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We all walk around assuming we’re seeing the same world and colors as everyone else. The sky is blue, the grass is green. Right?
Now, there’s another possibility: some people may be looking at the exact same scene you are, but seeing an entirely different layer of reality hiding in plain sight. That’s the crux of the new Pop Mech story, “You May Have a Superpower That Lets You See an Invisible World. It’s More Than Just Biology, Scientists Say.”
Once you read it, it’s hard not to wonder if you’ve been missing out this whole time.
Watch Pop Mech editors Andrew Daniels and John Gilpatrick talk about the story and its central idea of how the majority of humans are “trichromats,” meaning we perceive color using three types of cone cells. But a small set of people—mostly women, because they have two X chromosomes—may have the tools for a fourth cone. These people are called “tetrachromats,” and they can theoretically see a whole extra dimension of color.
Andrew and John break down why color itself is subjective, and why simply having that fourth cell doesn’t necessarily mean you’re using it.
Watch the full episode above now, and find more installments of “The Astounding Pop Mech Show” on PopularMechanics.com.
