Page 33 - (DK) How to be a GENIUS?
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Is it square?
                                                          The concentric
                                                          circles in this
                                                          picture trick
                                                          our brains into
                                                          thinking that the
                                                          image has depth.
                                                          It also makes the
                                                                     g
                                                                y
                                                          p perfectly straight
                                                          lines of the blue
                                                          square appear
                                                          to bend inward.
    Crossed lines
    This illusion was
     discovered by German
     astrophysicist Johann
     Karl Friedrich Zöllner.
      The four parallel
      vertical lines appear
      tilted. Scientists cannot
       explain why we see
       tilted lines when they
       are perfectly straight!























                                                                                        ntains two illusions. The
                                                                                               rspective, stretching
                                                                                                      d illusion
                                                                                  one
                                                                                   n
                                                                         black lines giv ve a sense of perspe
                                                                          into the distan nce. This creates a second il
                       A little bit dotty                              Two in on
                                        t
                       Dots appear to join the crosses in this image, but   This simple ima age contain
                       the dots don’t actually exist—they’re simply gaps   in which the red line at the top appears to be
                                        e
                       in the lines. Scientists disagree on an explanation.   longer than n the one at the bottom. They are,
                                        d
                       Do we see dots because the brain figures out the
                       boundaries of shapes from little bits of information?   in fact, the e same size.
                                        o
                       Or do we see the illusion before the brain has
                       processed exactly what it is we are looking at?
                                        t







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                                             (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.
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