Tag Archive for: optical illusion

Is what we perceive real?

legs

We all trust our eyes to show us the truth. We don’t typically doubt what we know we’ve seen “with our own eyes”.  Because we saw it–we know it was there! It was true. It was real.  And we often argue about our position because eyes don’t lie, right?

Be careful.

Look at what this Instagramer posted above.  What do you see?

Do you see shiny legs?  Maybe coated in oil or a slippery substance?

What if I told you there was nothing glossing up this woman’s legs at all. Absolutely nothing.

Would you believe me?  [I bet you are going back to look at that photo right now!  You don’t believe me…you trust your eyes, right?]

What if I told you she simply has white paint streaked on her legs?  Would you think I was lying?

Go look again.

Can you see it now?

Oh, wow, right?

How does this happen?

According to psychologist Claus-Christian Carbon, our brain mistakes the visual clues.  It takes the images and tries to process them in a way that makes sense, but every now and again, it fails.  And this is an example.

Which camp did you fall in? Did you see the oily legs or the painted legs?  Were you able to finally see it both ways? Or are you stuck only seeing one.

It’s kind of spooky, isn’t it?  It is that time of year — haha!!!

If you enjoyed that, this one is 10 times worse!  I tell ya. It’s still making me batty.  It’s a dress.

What color do you think the dress is??  Be careful. 

You can’t always trust what you see with your own two eyes!