Do you believe we innately know colours that suit us? Or is it something we need to learn or be told?
Researchers have been interested in knowing the truth for many years. Can a baby distinguish between colours or hues or do they all look the same? Is it based on language skills in the left brain or the right creative brain skills?
Jordana Cepelewicz (2016) a neuroscientist found when researching babies’ innate sense of colour, that the babies distinguish between categories such as green and blue before learning a language.
Scientists wondered how much the influence of verbal skills mattered to distinguishing colours. The infants in the study used both brain hemispheres to process colour change, and language areas of the brain are usually dependent upon the left side. This implies that innate colour distinctions arise before an infant’s language develops.
Johannes Itten (an artist) recognised that students, instructed to paint a scene in colours of their choice, were more likely to choose colours that they themselves displayed in their natural colouring, ie cool or warm. This indicates that without the influence of the media, friends, family, our mothers and fashion, we would all choose the correct colours for our natural colouring.
Hence, it appears that humans are innately able to distinguish between colours even before language develops. This would also apply to older people who would choose their natural colours if there were no other influences.
If you feel that your innate abilities have been clouded or conditioned by the influences and opinions of others, and you’d like to get back to knowing instinctively what’s right for you, then I suggest you book in a colour guide (coaching) session with me.