vast amount of red - good to see at any time because one knows that some real work is done in there.” (Conrad p.13). Yellow is seen as a cowardly color. “I was going into the yellow. Dead in the center.” (Conrad p.13). Pale denotes Death. It is also used this way in the Bible, “the Pale horse and his rider Death”, Revelations 6:8. “She came forward, all in black, with a pale head, floating towards me in the dusk. She was in mourning. It was more than a year since his death…” (Conrad p. 72-73). The use of color is effective in the story for a variety of reasons. First, it is easy to understand.

    Read More

  • The Insanity Plea

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    The insanity defense presents many difficult questions for the legal system. It attracts attention beyond its practical significance (it is seldom used successfully) because it goes to the heart of the concept of legal responsibility. ‘‘Not guilty by reason of insanity’’ generally requires that as a result of mental illness the defendant was unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the crime. The many difficult and complex questions presented by the insanity defense have led some in the legal community to hope that neuroscience might help resolve some of these problems, but that hope is not likely to be realized. (Smith 475)

    Read More

  • A Doll's House Realism Essay

    1918 Words  | 4 Pages

    This becomes one of the main driving forces of Ibsen’s play. (Quote from Torvald and the money). It immediately distinguishes the differences in gender roles and morals in Norway during the late 1800’s. While Nora is willing to give the porter twice what is owed, we assume she is full of holiday spirit; Torvald has a much more sensible outlook on financial concerns. While he jokingly calls her his little spendthrift, he asserts that her lack of understanding is a result of her gender “Nora, my Nora, that is just like a woman” (Ibsen). Torvald believes that her place in the home is simply ornamental, a trophy that serves as decoration for his home. Torvald is constantly referring to her through the use of pet names such as (quote pet names from book) and only ever refers to her by name when he is scolding her. Not only does Torvald see her as his doll, but also as her child (quote near end of story). By keeping Nora dependent and obedient to him, he plays the role of Nora’s second father. Nora eventually sees that her daughter is being treated in the same manner that she was her entire life, as a

    Read More

  • Henrik Isben's A Doll's House

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House examines a woman’s struggle for independence in her marriage and social world. Through the use of character change, Ibsen conveys his theme that by breaking away from all social expectations, we can be true to ourselves. When Ibsen presents Nora Helmer, we see a “perfect” wife, who lives in a “perfect” house with a “perfect” husband and children. The Helmer children have a nanny that raises them. By having the nanny, Nora has the freedom to come and go as she pleases. Torvald Helmer, Nora’s husband, will begin a new job as bank manager, so they will be rich, which will make her “perfect” life even better. Torvald even calls Nora pet names like “my sweet little lark” (Ibsen 1567) and “my squirrel” (Ibsen 1565). These names may seem to be harmless and cute little nicknames, but the names actually show how little he thinks of her. “Torvald uses derogatory diminutives to address Nora” (Kashdan 52). Torvald talks down to her. Nora is “regarded as property rather than a partner” (Drama for Students 112). He isn’t treating her like a real person. In Torvald eyes, she isn’t an equal. “Nora is viewed as an object, a toy, a child, but never an equal” (Drama for Students 109).

    Read More

  • Neurimaging Science

    1566 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...n they serve, locate the areas of the brain that are affected by neurological disorders, and develop new strategies to treat brain disorders. Along with such understandings, more in depth scans of the brain are beginning to reveal the possibility of a more refined and detailed lie detection source. If such technology is produced, the federal government will apply it to protecting the country, but what will others use it for? Premature commercialization brings forth the possible downfall of this technology; basic research that is needed will be halted and later misuse will corrupt the advancements we are making today. The ethical question of privacy will also need more scrutiny and thought before such methods become widespread, for society must be ready to come to a decision about the value of cognitive privacy before their world is overtaken with such technologies.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Disillusionment Of Ten O Clock By William Blake

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    As I read Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock by Wallace Stevens I noticed that the author uses color for symbolism. The definition of symbolism according to Yourdictionary.com is the practice of giving special meaning to objects,

    Read More

  • Forensic Neuropsychology & The Criminal Law, by Martell Daniel

    3300 Words  | 7 Pages

    There exist a whole lot of differences between neuropsychology practice in the general clinical setting & that of the forensic setting. The major objective of the clinical neuropsychological assessment is to most often to alleviate the human suffering by improving the mental condition of a particular person. The major goal of forensic evaluation, on the other hand, is to determine whether the psychological condition of a defendant makes him criminally competent to stand the trial. The concept of ‘competency” can be broadly defined as the capacity to decide or perform a few definite functions. From a legal point of view, the principle of competency entails the concept of knowledge. It implies a persons’ understanding of issues per...

    Read More

  • Criminal Accountability and the

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ing of the brain itself. The legal system has to follow brain research. While we may not find exactly where the "I" is, we can become much closer to understanding what disorders truly effect the ability to understand one's actions and be held accountable for them.

    Read More

More about Seeing Red

Open Document