So what? A camera records a light pattern which it later emits to our eyes, resulting in a visual representation. A rainbow is link any other image in a mirror. A virtual image. It exists in the mind of the observer. The same way two people see two different images in a mirror. Technically, we each see two images. One for each eye. We also see two rainbows, uncles we are looking at an image on a screen.
If a rainbow is something that happens in the mind of the observer then it is not possible for a camera to take a picture of a rainbow. At best, it can take a picture that will strike a human observer as rainbow-like, or something like that.
And, sure, you can choose to define “rainbow” that way, as referring to what happens in a person’s mind when they look towards a region where there are lots of water droplets illuminated by a light source behind that person. But I don’t see why we should define “rainbow” that way.
(I don’t think we have any disagreement about what’s actually happening in the world when someone “sees a rainbow”.)
That’s my point, very few people understand the process, but they can all See the rainbow. It is common usage that a rainbow is the perceived arch of colours, not the process.
So what? A camera records a light pattern which it later emits to our eyes, resulting in a visual representation. A rainbow is link any other image in a mirror. A virtual image. It exists in the mind of the observer. The same way two people see two different images in a mirror. Technically, we each see two images. One for each eye. We also see two rainbows, uncles we are looking at an image on a screen.
If a rainbow is something that happens in the mind of the observer then it is not possible for a camera to take a picture of a rainbow. At best, it can take a picture that will strike a human observer as rainbow-like, or something like that.
And, sure, you can choose to define “rainbow” that way, as referring to what happens in a person’s mind when they look towards a region where there are lots of water droplets illuminated by a light source behind that person. But I don’t see why we should define “rainbow” that way.
(I don’t think we have any disagreement about what’s actually happening in the world when someone “sees a rainbow”.)
That’s my point, very few people understand the process, but they can all See the rainbow. It is common usage that a rainbow is the perceived arch of colours, not the process.