Huh? They’re having a communication problem. The main thing Selkie left out is Green! And of course “the blue-purple one” /is/ Indigo — except that it isn’t, because it turns out that in Isaac Newton’s day the word “Blue” meant what we now call Cyan, and “Indigo” meant what we call Blue! So in modern terms it’s Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Violet. (Look up “Indigo” in Wikipedia.)
It might have been easier for Selkie to describe it if she’d said “A rainbow that forgot to use all the colors except green.” 🙂
I hope she can sketch out what she’s seeing because I’m willing to bet Todd will recognize it as a musical staff. If she can sketch where she’s seeing the “notes” I wonder if this is “music” she can “play” with her Echo abilities?
Oh right! Duh. She left out green on purpose. So it’s just that she forgot the word… and all her adults don’t realize where “Indigo” came from. (I truly remember not being able to see anything between blue and violet in the rainbow and wondering what was wrong with me, as a kid!)
Practically, the only reason anyone ever mentions indigo at all is because Roy G. Bv is harder to pronounce. We kinda like it when words have vowels.
Ultimately, the spectrum is a continuum of color, and any attempt to divide it into discrete units, whether seven or six or eight or three, is arbitrary. Regardless of what color Isaac Newton “meant” by indigo, we’re not obliged to regard his division of the rainbow as gospel truth just because he came up with some pretty good formulas for explaining falling apples.
As for cyan, I use that to refer specifically to electric cyan, #00FFFF, which is a bit beyond the range of even sky-blue.
I disagree that there is no objective way to divide color. If we can come up with a minimal set of colors that collectively create all the other colors, and which cannot themselves be created through combinations, we have found an objective set.
Is this not true of Red, Green, Blue (for light) or Magenta, Cyan, Yellow (for pigments)? See for example the video linked under my name there.
I don’t see a communication problem. In fact I was about to say that Todd was doing a bit of mind-reading to see exactly what Selkie was trying to express, but no, there’s a very good reason that Todd would expect her to stumble over the weirdest word in the set, rather than a key color tied to the color of the magic she’s using (presuming humans see it the way it’s drawn in the comic) and also the skin color of many Sarnothi. Most kids wouldn’t forget “green” and Selkie has more reason than most to remember it and to be referencing it by deliberate omission in this case.
Reminds me of the hidden rules of conversation (see link under my name there), where Tom Scott explains some of the contextual info we rely on, without which communication would be WAY more difficult.
I’ve just discovered your comic and I find it weirdly touching. And I’m stunned to find you’ve been doing it for 14 years! I’m amazed that you could maintain such a level of creativity over so long a time. Wonderful!
By the way, I’m not 100% sure that what we’re seeing is a (wavy) music staff. For one thing, the outer wavy lines are a lot thicker than the others; for another, those tick marks on (only) the inner ones aren’t notes. Looks more to me like an EKG or something. It’s just because there are five parallel lines that we’re all (it’s the first thing I thought, too) saying music.
Huh? They’re having a communication problem. The main thing Selkie left out is Green! And of course “the blue-purple one” /is/ Indigo — except that it isn’t, because it turns out that in Isaac Newton’s day the word “Blue” meant what we now call Cyan, and “Indigo” meant what we call Blue! So in modern terms it’s Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Violet. (Look up “Indigo” in Wikipedia.)
It might have been easier for Selkie to describe it if she’d said “A rainbow that forgot to use all the colors except green.” 🙂
I hope she can sketch out what she’s seeing because I’m willing to bet Todd will recognize it as a musical staff. If she can sketch where she’s seeing the “notes” I wonder if this is “music” she can “play” with her Echo abilities?
Oh right! Duh. She left out green on purpose. So it’s just that she forgot the word… and all her adults don’t realize where “Indigo” came from. (I truly remember not being able to see anything between blue and violet in the rainbow and wondering what was wrong with me, as a kid!)
Although, drawing a picture doesn’t always help.
https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1833
Practically, the only reason anyone ever mentions indigo at all is because Roy G. Bv is harder to pronounce. We kinda like it when words have vowels.
Ultimately, the spectrum is a continuum of color, and any attempt to divide it into discrete units, whether seven or six or eight or three, is arbitrary. Regardless of what color Isaac Newton “meant” by indigo, we’re not obliged to regard his division of the rainbow as gospel truth just because he came up with some pretty good formulas for explaining falling apples.
As for cyan, I use that to refer specifically to electric cyan, #00FFFF, which is a bit beyond the range of even sky-blue.
Vowels? Over-rated!
*Semitic languages have entered the chat*
Wehere IS that favourite button…?
You mean #00FFFf?
I disagree that there is no objective way to divide color. If we can come up with a minimal set of colors that collectively create all the other colors, and which cannot themselves be created through combinations, we have found an objective set.
Is this not true of Red, Green, Blue (for light) or Magenta, Cyan, Yellow (for pigments)? See for example the video linked under my name there.
I don’t see a communication problem. In fact I was about to say that Todd was doing a bit of mind-reading to see exactly what Selkie was trying to express, but no, there’s a very good reason that Todd would expect her to stumble over the weirdest word in the set, rather than a key color tied to the color of the magic she’s using (presuming humans see it the way it’s drawn in the comic) and also the skin color of many Sarnothi. Most kids wouldn’t forget “green” and Selkie has more reason than most to remember it and to be referencing it by deliberate omission in this case.
Reminds me of the hidden rules of conversation (see link under my name there), where Tom Scott explains some of the contextual info we rely on, without which communication would be WAY more difficult.
Thing is I wonder how Todd will react when Selkie realizes its like a music sheet or guitar tab?
This magic system just gets more interesting.
I think every echo user sees them, unless trained not too, since I recall Amanda screaming about worms in her vision when the echo awoke in her.
Oh, good call! This may be exactly what she was seeing, too!
I’ve just discovered your comic and I find it weirdly touching. And I’m stunned to find you’ve been doing it for 14 years! I’m amazed that you could maintain such a level of creativity over so long a time. Wonderful!
Thank you, and welcome to Selkie. 😀 14 years… oh I guess it has been. O_o I lost track awhile back.
By the way, I’m not 100% sure that what we’re seeing is a (wavy) music staff. For one thing, the outer wavy lines are a lot thicker than the others; for another, those tick marks on (only) the inner ones aren’t notes. Looks more to me like an EKG or something. It’s just because there are five parallel lines that we’re all (it’s the first thing I thought, too) saying music.