SEEING COLOR FOR THE FIRST TIME
Color blindness, also known as color vision deficiency, is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. The most common cause of color blindness is a fault in the development of one or more of the three sets of color sensing cones in the eye. Males are more likely to be color blind than females as the genes responsible for the most common forms of color blindness are on the X chromosome.
As females have two X chromosomes, a defect in one is typically compensated for by the other, while males only have one X chromosome. Color blindness can also result from physical or chemical damage to the eye, optic nerve, or parts of the brain.
Red–green color blindness is the most common form, followed by blue–yellow color blindness and total color blindness. Red–green color blindness affects up to 8% of males and 0.5% of females of Northern European descent. The ability to see color also decreases in old age. Being color blind may make people ineligible for certain jobs in certain countries. This may include pilot, train driver, and armed forces. The effect of color blindness on artistic ability, however, is controversial. The ability to draw appears to be unchanged and a number of famous artists are believed to have been color blind.
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