http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/The-yin-and-yang-of-numbers-across-cultures-tp523046p523056.html
> My understanding is that there are really just three primary colors: R G B.
> Even though the spectrum is mathematically continuous, evolution is not. Our
> eyes have three types of cones (for color) and one type of rod (for
> intensity). It seems that because the three super-imposed distribution
> curves yield three maximum crests and four minimum troughs: total colors
> would be seven.
>
>
>
> That is:
>
>
>
> Violet Green Orange
>
>
>
> Indigo Blue Yellow Red
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> SEE:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/colcon.html#c1
>
>
>
> Rob Howard
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: friam-bounces at redfish.com [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] On Behalf
> Of James Steiner
> Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 9:45 PM
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] The yin and yang of numbers across cultures
>
>
>
> So, why was indigo worthy of inclusion, while cyan was not?
>
>
>
> ~~James
>
>
http://www.turtlezero.com>
> (JA-86)
>
>
>
> On 12/2/06, Dede Densmore <dede at backspaces.net> wrote:
>
> > Re Pamela's reply: Me, too! Re Robert's: When I was growing up, we
>
> > learned " Roy G. Biv", a name silly enough that you weren't likely to
>
> > forget it and that definitely included indigo.
>
> >
>
> > Dede
>
> >
>
> > On Nov 30, 2006, at 7:17 PM, J T Johnson wrote:
>
> >
>
> > > My apologies, and I seem to be pushing the evelope of original intent
>
> > > for the FRIAM list, but I find this sort of "anthropology of numbers"
>
> > > topic an interesting problem that converges on interesting questions
>
> > > in how we design, say, databases or UIs that are applicable anywhere,
>
> > > anytime.
>
> > >
>
> > > So for what it's worth....
>
> > >
>
> > > -tj
>
> > >
>
> > > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
> > > From: STRATE at fordham.edu < STRATE at fordham.edu>
>
> > > Date: Nov 30, 2006 5:55 PM
>
> > > Subject: [MEA] Fwd:The yin and yang of numbers across cultures
>
> > > To: MEA at lists.ibiblio.org
>
> > >
>
> > > >From the Chronicle of Higher Ed's Magazine and Journal Reader.
>
> > > Thursday, November 30, 2006
>
> > >
>
> > > A glance at the current issue of the Bulletin of Science, Technology &
>
> > > Society: The yin and yang of numbers across cultures
>
> > >
>
> > >
>
> > > In Japanese culture, a rainbow is considered to consist of seven
>
> > > colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple. A
>
> > > rainbow has
>
> > > one less color in the West, as Americans and Europeans tend not to
>
> > > count
>
> > > indigo. However, because a rainbow is actually a continuous spectrum,
>
> > > both
>
> > > perceptions are wrong, notes Yutaka Nishiyama, a professor at Osaka
>
> > > University of Economics, in Japan. He says those distinct viewpoints
>
> > > reflect a Japanese preference for odd numbers and Western favoritism
>
> > > toward
>
> > > even numbers.
>
> > > Mr. Nishiyama provides numerous other examples to suggest an East-West
>
> > > difference in the preference for odd or even numbers. According to a
>
> > > Japanese proverb, for example, three heads are better than two,
>
> > > "whereas in
>
> > > English, two are better than one." In a study of number-related words
>
> > > in
>
> > > English and Japanese, he found additional evidence. "It appears," he
>
> > > writes, "that the Japanese language has a cultural setting that favors
>
> > > the
>
> > > odd numbers 3 and 5, whereas English has a cultural setting that
>
> > > favors the
>
> > > even numbers 2, 4, and 6."
>
> > >
>
> > > The author looks at historical clues in attempting to explain why
>
> > > different
>
> > > cultures may have a preference for one form of numbers over the other.
>
> > > The
>
> > > ancient Greeks, he says, regarded odd numbers as good. So did the
>
> > > ancient
>
> > > Chinese. The latter utilized yin-yang thought, which is based on the
>
> > > idea
>
> > > of alternating opposites. For instance, yang is generally considered
>
> > > to be
>
> > > masculine, and yin to be feminine. He emphasizes, however, that the
>
> > > concept
>
> > > is meant to be interpreted as a system of opposites and of "infinite
>
> > > change," not as "a case of one being superior or inferior to the
>
> > > other." So
>
> > > a man is yang in relation to a woman, but yin in relation to his
>
> > > parents.
>
> > > Only in modern times, he says, has yang come to be understood as "good
>
> > > and
>
> > > superior" in relation to yin.
>
> > >
>
> > > He concludes that the ancient preference for odd numbers probably
>
> > > faded in
>
> > > the West with the arrival of modern mathematics, "as represented by
>
> > > Newton." As he explains it, modern mathematics values rationality, and
>
> > > "seems to have abandoned the ideas of ancient Chinese yin-yang thought
>
> > > and
>
> > > ancient Greek philosophy, in which odd numbers were male and even
>
> > > numbers
>
> > > female. When counting numbers, odd numbers were incomplete, in-between
>
> > > numbers, whereas even numbers were certainly more rational." Thus, "in
>
> > > contrast to the East, where odd numbers are positive and good, in the
>
> > > West,
>
> > > odd numbers are incomplete and superfluous."
>
> > >
>
> > > The article, "A Study of Odd- and Even-Number Cultures," is
>
> > > temporarily
>
> > > available free through Sage Publications.
>
> > >
>
> > >
http://bst.sagepub.com/cgi /content/abstract/26/6/479
>
> > >
>
> > > _______________________________________________
>
> > > MEA mailing list
>
> > > MEA at lists.ibiblio.org
>
> > >
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/mea>
> --
>
>
>
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