Well can they? More importantly, SHOULD THEY

Dog can't look at rainbow (too beautiful)

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[–] 26 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

What about non-cam dogs? Not every bitch is on OnlyWags.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)
  • [–] 18 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (9 children)

    They can but they see them differently. The can’t see colors like we do. It would be more yellow and blue not a full spectrum . They also probably don’t care about the rainbow.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago* (7 children)

    Yeah, they have significantly fewer cones than we do and even then, just yellow and blue. If they (OP) want to understand what a dog sees, they should have a conversation with a tetrachromat.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Isn’t it the mantis shrimp that has the most cones? I wonder how they would see a rainbow? (I mean they don’t because they are underwater and again probably wouldn’t feel that whimsy when looking we do).

    I can’t even look it up because it’s like trying to understand a fourth dimensional shape. You can describe it but you can’t really see it.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 weeks ago

    I think they have some of the most kinds of photoreceptors in their cones, something like 12 to 16, compared to our 3 (or rarely, 4). However, we and dogs perceive color in a way described by the oppositional process theory. It's kinda like extrapolating other colors for which which we don't have photoreceptors that activate most at that frequency. For example, yellow light falls between red and green frequencies. So our brains register the brightness of the light and the extent to which the red and green photoreceptors are activated proportionally, and it infers the color yellow.

    Mantis shrimp have a far lower encephalization quotient, so it's unlikely they have the resources to do this kind of processing. I think they just go with the most activated photoreceptor, which would explain why they need so many. It's still entirely possible that they can see more colors than us, though. Also, it's almost a certainty that their visible spectrum is different from our own. Many animals can perceive ultraviolet or infrared light that we cannot.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 weeks ago

    Afaik Mantis Shrimp have more cones because their brains can't combine colours like human brains - ours can process the ratios of different wavelengths into colours, while they need a separate cone to detect each colour. I believe their total range is smaller than humans, but extends down into the IR wavelengths.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    Thanks for reminding me to get back on designing t-shirts that are only offensive to people with various versions of colorblindness.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago*

    Wilfred: I don't know, Ryan. Why is the sky grey? Why is the grass grey? Why is a rainbow grey, grey, grey, grey, grey and infra-grey?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Up vote for what looks like Santa Fe New Mexico. Oh and the dog is cool too, and yeah so is the rainbow.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    it's sometimes incredible what you make out based on ground and foliage -- it looks like it on the edge of chihuahua or great basin deserts, which is where new mexico is located.

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