I recently saw this interesting video that shared some interesting facts on how names of colours evolve in different parts of the world independent of each other and how it still follows a similar pattern.
The thing that is surprising and what we can learn from it is that in some sense, all of the different cultures around the world evolved in a similar fashion.
Irrespective of which part of the world we grew up in, irrespective of what languages we speak, irrespective of what religion we follow or however different our culture might seem from the surface, deep down we have a lot more common than we realise.
In the current day and age, where there is polarisation of views across the spectrum (political, business, education, public policy, environment policy, etc), we need to not only remember this simple fact but also actively try to find out these similarities. This will help us find some common ground. The common ground will then allow us to at least hear each one of the polarising views in a way that we have a chance at understanding each other’s views.
That is the chance that the world today needs. People trying to understand the differing views. Not necessarily changing their own views but at least understanding the differing views, if we want to have a chance at reversing the extreme polarisation that is becoming prevalent across our society.
BTW, most societies start with naming Black, White and Red as the first colours, followed by Green/Yellow and Blue. I think this also explains why these colours are the most used by designers in their designs, in brand identities as they speak to us at a very primal sense.
Enjoy the video that started off on my rant here.
This post originally appeared on LinkedIn and has been republished here.
