Can you convince me that black is white?

Question

My English teacher told me the other day that the best students could write a piece convincing her that the colour black was the colour white. Out of interest, can you convince me black is white? A test of persuasion skills and creative thinking...

Most clever and creative answer will be given best answer.

Note: This question is not racially motivated. I'm just talking about the colours.

Answer 1

How does one know what is black and what is white? They are told by society. When you were very young, you probably learned the colors by people pointing at something and telling you what color it was. If society tells you that what you are seeing is called black, then you assume that it is in fact black. Because you have no other explanation for it. However, if society told you that that same color was called white, you would instead assume that it was white. What if everybody in the world saw colors differently from each other? What if when you looked at something black, I looked at the same thing and saw it as what you know is white? Society would tell us both that it was black, even though we are seeing different colors. It is true that in our minds there is only one black. But that black could be different in each individual eye.



The letters in this answer are obviously black. You and I can agree on that. But if you had my eyes, maybe you would see what you know as white. Its amazing that everybody in the world could see the earth differently, but society has told us that we all see it the same. So your black could be somebody else's white.





Make sense?

Answer 2

Let's face it. In the world of the blind this would be easy to do. But in the world of sight. Where the perimeters or standards of what makes black or white is same all over the world it can only be made into an rhetorical argument of the mind; an analogy. It becomes a matter of choice and is not based on reality.



What this shows is the exclusive power of the mind and of choice. That is a real world. The good can be looked at as evil and evil can be looked at as good. One race can be superior to the other while the other is inferior.



In sum I would say in thought the argument can appear to be convincing where black is white and white is black. Like that in the world of the blind. But in reality where one can see in the light. One knows for sure that black is not white. And white is not black.



Here is a curiosity. When one looks at the world from exactly above the North Pole. The whole world appears to turn clockwise. But when looks at the world from exactly above the South Pole. The whole world appears to turn counter clockwise.



This is what I am talking about perspective and the way one chooses to look at the world. I hope this helps. Later gator.

Answer 3

White is a particular combination of frequencies or wavelengths of light. In the famous two hole experiment, after the wave passes through both slits, there is an interefence pattern, showing that the wave interferes with itself constructively and destrucively. Where the waves destructively interfere the result is perceived as black. Something plus something is apparently nothing.



Whereas black is the absence of light and is apparently no light at all.



Where self-cancellation is the same as absence, then white is the same as black.

Answer 4

Color and tones are relative to it's surrounding. If you put a black object in the sunlight and compare it with a white object in the dark -- white will be darker than the white. When you do a pencil drawing and make the darkest dark with your pencil you might call it black but if you take out you oil paint "black" the pencil drawn would be white in comparison.

Answer 5

The names of the colors were arbitrarily selected and

wavelengths defined.

You could say Blue was Red and Black was White and

as long as the proper color wavelength was assigned to

whatever word you chose, Black could be White.

Answer 6

"Here is what Jesus says about Oaths (careless use of His sacred name):



"And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from evil". (Matthew 5:36-37)



This just explains that we are not to use the Lord's name in vain. It is a statement made (I believe) to decree respect for Him.



Thanks for your question. It was interesting trying to answer it.



ps. to rsnlfan: sorry, but I disagree with your fancy answer. You said, "The letters in this answer are obviously black. You and I can agree on that." Wrong. I do not see your answer letters as black. They look like a greenish-black colour because I wear glasses to read. Please do not bring or associate others into your own existence or opinion. I am told it is wrong. Thanks.

Answer 7

Plato's Silver block.

In the light it is the metal silver and we know it's silver by the way the light refracts on the block to give it color. If we changed from white light to black light it would still be a block of silver, but the color would change. and in complete darkness there is no color because there is no light to provide color.

Color only exits because our eyes accept it as part of the natural world because we have always had light sources of some kind. Sunlight, star light, moon light, fire light, and currently electricity.

Answer 8

Come outside off dark room so that your White color may not be appear as black....i.e black is white depends on the intensity of your room

Answer 9

Black is in white, and white is in black. It is not possible to only have white without black, or black without white. Therefore, black is white, and white is black.



Proof: The Yin Yang symbol, one of the oldest in the world, is a perfect example of this truth. Examine the symbol, and you will see it is both static and in motion, with black within white, and white within black. This symbol first appeared in the I Ching, Book of Changes, written over 3,000 years ago in China. The cycle of change (64 situations, one changing into the other, and with changing lines, into the thousands) written in the I Ching exemplifies this motion of a spinning wheel of destiny, as one situation changes into another. Thus, black becomes white, and white becomes black. Also, the pakua or hexagrams illustrate that yin and yang lines, or heaven and earth, creative and receptive, must coexist to survive. So it is with male and female, sun and moon, day and night.



More examples: Look at a postcard that is pure black against a white wall. Take it away, and you will see a brilliant white outline of the black postcard. Look at a white postcard against a black wall. You will see a blacker outline of the postcard against the black wall. The example of color opposition can be tested with other colors as well. Blue becomes yellow, and yellow becomes blue. Green becomes red, and red becomes green. Try it! It is an exercise to see auras.



Now, here is another example:



Black rock, such as basalt, is formed primarily by fire, as in volcanic action. White rock, such as white marble, is formed primarily by water, as in Limestone from the sea, yet in the process of forming marble, tremendous heat and pressure is needed, as in fire. Similarly, basalt, in its final formation, is cooled into its form, as in water. One cannot exist without the other. When you heat basalt, it holds its heat very well, as it is primarily formed by fire. When you put in in a freezer, it does not hold cold very well, but it will hold it. Similarly, white marble will not hold heat very long after it is heated, but it will hold cold very well. This is because white marble is primarily formed by water. Fire and water are considered to be opposite, yet complementary elements in both Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and in western science. The color of water in the above traditional asian models is usually depicted as black, and the coldest water at the bottom of the sea is very black, yet ice is often white, and snow is white. The hottest flame of fire is white, and the hottest stars are blazing white fire, yet ashes are black.



Black is white, and white is black!

Answer 10

A black night can be just as bright without starlight.

Answer 11

your teacher is using a turn of phrase.



I can sell ice cubes to an Eskimo, but I can not convince you of that black is white and vis-versa.



I am sure someone might be able to convince you though.(or could they?)

Answer 12

BLACK HAS AN ARRAY OF LIGHTS MAKING IT WHITE IN .569874133 MILLISECONDS

Answer 13

No, I prefer not to, as my friend Bartleby would say.