Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
Three Illusions That Will Destroy Your Brain
![blue_green_spiral2.gif.CROP.rectangle-large.gif](/sites/syfy/files/wire/legacy/bad_astronomy/blue_green_spiral2.gif.crop.rectangle-large.gif)
Thanks to my evil twin Richard Wiseman (a UK psychologist who specializes in studying the ways we perceive things around us, and how easily we can be fooled), I saw this masterful illusion video that will keep you guessing on whatâs real and what isnât. Itâs only two minutes long, so give it a gander:
Cool, eh? The reason you got fooled, at least twice, is that we get confused when our three-dimensional world is translated into two dimensions. We perceive distance for nearby objects using binocular vision, which depends on the angles between our eyes and the objects. If you create a picture of an object that is carefully distorted to match those changing angles, you can fool the brain into thinking itâs seeing a real object when in fact itâs a flat representation.
Weâre actually very good at taking subtle cues and turning them into three-dimensional interpretations. However, because of that very sensitivity, itâs easy to throw a monkey in the wrench, messing up our perception.
Still donât believe me? Then watch this, and if it doesnât melt your brain, I can no longer help you.
Our brains are very, very easy to fool. Iâll note that the way we see color is very easy to trick, too. I wrote an article about a fantastic, astonishing color illusion back in 2009, and it spurred a lot of arguments in the comments, even when I showed clearly how it works. Amazing.
And because why not, hereâs the picture (the colors get a bit squished in the middle, so you can see the original here at the bottom of the page if you'd like). Tell me, do you see a blue-armed spiral, and a green one?
<evil chuckle>