Pink Does Not Exist

Pink does not exist. Send this to someone who is about to argue with you. Look at a rainbow, or split light with a piece of glass. You will see red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, in a neat line. Not one part of that line is pink.

Rangi ya waridi haipo. Mtumie mtu ambaye yuko karibu kubishana nawe. Tazama upinde wa mvua, au gawanya mwanga kwa kipande cha kioo. Utaona nyekundu, chungwa, njano, kijani, buluu na zambarau, kwa mstari nadhifu. Hakuna sehemu hata moja ya mstari huo yenye rangi ya waridi.

Light itself does not make pink. Sometimes your eyes catch strong red light and strong blue light at the same time, with little green light mixed in. Your brain does not have a normal color ready for that mix. So instead of leaving a gap, your brain simply makes up a brand new color.

Mwanga wenyewe hautengenezi waridi. Wakati mwingine macho yako hunasa mwanga mwekundu mkali na mwanga wa buluu mkali kwa wakati mmoja, ukiwa na mwanga kidogo tu wa kijani ndani yake. Ubongo wako hauna rangi ya kawaida tayari kwa mchanganyiko huo. Kwa hiyo badala ya kuacha pengo, ubongo wako hutengeneza rangi mpya kabisa.

That new color is pink. It only lives inside your head, not out in the world. Outside, in real light, pink is nowhere to be found. But when you see it, it still looks completely real to you, every single time.

Rangi hiyo mpya ni waridi. Inaishi ndani ya kichwa chako tu, si huko nje duniani. Nje, katika mwanga halisi, waridi haipatikani popote. Lakini unapoiona, bado inaonekana halisi kabisa kwako, kila mara.