Page 33 - (DK) How to be a GENIUS?
P. 33
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
31
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.

