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Mark Changizi On Why Human Eyes See In Color

Have you ever wondered why we see in color? As sensory information goes, we could have just as easily developed countless other ways of interpreting our visual inputs, like the very limited color senses of dogs, or the thermal imaging of the Predator.

Neuroscientist Mark Changizi thinks that humans developed our detailed color vision as a way to read subtle changes in other people.

For instance, minute color changes such as flushed skin on your face can reveal a multitude of information about what’s happening in your brain. In a time before speech communication, this could have been a crucial way to signal the health and emotional state of fellow humans.

(via EarthSky, image via flickr helgabj)