The rainbow is gone

[aadler]

If you live in the U.S., do this next time you’re out driving:

Look at the colors of the vehicles on the road. Personal vehicles, not commercial (or those decorated to advertise various businesses).

• Most of what you see will be white, black, silver, or various shades of gray.
• If there are actual colors, they’ll usually be darker or subdued.
• If there are any with bright colors, they’ll usually be red.
• Any bright colors that aren’t red, will generally be yellow or blue.
• If not that — and by this point we’ll be getting down into such lower orders of probability that there may not be any examples at all — then you might see bright copper, bright purple, or neon yellow-green.
• Any exceptions past that are likely to be pale colors: very light blue, pale gold, or perhaps very mild yellow.
• And some of the colors that seem bright at first glance — red, blue, green — will be dark enough that it could be argued they actually fall into the dark/subdued class. Even if you eventually decide, “Yes, that counts as bright,” it’ll be a matter of personal interpretation.

Nobody decided or decreed that the cars on the road should suddenly be monochromatic (or seen through a dark filter). It just seemed to gradually get that way. And now it’s difficult to find any exceptions.

Probably doesn’t mean anything. But once it’s pointed out, you see it wherever you go.