I love Goethe's "unscientific" color theory!


"The human being himself, to the extent that he makes sound use of his senses, is the most exact physical apparatus that can exist." (Goethe, Scientific Studies)

light seen through a turbid medium appears yellow, and darkness seen through an illuminated medium appears blue - the world is full of turbidity (especially now.)

Why the sky is blue . . .

The highest degree of light, such as that of the sun... is for the most part colourless. This light, however, seen through a medium but very slightly thickened, appears to us yellow. If the density of such a medium be increased, or if its volume become greater, we shall see the light gradually assume a yellow-red hue, which at last deepens to a ruby colour. If on the other hand darkness is seen through a semi-transparent medium, which is itself illumined by a light striking on it, a blue colour appears: this becomes lighter and paler as the density of the medium is increased, but on the contrary appears darker and deeper the more transparent the medium becomes: in the least degree of dimness short of absolute transparence, always supposing a perfectly colourless medium, this deep blue approaches the most beautiful violet.

—Goethe, Theory of Colours, pp. 150–151



Curiously, since the crux of Goethe's theory is tied to what is experiential, he would reject both the wave and particle theories since they are conceptually inferred and not directly perceived by the human senses.

So back to the beginning . . . we are the most exact physical apparatus that can exist. And I'd go further and posit that the human heart has infinite depth beyond any scripture. Indeed the light and dark work together and in that working color forms.