just wait and see

For April fools day XKCD made this comic strip

The caption saying this

“Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit — from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your browser window.”

The joke being that the comic strip was different depending on what browser you used to view the comic strip.

The idea of Umwelt is new to me, however it was one of those things I sorta suspected.

It started with my colourblind friends.

• While indoor rock climbing, I had to point out the hand holds because my friend couldn’t differentiate the coloured routes.
• On St Patrick’s day my roommate came out and asked me if the shirt he was holding was green.

These made me think, “green” is just a word I use to describe my interpretation of the visible wavelength of the Electromagnetic spectrum that produces green. Now in a colourblind person the wavelength doesn’t change but their interpretation does.

So would it be likely that everyone’s interpretation of this wavelength is different? Is my interpretation of green different to another (Non colourblind) persons interpretation of green?

And the conclusion I came to is.. More than likely.

Another less dramatic umwelt idea is that previous experience causes people to live in very different worlds, even though they may share the same physical realm. The most contrasting would be the underground life of a drug dealer vs a normal person. A dealer may walk through a nightclub, see many undercover cops and immediately be involved in a battle. The same club however, may seem like the perfect place to relax to a normal person.

My interpretation of this comes with being a residential advisor. We have to check up on the campus twice a night when we are on duty, and the conclusion I come to is it’s always pretty relaxed. However I am aware that I don’t have the skill to notice anything really shady because the “lens” I view the world through isn’t capable of noticing these things.

This is why ex-criminals can become the best detectives. They live in this world that normal detectives do not.

Umwelt makes the world weird. Umwelt causes multiple “truths” to exist at the same time; and for many people it is way too deep.

Note: I think there was a thing in “The Matrix” about this. Something about the taste of chicken maybe.