Summary Of Oliver Sacks 'The Island Of The Colorblind'

The Island of the Colorblind
Oliver Sacks, author of “The Island of the Colorblind” and his comrades, Knut and Bob, embark on a journey through Pingelap then Pohnpei, leaning more and more about the indigenous achromatopes of the islands. Achromatopes are colorblind and have a painful intolerance of bright light and an inability to see fine detail. In Pingelap, they come to learn that all the achromatopes can easily discern each of the plants from one another. To the average color-normals, the island may appear as a sea of green. Looking at an island as a whole one shade of green on one tree will most likely not be recognized as distinct from another shade of green on a neighboring tree. We take advantage of our sight so much so that we may tend to easily neglect the use of our other senses to identify two dissimilar objects from one another. However, it should make sense that the colorblind can discern shades and have developed
I would think that at such a relatively high occurrence rate, more medical personnel and locals would be aware. As unfortunate as it may be, there are several other disorders elsewhere in the world that go unrecognized by the general public and even physicians. For example, hemochromatosis is the most common, preventable, life-threatening genetic disorder in North America, yet most physicians have never personally diagnosed a case. But in the case of the Pingelapese in Pohnpei, several people with the genetic disorder spend most of their hours indoors and hidden away from the sun, and thus the general public. I can imagine that this must take a large toll on them physiologically, having to remain hidden from the outside sun and spending most of their time indoors in the dark, all the while, people not being aware of their conditions or even existence. Achromatopes must either just cope or seek medical