Color Temperature Conundrum

[steveparrott]

There's an interesting thread going on in LinkedIn that I thought I'd bring here for the landscape lighting perspective.

The conundrum is this:

Higher color temperatures represent heating a black body to higher temperatures. For example, heat a piece of iron to 10,000 degrees Kelvin and it glows blue. Cool that iron to 2,000 degrees and it glows yellow.

So, why do humans associate bluer colors with cooler temps; while they associate yellower light with warmer temps? That's the opposite of what color temp science tells us.

[starry night]

The yellow sun shines during the day when it is warm; the blueish moon shines at night when it is cool. It's been that way since Day One.

No conundrum to me.

[INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting]

Similarly;

Ice is cold, and blue (when highly compressed)
Fire is hot, and yellow.

The avg. Joe doesn't know a thing about colour temperature science.