Very disturbing optical illusion
December 14th, 2009 | by Sol |I really like optical illusions. Until recently, my favorite was this one. But, I have a new favorite now.
Here’s one that bothers me. See if it bothers you.
Look at the image below. Which square is darker, A or B, or are they the same color?
A hat tip to John Cook for blogging about this illusion.
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4 Responses to “Very disturbing optical illusion”
By Denise on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply
Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more convincing illusion. No matter how long I stare at it or how much I cover up the rest of the image, I cannot see those squares as the same color.
By Rick Regan on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply
What’s even more disturbing is that you can throw away all of the image except a small square encompassing A and B and the illusion STILL exists (I did so here: http://twitpic.com/tmama … feel free to copy it into this comment).
BTW, if you paint a white border around B the illusion disappears.
By Bob on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply
Cut or punch a 1/4 inch hole in an index card and hold the hole over the A and then over the B. Look at the card about an inch or so away from the hole so you can take advantage of your peripheral vision.