Total Color Blindness

You can easily find a colorblindness test online, and it will most likely be a circle made of colored bubbles. In the center, there will be a number made of reddish bubbles surrounded by green bubbles. You're colorblind if you can't read that number. But that is only one type of colorblindness, also known as red-green colorblindness.

There are several types of colorblindness, the most common of which is red-green. Another uncommon variant is blue-yellow, and monochromacy is even rarer. One in every 33,000 people is affected by this version, and they see no color at all. Everything in the world is black and white.

Monochromacy is very common on the tiny Pacific Oceans island of Pingelap. This is due to a tsunami that killed all but about 20 people on the island in 1780. One of the survivors, the king, had a genetic condition that caused monochromacy. He did his best to repopulate the island, and his descendants carried the colorblindness gene.

Patients must now wear dark glasses during the day because the sun effectively blinds them. Their night vision, on the other hand, is astounding. Around 10% of the island has the condition, and they can work and function, as well as the rest, during the day.