To paradigm or not to paradigm. That is the question??

Games Discussion Ars Magica
41

that old chestnut? I don't know why it keeps coming up, but it has 2 fatal flaws in the idea

  1. there was no ME concept of "sight without colour", or "black and white rendition", until B&W photography emerged in the C19. (Line drawings and engravings don't count, even though they are monochrome - no-one imagined "seeing" in that form!)
    Animals are always described as having human-type senses, give or take "keen" or "poor" modifiers, or supernatural senses in some cases.

  2. IRL (C21) cats do actually see in colour.
    Early (C20, ?C19?) tests on cat vision were flawed: in a mistaken attempt to attract the cat's attention they placed 2 colour swatches close together... alas cats' colour vision is poor and grainy, and does not resolve close spaced colours.
    Recent tests where they placed the patches further apart revealed that they see colour like dogs (basically they are dichromats like most diurnal mammals).
    I could whitter on longer about colour vision, but this isn't the place...

42

It's in the FAQ, quoted above.

43

I know (well, the question is, but no discussion or answer)

I just find it ironic that one of the iconic questions about paradigm is based on incorrect science...