Not really. Basicly, the amount (and color composition) of ambient light in a situation varies tremendously. Our eyes have to look at stuff on high noon in direct sunlight, various amounts of shade, twilight and at night. If we only counted the type of light given off by an object, the object would change color by simple dimming of lights. We track colors by looking at how much light comes off an object compared to the total light of the area. A projector can show black on a "white" screen because compared to all the bright light around the black spot, there's little light.