Angier, Natalie. "True Blue Stands Out in an Earthy
Crowd." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 22 Oct.
2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/science/with-new-findings-scientists-are-captivated-by-the-color-blue.html?pagewanted=1>.
This article discusses the world’s
fascination with the color blue. Scientists have been enchanted by the color’s optical
purity, complexity and metaphorical fluency. And because of this, scientists
are exploring the physics and chemistry of blueness in nature, and the boldness
it takes for something to be blue since most in nature tend to be earthy tones
such as brown and beige. The article sites psychologists whom have even stated
that blue’s basic emotional valence is calmness and open-endedness, in contrast
to the aggressive nature of the color red. The article even sites a study that
took place in which people were asked to participate in a lengthy video game
exercise while sitting next to a blue partition, and then a yellow and red one.
Researchers reported that the subjects sitting next to the blue partition
reported feeling less fatigued and claustrophobic, and displayed a more regular
heart beat pattern than did the people who sat by red or yellow. Although blue
conveys many positive feelings, it also has been proven to invoke other
feelings such as sadness, and a loss in appetite. The article also explained
why blue is more rare than other colors found in nature. It explained that this
is because blues come from the specific shape and arrangement of their
underlying components. The color is made by structure: starting with a material
that is transparent, and changing the structure by just a few hundred
nanometers.
Since
blue is a primary color, it has always been an important color. The impact blue
has had on many different aspects of life is very interesting. As stated in the
article, blue has a greatly affects people’s everyday lives subconsciously. Understanding
this important fact may lead to future advancements in color usage. People may
start purposely thinking of what color to use because of its effects on people.
I believe that the author did a great job with
the article. The article covered a topic that spanned a sizable amount but the
author was able to focus on the important facts. The article provided a good
explanation of all of the opinions and findings on the color blue but at times
the article seemed like many small articles jumbled into one. Overall, I enjoyed
this article because my favorite color is blue, and because it offered me a
different outlook on colors and their effects.
AP Biology Petey DeJoy
ReplyDeleteComment 4 10/24/12
I think that Naomi did a very good job with her review. She began by explaining very thoroughly what the purpose of the article was: to explore the color blue and its effects on the human mind. She also did a very good job of explaining an example of how they are studying this phenomenon, with her note about the experiment with the people playing video games with a blue, red, and yellow partition between them. Third, she went down to the molecular level, explaining how the color blue is made. This provided an interesting outlook on the process that they are examining. If I were Naomi, I might have added a little bit more objective sustenance to the article, rather than subjective ideas, such as “blue is an important color.” I would have also liked to know why exactly people feel happy or calmer when they see the color blue, because the psychological aspect of it is very interesting. From reading this review, I learned that the color blue makes people calmer, while red tends to increase heart rate and make people think more violently. It was a very interesting review.
I believe Naomi gave a great review of this article. I was very interested on how blue itself could be so impactful to people. Naomi made a good point in including how blue is not a common color found in nature, which adds to the complexity of the color, versus other colors such as brown and beige, which are often found in nature. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the study where people played video games next to a blue, red, and yellow partition. This gives evidence to the metaphorical fluency of blue, in that blue was able to make the people feel less fatigues and less claustrophobic. Lastly, I greatly appreciated how Naomi mentioned how blue still has some negative aspects to it. In this, Naomi includes how blue is not a grand perfect color above the rest, but rather gives a more realistic idea to the color, in that it mostly makes people feel better, rather than all the time.
ReplyDeleteI thought Naomi could have changed a few details. In her second paragraph, it would have been useful to further connect this article to the world through claiming a more substantial impact of the color studies. Also, she could have touched up her description to why blue is rare in nature. It was essential for her to include it, but it is still somewhat unclear to why specifically blue is important and rare, versus other colors.
The part that struck me the most from Naomi’s review was how the color blue greatly affects everyday life. Colors are obviously all around us, but to use them, especially blue, efficiently in certain usages, such as advertising or speeches, people can send subliminal messages to other just through the colors themselves. This is huge, considering the formation and utilization of subliminal messaging can affect people, from buying a product, to joining the army. Although these are streches, the fact that blue is associated with subliminal messaging, from this article, is astonishing and a great find.