Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 May 4

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May 4

How could this boy call the colours by their names whereas he hadn't seen colours before?

185.46.79.55 (talk) 11:31, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

It clearly looks like he is acting as per a script to me, not natural at all. --Lgriot (talk) 12:24, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Those are probably the EnChroma glasses. They do not work on people who are completely color blind.

Many color blind people would be able to identify certain wavelengths of red, and certain wavelengths of green, but most every-day usages of those colors would be perceived as a bland mixture of red and green. The EnChroma glasses filter out most reds, except small sliver of the spectrum the patient can see clearly, and they filter out most greens, except the small sliver of the spectrum the patient can see clearly.

This is mentioned very briefly in our article about Color_blindness#Lenses (The very last sentence of that section.), but the reference[1] gives you a good overview of the product.

In short, he knew what "red" was because he had seen it before, even if most reds just looked brown to him. ApLundell (talk) 19:09, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

ApLundell (talk) 19:09, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Yes, complete inability to perceive color is monochromacy, which is rare in humans. Most "color-blind" people only cannot perceive some colors, often because one of their cone cell types doesn't work properly. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 21:02, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

But even people who are completely dichromic could not use these glasses. They depend on people being able to perceive all three primary colors, but their perception (incorrectly) has an overlap between two of the primary colors. (Usually red and green.) If you can't ever discern the difference between red and green under any circumstances, than these glasses won't help you. ApLundell (talk) 00:24, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

Vietnam war and weight

I'm currently watching S11E06 of The X-Files, an episode starring Haley Joel Osment as a soldier in Vietnam. Now, we all know that Haley has gained more than the usual amount of pounds since the days of AI and The Sixth Sense, and in fact I'd say he easily has a BMI twice that of Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket, which is why I find it highly unlikely that he's being sent on such an obviously heavy-action mission requiring immaculate physical fitness as the one we're seeing at the beginning of the episode.

So I wonder: How likely was it that a soldier that may be as clumsy and physically unfit as that would've been sent on such a special high-action mission? --2003:71:4F24:A52:716D:5BD8:1F4D:7094 (talk) 23:30, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

He would have to pass the PCPT (Physical Combat Proficiency Test). Surprisingly, we don't have an article, but see this site and this contemporary training film (the test itself is shown at 9:00). Merely being overweight wouldn't disqualify him if he could pass the test. See United States Army Physical Fitness Test for the current (less rigourous) test, introduced in 1980. Tevildo (talk) 06:36, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Q: How long was basic training before deployment at that time? If the army took in a very overweight kid and got him fit, would there have been enough time for him to lose much weight due to increased exercise and I suppose a somewhat controlled diet before arriving in Vietnam? --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 08:39, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Typically at the time, 8 weeks of Basic, 8 weeks of AIT, and a similar time on the unit (see the above video). A normal soldier could expect to be in country about six months after recruitment. If a recruit were very overweight, he would probably be classified as 4-F by the draft board and avoid service. Tevildo (talk) 17:28, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Unless I miss my guess, the case is one of fiction, and so rules, regulations and common sense need not apply. See Gomer Pyle, USMC, M*A*S*H and Hogan's Heroes?DOR (HK) (talk) 09:30, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

I would be really cautious about speculating about the weight, physical fitness, or "clumsiness" of living persons at the refdesk. --Trovatore (talk) 20:42, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Does a fictional character count as a "living person"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:01, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

No, but Osment does. --Trovatore (talk) 22:54, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

If you Google Image him, he looks kind of pudgy in some of the pictures, but not all. Couldn't say what he looked like during the episode the OP asked about. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:18, 9 May 2018 (UTC)