Editing Darkness

{{Short description|Lack of light}}
{{other uses|Darkness (disambiguation)|Dark (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Absence of light}}
[[File:Creation of Light.png|right|thumb|250px|''The Creation of Light'' by [[Gustave Doré]]]]

'''Darkness''' is the condition resulting from a lack of [[lighting|illumination]], or an absence of visible [[light]].

Human [[visual perception|vision]] is unable to distinguish [[color]]s in conditions of very low [[luminance]] because the [[hue]]-sensitive [[photoreceptor cell]]s on the [[retina]] are inactive when light levels are insufficient, in the range of visual perception referred to as [[scotopic vision]].

The emotional response to darkness has generated [[metaphor]]ical usages of the term in many cultures, often used to describe an unhappy or foreboding feeling.

"Darkness" may also refer to [[night]], which occurs when the [[Sun]] is more than 18° below the [[horizon]].

==Scientific==

===Perception===
The perception of darkness differs from the mere absence of light that sometimes lead to afterimages. In perceiving, the eye is active, and the part of the retina that is unstimulated produces a complementary afterimage.<ref>{{cite book |first1=David T. |last1=Horner |title=Demonstrations of Color Perception and the Importance of Contours, Handbook for Teaching Introductory Psychology |volume=2 |page=217 |publisher=Psychology Press |location=Texas |year=2000 |quote="Afterimages are the complementary hue of the adapting stimulus and trichromatic theory fails to account for this fact" |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qyjYzloWfoMC&q=retina%20that%20is%20unstimulated%20produces%20a%20complementary%20afterimage&pg=PA216 |isbn=9780805836547 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Physics===
{{See also|Light|Heat death of the universe}}
In terms of physics, an object is said to be dark when it absorbs [[photon]]s, causing it to appear dim compared to other objects.  For example, matte black paint does not reflect much visible light and appears dark, whereas white paint reflects much light and appears bright.<ref>{{cite journal
  | author = Mantese, Lucymarie
  | title = Photon-Driven Localization: How Materials Really Absorb Light
  | publisher = American Physical Society
  | date = March 2000
  | bibcode = 2000APS..MAR.E2001M
  | journal    = American Physical Society, Annual March Meeting
 | pages = E2.001
 }}
</ref> For more information, see [[color]]. An object may appear dark, but it may be bright at a frequency that humans cannot perceive.

A dark area has limited light sources, making things hard to see. Exposure to alternating light and darkness (night and day) has caused several evolutionary adaptations to darkness.  When a [[vertebrate]], like a human, enters a dark area, its [[pupil]]s dilate, allowing more light to enter the eye and improving [[night vision]]. Also, the light detecting cells in the human eye ([[rods and cones]]) will regenerate more unbleached [[rhodopsin]] when adapting to darkness.

One scientific measure of darkness is the [[Bortle Dark-Sky Scale|Bortle scale]], which indicates the night [[Sky brightness|sky's and stars' brightness]] at a particular location, and the observability of celestial objects at that location.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mizon |first=Bob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0j6lDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |title=Finding a Million-Star Hotel: An Astro-Tourist's Guide to Dark Sky Places |date=2016-07-04 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-33855-2 |pages=9–16 |language=en}}</ref>

The material known as [[Vantablack]] is one of the darkest substances known, absorbing up to 99.965% of visible light (at 663&nbsp;nm if the light is perpendicular to the material), and was developed by Surrey NanoSystems in the United Kingdom.<ref name="NBCNews">{{cite web |last=Coldewey |first=Devin |date=15 July 2014 |title=Vantablack: U.K. Firm Shows Off 'World's Darkest Material' |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/vantablack-u-k-firm-shows-worlds-darkest-material-n155581 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719140154/https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/vantablack-u-k-firm-shows-worlds-darkest-material-n155581 |archive-date=19 July 2014 |access-date=19 July 2014 |website=[[NBC News]]}}</ref><ref>[[Guinness World Records]]: [https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/darkest-manmade-substance/ ''Darkest manmade substance''], 19 October 2015</ref> The name is a compound of the acronym VANTA (vertically aligned nanotube arrays) and the color black.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rossing |first1=Thomas D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_XHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA172 |title=Light Science: Physics and the Visual Arts |last2=Chiaverina |first2=Christopher J. |date=2020-01-03 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-27103-9 |pages=172 |language=en}}</ref>

===Technical===
The color of a [[pixel|point]], on a standard 24-bit [[computer display]], is defined by three RGB (red, green, blue) values, each ranging from 0–255. When the red, green, and blue components of a pixel are fully illuminated (255,255,255), the pixel appears white; when all three components are unilluminated (0,0,0), the pixel appears black.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kruegle |first=Herman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DaQY8CrmqFcC&pg=PA259 |title=CCTV Surveillance: Video Practices and Technology |date=2011-03-15 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-046818-1 |pages=259 |language=en}}</ref>

==Cultural==

===Artistic===
[[File:The Calling of Saint Matthew-Caravaggo (1599-1600).jpg|thumb|[[Caravaggio]]'s ''[[The Calling of St Matthew (Caravaggio)|The Calling of St Matthew]]'' uses darkness for its [[chiaroscuro]] effects.]]
{{Main|Tints and shades|chiaroscuro}}
{{multiple issues|section=y|{{unreferenced section|date=January 2010}}
{{original research section|date=November 2014}}}}

Artists use darkness to emphasize and contrast the presence of light. Darkness can be used as a counterpoint to areas of lightness to create [[Composition (visual arts)#Line and shape|leading lines]] and [[negative space|voids]]. Such shapes draw the eye around areas of the painting. Shadows add depth and perspective to a painting.

Color [[paint]]s are mixed together to create darkness, because each color absorbs certain frequencies of light. Theoretically, mixing together the three [[primary color]]s, or the three [[secondary color]]s, will absorb all visible light and create black. In practice, it is difficult to prevent the mixture from taking on a brown tint.

===Literature===
[[File:Dividing Light from Darkness.jpg|thumb|Separation of light and darkness on the first day of creation, from the [[Sistine Chapel ceiling]] by [[Michelangelo]]]]
{{further|Light and darkness}}
As a poetic term in the [[Western world]], darkness is used to connote the presence of shadows, evil, and foreboding,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7eXdCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |title=Heart of Darkness: Literary Touchstone Classic |date=31 December 2004 |publisher=Prestwick House Inc |isbn=978-1-58049-812-8 |pages=6 |language=en}}</ref> or in modern parlance, to connote that a story is grim, heavy, and/or depressing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Darkness |url=https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/darkness |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209020511/http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/darkness |archive-date=Dec 9, 2016 |access-date=19 December 2022 |website=MacMillan Dictionary}}</ref>

====Religion====
The concept of [[light]] and darkness holds profound symbolic and theological significance across various religious traditions, serving as metaphors for creation, morality, and the nature of existence.

In the [[Judeo-Christian]] tradition, the first creation narrative begins with a void, described as "formless and empty," over which "darkness was over the surface of the deep" ([[Genesis creation narrative|Genesis]] 1:2). Into this void, [[God]] introduces light, declaring, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3), and separates this light from the darkness. This initial act of creation is distinct from the later creation of celestial bodies—the sun and moon—on the fourth day.

The symbolism of darkness and light in these traditions extends beyond the physical. Light is often associated with divine presence, knowledge, and goodness, while darkness symbolizes ignorance, separation from God, and sin. For example, in [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 10:21, darkness is described as "the second-to-last plague" inflicted upon Egypt, representing both physical and spiritual blindness. Similarly, in the [[New Testament]], [[Jesus]] frequently contrasts light and darkness in his teachings. Darkness is the "outer realm" where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth" ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 8:12), symbolizing eternal separation from God.

In [[Islam]], light ([[Nūr (Islam)|''nūr'']]) and darkness (''ẓulumāt'') are frequently invoked in both physical and spiritual contexts, reflecting profound moral and theological truths. The [[Quran]] begins its account of creation with [[Allah]] (or God) making the heavens and the earth and then creating "the darknesses and the light" (Quran 6:1). However, unlike some traditions where darkness is portrayed as inherently evil or chaotic, Islam emphasizes that both are under Allah's divine will and serve His purposes.

Light in the Quran often represents guidance, faith, and divine revelation, while darkness symbolizes misguidance, disbelief, and moral corruption. For instance, believers are often described as being "brought out from darkness into light" (Quran 2:257), a metaphor for their journey from ignorance to divine knowledge. This dichotomy underscores the moral framework of Islam, where both light and darkness are tools through which Allah tests and guides humanity.

In ancient [[Greek mythology]], [[Erebus]] was a primordial deity representing the personification of darkness, particularly associated with the shadowy realm of death and the [[Greek underworld|underworld]]. In Greek [[Early Greek cosmology|cosmology]], darkness was often linked to the afterlife, where souls journeyed into the depths of the underworld, a place of shadow and obscurity.

Darkness in Greek cosmology was not merely an absence of light but a distinct and active force. The underworld, ruled by [[Hades]], was a place of obscurity and shadow, reflecting the ambiguous fate of the human soul after death. In this tradition, darkness often signified the unknown and the eternal, as well as the boundaries between life and the afterlife.

====Philosophy====
In [[Chinese philosophy]], [[Yin and yang|yin]] is the complementary feminine part of the [[taijitu]] and is represented by a dark lobe.

====Poetry====
The use of darkness as a [[rhetorical device]] has a long-standing tradition. William Shakespeare, working in the 16th and 17th centuries, made a character called the "prince of darkness" ([[King Lear]]: III, iv) and gave darkness jaws with which to devour love. ([[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]: I, i)<ref>{{cite web
  | last = Shakespeare
  | author-link = Shakespeare
  | first = William
  | title = The Complete Works
  | publisher = The Tech, [[MIT]]
  | url = http://shakespeare.mit.edu/
}}</ref> Geoffrey Chaucer, a 14th-century Middle English writer of ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'', wrote that knights must cast away the "workes of darkness".<ref>{{cite book
  | last1= Chaucer| first1=Geoffrey |author-link1=Chaucer
  | title = The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems
  | location = The Second Nun's Tale
  | url = https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2383
}}</ref> In ''[[The Divine Comedy|Divine Comedy]]'', Dante described hell as "solid darkness stain'd".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alighieri |first1=Dante |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8800 |title=The Divine Comedy |last2=Francis |first2=Henry (trans.) |author-link1=Dante}}
</ref>

====Language====
In [[Old English]] there were three words that could mean darkness: {{Lang|ang|heolstor, genip}}, and ''{{Lang|ang|sceadu}}''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=Bruce |url=https://archive.org/details/guidetooldenglis0000mitc_d3h3 |title=A Guide to Old English |author2=Fred C. Robinson |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-631-22636-9 |location=Glossary |pages=332, 349, 363, 369 |url-access=registration}}
</ref> ''{{Lang|ang|Heolstor}}'' also meant "hiding-place" and became holster. ''{{Lang|ang|Genip}}'' meant "mist" and fell out of use like many [[Germanic strong verb|strong verb]]s. It is however still used in the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] saying "{{Lang|nl|in het geniep}}" which means secretly. ''{{Lang|ang|Sceadu}}'' meant "shadow" and remained in use. The word ''dark'' eventually evolved from the word ''{{Lang|ang|deorc}}''.<ref>{{cite web
  | last = Harper
  | first = Douglass
  | title = Dark
  | website = Online Etymology Dictionary
  | date=November 2001
  | url = http://www.etymonline.com
  | access-date = 2007-01-18 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Lightness]]
* [[Shadow]]
* [[Theory of colours]]
* [[Nyctophobia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{wiktionary-inline}}
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Darkness| ]]
[[Category:Blindness]]