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NARRATOR: Do not adjust your television.
The colors you seeing are correct.
Stare at the black dot in the center of this image.
For the next few seconds, this dot is your whole world.
Stare directly at the dot and don't look away.
We promise, you're about to see something you might
find incredible.
The image is about to change, but keep your eyes firmly on
the dot no matter what.
Ready? Do you see, color?
And if you move your eyes, does the image suddenly appear
black and white?
That's because this image is black and white.
All the colors you just saw were added by your brain.
Want to know what's going on?
Stick around.
This is a show about your brain and colors.
AUDIENCE: Oh!
NARRATOR: We're going to mess with your mind as we put you
through a series of games and experiments that will change
everything you thought you knew about color.
WOMAN: I know what I saw.
NARRATOR: You'll see how color can make you fly.
ALEX: That's incredible.
NARRATOR: We'll reveal colors that don't exist.
WOMAN: That's crazy!
NARRATOR: So get ready to color outside the lines
on Brain Games.
Color, such a big part of our world,
we often take it for granted.
From 'red equals stop!'
to the color of the sky to the shirt you wear to work,
color is all around us every day.
JASON SILVA: The funny thing about color is how easily your
brain is conditioned to associate certain colors with
certain things.
For example, would you eat green eggs and ham?
Probably not.
Yet a green apple?
Totally fine.
So is a red apple.
So have you ever stopped to wonder what color is
or why we even see color at all?
As you're about to discover, When you peel back the surface,
you'll see that color is just an illusion.
NARRATOR: Remember how we asked you to look at this weirdly
colored image?
When it changed to black & white,
did you see normal colors for a few surprising seconds?
Before you think something crazy is going on with your eyes,
let's see what happens when we show some people a similar image
at a place full of funky, unique colors: The Crayola Experience.
JASON SILVA: What I need you to do is stare at the screen.
There's gonna be a dot in the middle of the screen,
and you're gonna keep your eyes on that dot.
NARRATOR: Before we hear from our volunteers,
let's give you a chance to play along.
Just like before, stare at the dot in the center of this image.
Are you staring at the dot?
Here's a tip to make the colors appear for longer,
when the image changes to black and white,
make sure your eyes remain focused on the dot.
Ready? Here we go.
Do you see this castle in full color?
Now if you move your eyes, you'll see it's actually
just a black and white image.
Pretty wild, huh?
Let's see if our volunteers experienced what you just did.
JASON SILVA: Keep your eyes on the dot.
WOMAN: What? I just saw color.
YOUNG WOMAN: Everything was colored,
the trees were green and everything looked that way.
JASON SILVA: What if I was to say that the colors were put
there by your brain that they were never on the screen?
WOMAN: I wouldn't believe you.
JASON SILVA: What if I was to promise?
WOMAN: You can promise all you want, I know what I saw.
WOMAN: That's crazy.
NARRATOR: You as surprised as they are?
Our volunteer, Paul, says it best.
PAUL: If you're telling me I didn't see color,
then where is it coming from?
NARRATOR: That's a good question.
How is your brain painting this black and white picture
in full color when there isn't any color at all?
We've asked Yale psychologist Brian Scholl the same question.
BRIAN SCHOLL: We have millions of photoreceptors in our eyes
that help us to see color.
Now when you stare at the same color for a long time,
the cells that are responsible for that color,
they get tired and they don't respond as strongly.
NARRATOR: When you stare at this image,
some of your photoreceptors, like the ones that handle
reddish-orange, get tired.
BRIAN SCHOLL: Then when the image flips back to black and
white, those tired cells can't pull their weight and
it's the cells for the complementary colors
that are more active.
NARRATOR: Orange and blue are complementary colors,
so when the orange tones go away,
your brain adds blue to this black & white image.
BRIAN SCHOLL: The result is that we experience a vivid
sensation of color even when, in this case,
the color's not really there.
NARRATOR: Now, whether the colors are coming from your
brain or the world around you, we all basically agree on what
colors we see like yellow, red, and black and white stripes.
JASON SILVA: But is it possible that color only exists in
the eye of the beholder?
NARRATOR: To find out, let's play a game.
Inside this seemingly random collection of colored dots
is a hidden number.
Do you see it?
It's the number 54.
Was it pretty obvious?
Now, let's try one that's a little tougher.
What number do you see now?
Got it?
If you said the number 6, you're correct.
And it means you're like the vast majority of people with
normal color vision.
Now we're going to try one more and this one might
have you scratching your head.
What message do you see now?
Don't see it?
It turns out over 90% of people can't see this hidden message.
We'll let you off the hook.
If we change this image so it's just shades of green,
the number is easier to read.
See it now?
You may be wondering how you could have missed it.
After all, it was right in front of your eyes.
The thing is, there are a few of you out there who saw this
hidden number right away.
So who are these color wizards?
Surprisingly, they're the nearly 10% of the population
who are color blind.
JASON SILVA: Why would someone who's color-blind be able to see
something the rest of us can't?
NARRATOR: And the reason is the opposite of what you'd expect.
JASON SILVA: People who are considered to possess normal
sight have three types of color receptors,
whereas people who are color-blind only have two.
But what could be seen as a handicap may actually enable
them to better see subtle patterns within a field of
similar colors.
NARRATOR: That's why a colorblind person might
see the 7 in the image that stumped you.
To them, it actually looks closer to this image.
The thing is, even if you have normal color vision,
you don't see as many colors as you think you do.
BRIAN SCHOLL: At the most basic level, color is light
and light consists of electromagnetic waves.
But we can only see these waves when they're of
the right length.
A little bit too long and we call them microwaves.
Useful for heating up your hot pocket but not so much
for seeing.
A little bit too short and we call them X-rays.
But right in the middle, the part of the spectrum we call
visible light, that's the most useful.
NARRATOR: If you could see beyond the tiny slice of light
that's visible to you, you'd realize there are hidden
messages in objects all around you.
Don't believe it?
Take a look at this flower.
Can you see its hidden message?
Probably not.
To you, it just looks like a yellow bloom.
Now let's see the very same flower under ultraviolet light
like the way a bee would see it.
Looks pretty different, huh?
Ultraviolet light reveals the bull's eye nature has provided
animals looking for pollen.
Let's see another one.
That's what we see.
And what a bee sees.
It's pretty crazy that nature can hide something so colorful
right in front of your eyes, isn't it?
JASON SILVA: What's so interesting about this flower is
that it reveals how different species developed to see only
the colors they need to in order to survive.
NARRATOR: For humans, it's the part of the spectrum we call
visible light.
But even the colors you see every day can be deceiving.
And few people understand this better than Fighting Gravity.
They're a performance group who've figured out how to use
color to trick your brain into believing the normal laws of
physics don't apply to them.
And when you find out the secrets behind Fighting Gravity,
it will color you amazed.
Pay attention.
This is your first Fighting Gravity performance.
Remember, your job is to try and figure out how they do
their stunts.
Where did those balls come from?
And how are they floating off the stage?
WOMAN: That is so amazing. Wow.
NARRATOR: You just saw Fighting Gravity make these glowing balls
change color and float.
How is this possible right in front of a live audience?
Before we reveal the answer, let's see what people
in the audience have to say.
WOMAN: I'm not sure if it was a lighting trick or if there's
more people on the stage than it looks like,
but it's really cool.
MAN: Maybe they could be using special wires.
JASON SILVA: What do you think?
Are any of these people close to figuring out Fighting Gravity's
secret?
NARRATOR: Let's break it down.
The stage might look pitch black,
but Fighting Gravity is actually flooding it with ultraviolet
light that's invisible to the naked eye.
And their props are covered in a special paint that contains
fluorescent chemicals which convert invisible ultraviolet
light into something you can see.
This means, with a few hidden helpers,
you see these brightly colored balls as floating when,
in reality, they're not.
Now you know one of Fighting Gravity's secrets,
but there's more to discover.
Pay attention to the skateboards in this next performance and
try to figure out how they pull off these stunts.
Who's controlling those skateboards?
The performers or someone else?
How is Fighting Gravity using color to manipulate these
skateboards in mid-air?
You might be thinking there's more happening onstage
than meets the eye.
Let's find out.
How many people are onstage right now?
Obviously, you see two, but watch when happens when we
switch on the lights.
MAN: Whoa. What?
NARRATOR: There's actually twelve.
We know this question was a little deceptive.
And that's the point.
You only see what Fighting Gravity wants you to see.
As you might have figured out, these stage ninjas are the ones
lifting, rotating, and swapping the skateboards.
And their secret weapon is simple, the color black.
BRIAN SCHOLL: Black looks to us like the complete absence of
color but in reality, things that are black in the world are
actually absorbing every other wavelength of visible light,
leaving our brains in the dark.
NARRATOR: Now, you're probably still wondering how they appear
to fly around the stage.
We're going to have to leave you in the dark about some of
Fighting Gravity's secrets, but let's just say the laws of
gravity are no match for the clever use of light and color.
It's all possible because of something scientists
call reflectance.
BRIAN SCHOLL: All of the light that we see is either emitted
by a light source or reflected off of other objects in the
environment, and Fighting Gravity has mastered
the manipulation of reflectance.
Their trick is to absorb most wavelengths of light,
reflecting back to our eyes only those narrow bands of
wavelengths that they want us to see.
NARRATOR: Reflectance may sound complicated, but stay with us
because we're about to shed a little light on the mystery.
It's the key to every single color you see every day.
Take a look at this leaf.
What color is it?
Would you say it's blue, red, green, or orange?
Seems obvious, right? Green.
But actually, it's a trick question.
Every answer is right except one.
Green.
But wait, how can that be?
How is green the wrong answer?
BRIAN SCHOLL: A leaf is unable to absorb green visible light
and so it reflects it back into the environment and
eventually into our eyes.
Your brain interprets that as the leaf being green.
But in reality, the green light is really just bouncing off
the leaf.
So, in a sense, the leaf is really every color in the world
except green.
NARRATOR: If that sounds unbe-leaf-able,
we don't blame you.
But here's the thing, reflectance means you will never
see the actual color of an object in your entire life.
A yellow banana isn't really yellow.
A red stop sign is anything but red.
A black & white zebra, who can say?
They're all just pigments of your imagination.
JASON SILVA: The thing is, the world doesn't feel that way.
Once your brain learns to associate an object with a
certain color, it will do everything in its power
to keep it that way.
Don't believe it?
Let's play another game.
NARRATOR: Take a look at this image.
Count how many colors you see.
Do you see red apples and grapes, an orange grapefruit,
and yellow lemons?
What if we told the only colors in this image are red,
and a layer of gray?
Nearly all the color differences you're seeing are coming
from your brain.
Watch this.
Here's the real image we used to create this illusion.
So how is it the first image appeared to have all those
different colors?
It's because gray actually contains traces of every color.
Your brain then adds color to each object based on memory,
which is why this lemon appears yellow.
BRIAN SCHOLL: This process is called color constancy and it's
what lets us see an object as being the same color no matter
what the surrounding lighting conditions are.
NARRATOR: Basically, your brain is presenting objects to you in
the colors it thinks they should be.
To your brain, it's more important to have a consistent,
reliable experience of the colors in your world than to see
colors as they really are.
But is the way your brain sees color always so automatic
or can you take control?
Pay attention.
Take a look at these dots.
Notice anything strange?
Probably not.
It's just some dots moving in a circle.
Now focus on the cross in the center of the circle.
Keep looking at the cross.
Has a green dot suddenly appeared,
moving around the circle?
JASON SILVA: You might be on to us and expect us to tell you
that the dot isn't really green.
NARRATOR: But it's a little more spooky than that
We showed the same thing to our volunteers at
the Crayola Experience.
Let's see how many of them see the green dot.
JASON SILVA: Now stare at that cross in the middle.
WOMAN: I see a green dot traveling around the circle.
YOUNG GIRL: I see a green dot in there.
MOTHER: Green dot.
JASON SILVA: How sure are you that you saw green?
ALEX: Hundred percent.
NARRATOR: And they aren't wrong.
Just like you, they are definitely seeing a green dot.
YOUNG MAN: seeing green.
YOUNG WOMAN: Yeah.
JASON SILVA: You see a green dot now?
WOMAN: Yes.
NARRATOR: The question is, where is it coming from?
Because it's definitely not on your screen or theirs.
JASON SILVA: What if I was to tell you that there was never
a green dot there at all?
HOPE: Then I wouldn't really believe you because I know what
my brain sees.
NARRATOR: Just like our volunteers,
you saw the green dot, right?
Probably feels a little weird to be told it was all
in your brain.
HOPE: I just saw it again.
YOUNG GIRL: Are any colors real?
NARRATOR: Are you asking the same question?
If so, we don't blame you.
How does your brain see something so clearly
that isn't on your screen at all?
BRIAN SCHOLL: Because all of the dots are the same color,
in this case magenta, the cells responsible for that color get
fatigued and then when the dot eventually disappears,
they can't balance out the complementary color and
you see a phantom green dot.
NARRATOR: We've put your brain to the test;
revealed when it comes to color, there's always more going on
than meets the eye.
But now it's time for your final exam.
Fighting Gravity has designed one more experiment just for the
Brain Games audience.
This is the ultimate test of your color knowledge.
You've already discovered how Fighting Gravity uses
ultraviolet light and specialized paints to illuminate
what they want you to see, and stagehands in light-absorbing
black to hide what they don't.
You need to put these two pieces of knowledge to use.
See if you can figure out how Fighting Gravity can disappear
behind these red poles and reappear just as quickly.
MAN: Wow.
NARRATOR: So have you figure it out, how is Fighting Gravity
disappear behind the red poles and re-appears so seemly,
Turns out, they have one trick you don't know about yet.
Take a look at this darkened stage.
How many people do you see?
None, right? Watch this.
There are six performers hiding right in front of your eyes.
Any idea how they do it?
Let's see that again, this time with the regular lights on.
Funny how illuminating a little visible light can be, isn't it?
This technique is the key to what you just saw.
As you know, color is created by light bouncing off of an object.
By using special black fabric, Fighting Gravity is not only
hiding their true colors, they're hiding in plain sight.
Add some very precise timing and they appear to simply
vanish behind those poles.
Take a close look.
Can you see how they do it now?
So did you figure it out or were you left in the dark?
JASON SILVA: Once again, Fighting Gravity is using color
to stay one step ahead of your brain.
NARRATOR: And if you take a peek behind the curtain, you'll see
color is too complex to ever be simply black and white.