20 Optical Illusions That Will Have You Stumped

Can we always believe what our eyes tell us?

As you will see when you look at the following images, the simple answer to that is no. Our eyes can and do deceive us, especially when presented with ambiguous or misleading information. It would appear that in order to make sense of something our brain sort of fills in the gaps and presents us with a ‘picture’ that may not be a true representation of the reality. Stare at the three vertical dots in the centre of this image for about 30 seconds and then look at a white wall or a white bit of paper or you can even just sit back and close your eyes. What do you see? Don’t be freaked out now!

See if you can count how many legs this elephant has? Ok, the idea here is to count how many black dots you can see in the corner of the squares. If you think that sounds easy enough, think again! This is a very well known image but what does it say to you? Can you see an old woman or a beautiful young lady? All depends on your perception I suppose. All we are looking at here is a simple 2D picture but we don’t see it like that. There’s something quite freaky about looking at an image that you know is still but which appears to be moving. Flick your eyes over the image ! Funny one this, if you stare at the dot in the centre you will start to see that one or more of the dots round the outside disappear and reappear again as if popping in and out of existence. Do you see two oldies looking at each other or are you staring at a young man playing guitar and a young lady with a vase on her head? Stare at the dot in the centre of this image for about 20 seconds and then look at a white surface. Amazing! If you blink quickly you should see the colours of the British flag. Which horizontal line is the shortest? Your eyes will tell you that it is the first one but they happen to be exactly the same size. This one’s a real cracker. Which square is darker in colour, the A or the B? Would you believe it, they are exactly the same shade but your eyes trick you into thinking they are not. Check it out yourself. You had better believe it; these lines really are parallel with each other. look at the words and reading out the colour of the word and not what the word says. Not as easy as it sounds. No, this isn’t an image of two triangles on top of each other surrounded by circles; there are no triangles or circles at all!!! Believe it or not, the two orange bars on this image are exactly the same shade. It’s the way they are positioned on the green bars that makes them look different. Depending on what your brain decides to tell you, you might see a rabbit or then again, maybe it’s a duck. Is it a donkey or a seal? What do your eyes tell you? This is a very well known image that you have probably seen before. Do you see two silhouetted faces staring at each other or simply an ornate vase? This is another famous image. What do you see in it? Some see an Indian and others see an Eskimo, can you see both? Finally, a 2D picture that looks 3D and it’s in motion! Are you able to stop the rollers from moving?