We all associate colors with feeling and attitudes. In politics dark blue often means 'tradition', and red means 'social change'. But blue can also mean sadness (I'm feeling blue), white is often for purity, although in China white is worn at weddings and black for funerals. Advertisers are aware of the importance of selecting colors according to the way people react to them. Soap powders come in white and light blue packets (clean and cold, like ice) cereals often come in brown packets (like wheat fields), but cosmetics never come in brown jars (dirty?). Where do these ideas come from? Max Luscher from the University of Geneva believes that in the beginning life was dictated by two factors beyond our control: night and day. Night brought passivity, and a general slowing down of metabolism day brought with it the possibility of action, and increase in the metabolic rate, thus providing us with energy and initiative. Dark blue, therefore, is the color of quiet and passivity, bright yellow, the color of hope and activity. In prehistoric times, activity as a rule took one of two forms: either we were hunting and attacking, or we were being hunted and defending ourselves against attack. Attack is universally represented by the color red self-preservation by its complement green. In Luscher's view, the association of colors with feeling and attitudes can be traced back to ______.