Don’t Be Stupid, Magenta Is A Color
Anybody who claims magenta isn’t a color is stupid, lying, or link-baiting. Take it from a color-blind person: all colors are a matter of perception, and claiming Magenta isn’t a color because it doesn’t fit neatly in the linear spectrum of visible electromagnetic radiation is like saying this isn’t music because the vibrations that tickle our ear aren’t the result of a monotone sinusoidal wave.
We have no equivalent of polyphony for light, but just as it took a whole orchestra to make Jaws scary, the colors we perceive are most commonly a mixture of different frequencies of light. Magenta is simply what we see when when we see light from both ends of the spectrum at once.
Here’s a better question: where is brown in the rainbow?
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The filename didn’t give me any clues: what song is that?
Magenta is fascinating.
Many colors we perceive can be represented by a single wavelength of light. Magenta cannot. To say that magenta can’t be found in the electromagnetic spectrum is technically correct (which was the point of the article).
Imagine if there was a perceived frequency of sound that bridged 20,000Hz back around to 20Hz. Bass and soprano might sound very similar instead of being opposites.
Brown, eh? Isn’t there supposed to be a crock of something at the end of the rainbow?
I refuse to recognize Magenta.
Magenta and Puce are a purple and red that we just too lazy to go the extra mile.
Yeah, the article is link-baiting. It’s still cool though.
I wonder why sound doesn’t work the same way? I mean, when we see blue and red light, we see purple. When we hear both low and high frequency sounds they’re distinct. There’s no such thing as “purple” sound…
…if that makes any sense. Gotta think outside the box on that one.
@B. Waite & @Isobel Ling: Interestingly enough, yes, sounds pairs of different frequencies can create a tone at a third frequency.
@Ben Ostrowsky: It’s Death Watch by Alias, found on the KEXP song of the day podcast.