When Seeing is Believing

March 17 2018

Dogs do not see red.

Their rich olfactory world, drenched in smell

is bloodless.

Ripe fruit

might as well be sour green

and hard as pith.

And this sunset, magenta-pink

never existed;

its brilliant light replaced

with a dull wash

of bluish-grey.

As I am blind

to infrared, ultraviolet,

my world thin

my view impoverished.

We think we see reality

as it is,

our eyes capturing light

our minds processing it.

Because how would you know what you've missed,

squinting

through a narrow aperture

at partial glimpses

and shifting shadows,

surface the eye cannot fathom.

A manic dash

after the bright orange ball

that will always incite her,

as if taunting the killer

who lives in her core.

Or what weak yellow light is left;

orange

bled of all its redness.

But she is infallible

in fierce pursuit;

following her nose,

digging it out

from deeply drifted snow.

Then triumphantly holds up her head,

eyes glowing

with the thrill of the hunt,

jubilant tail

a brownish blur.

I've often idly wondered why these balls come only in orange. True, it's bright and easy to find – for me. But to the colour-blind dogs who are chasing after, it's at best a dull yellow, the orange bled of its red.

I've wondered something similar, driving at night, following the red glow of the car in front. Does the brightness even register? Is there at least some kind of grey ...or are they totally invisible? The latter, I have to believe: with no receptors for red, these brake lights simply cease to exist, no matter how brightly they shine.

And tonight, admiring a beautiful sunset, the same thought came to me: do they see this part of the sky as utterly dark, absent all colour and light? ( ... Which is academic, of course, since not only are the dogs' noses glued to the ground, sniffing everything in sight, but they never look up at the sky or take an interest in what's overhead – ever.)

A typical human retina has 3 types of cones: red, green, blue. While butterflies, with their tiny insect brains, have either 5 or 6, depending on the species. And the mantis shrimp may have up to 16! So the world we see is not actually the world as it is. Our version of reality is incomplete, and our intuitive understanding that seeing is believing is mere conceit.

Just imagine: the ability to see various shades of ultraviolet, or to perceive magnetic fields, or to see further into the electromagnetic spectrum. An alarming thought, actually, considering how we are bathed in radiation from all our electronic devices and the WiFi that connects them; from satellites beaming their signals down to earth; from all the microwave transmissions that invisibly fill the air; and from the stray energy that leaks from hydro lines and appliances and who knows what. Perhaps better to remain blind after all!