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Comment by abandonliberty | Hacker News Reader

Glasses that enable people with the common type of colorblindness to see color in bright areas.

Funny that the article doesn't mention them, I've heard very positive things.

I am colorblind, and I have heard too about Enchroma... I do think that I have no issue trying out a pair of glasses and see the difference rather than betting on an injection in my eye... Don't take me wrong, I truly believe that some technical advances in medicine are welcome and needed, but colorblind is not a huge disability. I have learn to live with it, and it is not the end of the world. It is great if it works, but I think colorblindness isn't a first category Medical issue to be solved now.

> It is great if it works, but I think colorblindness isn't a first category Medical issue to be solved now.

That's not how innovation works. It's not a tech tree in which you choose what advance you discover next. You reflect on what you already know, intuit hypotheses from this, and then test those hypotheses to figure out how false they are.

Research isn't about solutions. It's about understanding.

why would you say that to someone.

It's not a big issue for most of us, but if you want to work in a field where it's required, it's kind of a big deal. This includes some things that makes sense (graphic design, house painting) and some things that really should be accessible to the colorblind, if we hadn't carelessly set them up to not be (electrical engineering is heavily dependent on rainbow color codes).

It's not on the same order as, say, curing cancer, but finding a treatment for "8% of the population can't be electrical engineers or pilots for no good reason" seems like a pretty substantial thing.

> electrical engineering is heavily dependent on rainbow color codes

I feel the need to clarify this, if only that colour blind people aren't deterred from their chosen career. There is a distinction to be made between an electrical engineer (one who designs electrical systems) and an electrician (one who installs electrical systems).

Colour blindness isn't a barrier to electrical engineering. I'm an electrical engineer and have never had a colour test in relation to my job or been queried about whether I am colour blind.

Electricians (in Australia at least) are tested for colour blindness as part of their licensing. Even there, colour deficiency isn't an absolute barrier, as the requirement is that one has to be trade capable (ie. able to do the job). It depends on the degree of deficiency, also keeping in mind that the modern wire colours for mains electricity have been chosen with colour deficiency in mind.

Colour blind and interested in being an electrical engineer? Go for it.

Colour blind and interested in being an electrician? Get advice and make sure the adviser knows what they are talking about.

The following is a summary of how colour deficiency can affect your career choice in Australia:

http://www.optometrists.asn.au/media/238582/visual_standards...

I think by rainbow color codes the OP was referring to the color codes on through-hole resistors.

But I can't imagine that impacting your ability to work as an EE at all. Especially since almost everything is surface mount these days anyway.

My grand father was a railroad electrician for many decades, and I always found it fascinating that he was able to get by despite his colour blindness. Apart from the wires, he had to ensure that he interpreted the red and green signal lights correctly to avoid disaster.

Thanks for the clarification. I did indeed get that wrong.

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