Debunked Myths
Myth:
We see all the colors that exist in light.
The Truth Is:
Visible light is a tiny sliver of reality. Most of the electromagnetic spectrum—from radio waves to X-rays—is invisible to us.
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What We Know Now:
The rainbow presents itself as a perfect, continuous spectrum of color, creating the illusion that we're witnessing the full scope of visible light. This is a beautiful deception crafted by the limitations of our own biology. What we perceive as the complete visual world is actually less than 0.0035% of the known electromagnetic spectrum—a narrow window evolution carved out for our survival.
Beyond our visual range lies an invisible universe teeming with activity. Just past red light, infrared radiation carries heat that we can feel but not see. Beyond violet, ultraviolet light guides bees to nectar and causes sunburns. Further out stretch the alien landscapes of X-rays that reveal our bones, gamma rays from dying stars, and radio waves that carry our broadcasts.
Our eyes evolved specifically to detect the wavelengths most abundant from our Sun and that travel well through Earth's atmosphere. To see the full spectrum would be biologically inefficient and sensorily overwhelming. This limitation underscores a profound truth: our perception of reality is not an objective recording but a heavily edited interpretation, perfectly tailored for survival on this planet, while the true cosmos vibrates with energies completely hidden from our senses.
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