The Latest Optical Illusion Making The Rounds Might Actually Break Your Brain

September 14, 2016

Man using laptop on sofa. Photo: Richard Drury (Getty).

People love a good puzzle, right? Well, if that’s the case, then why is the following optical illusion so infuriating?

This Optical Illusion Making the Rounds Will Break Your Brain

There are twelve black dots at the intersections in this image. Your brain won’t let you see them all at once. pic.twitter.com/ig6P980LOT

— Will Kerslake (@wkerslake) September 11, 2016

Here’s the rub: those black dots that are seemingly appearing and disappearing right in front of your eyes are completely static. So what the hell is going on here? One Redditor shared his explanation for the phenomenon, which he conceived with a little help from “Variations on the Hermann Grid: An Extinction Illusion“:

“When the white disks in a scintillating grid are reduced in size, and outlined in black, they tend to disappear. One sees only a few of them at a time, in clusters which move erratically on the page. Where they are not seen, the grey alleys seem to be continuous, generating grey crossings that are not actually present.”

Any questions? Oh, more than when you started, you say? Yeah, us too.

(h/t Distractify)

At least this one doesn’t hurt as much: Can You See What’s In This Red Dot Optical Illusion?

If you couldn't tell by his photo, dignity flew out the window long ago for Cory. But that just means that nothing is off limits, making him the perfect fit to write for Mandatory. Hobbies include: eating pizza, thinking about going for a jog today, writing memes that no one finds funny, and wondering what life would be like if he'd actually put forth the effort to make something of it 10 years ago. He also owns two other hats (not pictured).