beleaving is seeing

As an artist I have a tendency to see things others do not. which in part may explain why I keep seeing the number 144 and 44.
I had a professor once ask me"is the apple red". I said "yes it is red." The professor laughed and said"no the apple is not red. The light striking the apple is made up of all the colors of the rainbow. All the colors but red are absorbed by the apple and the color red is the only color reflected. As a result you see the apple as being red but in truth it is only reflected light. So if the apple is only reflecting light and that is all we see, what is the true color of the apple or for that matter what is the true color of anything? Do we live in a world of mirrors or is it another illusions of the mind? Do we really want to know or does it matter in a world where people only see what they want too? With the world made up of so many different kinds of people, of every skin color and of every religion, should we be concerned who is what color or belief. After all, if we can not trust the apple to be red what can we trust in a house of mirrors?