"The Dress"

I'm sure that, by now, you have seen and have pronounced judgment on the colors of "The Dress."  If you have no idea what I am talking about, congratulations!  And to remain in your blissful ignorance of this most recent meaningless internet meme, do not click on this link.

Aside from learning how easy it is to distract the whole of America for a week, I think there are other lessons to be learned from "The Dress."

Namely, it is clear that different people perceive the colors of this dress differently; and these differences do not seem to be correlated with any type or level of color blindness.  Rather, based on cues either taken from the rest of the image, or assumed, each person's individual brain is interpreting the photons emerging from this image differently. It is my suspicion that in the physical presence of "The Dress," since fewer assumptions would be required to be made by the brain, there would be less disagreement.  But, regardless, this is not a matter of opinion.  If it were opinion, those on each side would be able to at least acknowledge the possibility of the alternate view.  But that has not been happening.  Folks are viewing this image and seeing what they see; and no matter what, they seem incapable of seeing the alternative.

What is the lesson?  It is not that each person's perception is equally acceptable, and can't we all just get along?  The dyes contained within that dress have a specific spectral signature, meaning they absorb photon of certain colors and reflect others.  The light incident on that dress has a known spectrum.  Thus the photons reflected by the dress are the same, regardless of who looks at the dress or what instrument records an image of the dress.  There is only one correct "answer" to the question of "what colors is the dress?"  But, the image may be manipulated to encourage one or the other interpretation.  Or previous experience may predispose someone to preferentially see only one or the other interpretation.

No, the lesson is not that all interpretations are acceptable, but rather that one's perception and interpretation might be colored (pardon the pun) by a number of external factors, and that the only way to get to the heart of the matter is through comparison of observations by many observers, including a thorough exploration of the potential biases of each observer.