Article states that the sea has always looked the same to people, then suggests it's changed in colour within human history.
Then the author states that they couldn't find any examples of humanity's 'view' of the sea having changed. But, rather famously, Homer described the sea as 'wine dark'. A description we wouldn't readily use today.
That very description has been used as a trigger for historians and linguists to discuss whether human perception of colour has changed, and that our language surrounding colour has changed. The concept of 'blue' is a linguistically modern one, increasing in frequency in descriptive texts within the past few thousand years.
And that's before we even consider the cultural fabric of the concept of the 'sea'. To look at the sea now conjures images of boats, yachts, even planes on the horizon, at night there may be satellites, or simply light pollution blocking the stars. Back then the boats were fewer, or more, and of a different kind, the sea evoked danger due to the hazards of its traversal.
Otherwise, you are right in the sense that the cultural "eyes" have changed over time, but I think you've entirely missed the basic point I'm making, which is simply that the visual image of the sea itself, as recorded by the eyes, is basically the same today as it was thousands of years ago, and how this feels like a link to the past.
Note that I didn't write "the sea has always looked the same to people," I wrote, "looked the same." This is a different point. Of course, this opens a Pandora's box of philosophical questions about vision and cultural influence on sight, but this is a 500-word Substack post, not a thesis.
Then the author states that they couldn't find any examples of humanity's 'view' of the sea having changed. But, rather famously, Homer described the sea as 'wine dark'. A description we wouldn't readily use today.
That very description has been used as a trigger for historians and linguists to discuss whether human perception of colour has changed, and that our language surrounding colour has changed. The concept of 'blue' is a linguistically modern one, increasing in frequency in descriptive texts within the past few thousand years.
And that's before we even consider the cultural fabric of the concept of the 'sea'. To look at the sea now conjures images of boats, yachts, even planes on the horizon, at night there may be satellites, or simply light pollution blocking the stars. Back then the boats were fewer, or more, and of a different kind, the sea evoked danger due to the hazards of its traversal.
The sea has never looked the same.