Why do people associate red with hot and blue with cold

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SUMMARY

The association of red with hot and blue with cold is primarily rooted in biological and sociological perceptions rather than physical properties. Red is linked to fire, embers, and molten metal, which are all visually represented in warm tones. Conversely, blue is associated with ice, cloudy skies, and bodies of water, which are perceived as cooler. This intuitive understanding is influenced by cultural contexts and environmental cues rather than the actual energy levels of light, where blue light possesses higher energy than red.

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When in reality, blue light is the higher energy.
 
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Because people's intuition is more a matter of biology and sociology than it is a matter of physics.
 
Fire is kind of red, ice is kind of bluish?
 
Perhaps because fire, bonfires are red-yellow. Embers are red. Hot metal is red. Volcanoes lava is red...

On the other hand. Ice is sometimes bluish. Cloudy days are of higher color temperature, this is more bluish. The sea is blue.

The heat is infrared and we are not sensitive to light (except for the eyes). Too much visible light on our skin are turned into infrared and this is why we notice its energy.

Simon.
 
bubal said:
Perhaps because fire, bonfires are red-yellow. Embers are red. Hot metal is red. Volcanoes lava is red...

On the other hand. Ice is sometimes bluish. Cloudy days are of higher color temperature, this is more bluish. The sea is blue.

The heat is infrared and we are not sensitive to light (except for the eyes). Too much visible light on our skin are turned into infrared and this is why we notice its energy.

Simon.

I see numerous examples of red being associated with hot, but there are fewer examples of blue being cold. I think it may be more along the lines of "not hot" is cold and "not red" is blue.
 

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