Human beings love optical illusions. When you think about it, you would assume that most people don’t love to be confused. However, as it turns out, scientists have recently discovered that our brains love to learn and when we see an optical illusion, our minds become “excited” about being tricked and the challenge of solving what we see. Optical illusions have a long history of study and great minds have been studying them for centuries. In fact, as far back as the 5th century B.C., a Greek philosopher named Epicharmus first presented to his peers an explanation for optical illusions. This man believed that when our minds understand what we’re seeing clearly, the sensory organs (eyes, nose, and ears) can effectively deceive us, thereby presenting us with optical illusions.
However, a different Greek philosopher named Protagoras disagreed, and he said that the environment fools us, not our senses. Plato and Socrates also got involved, with different opinions. However, it’s a lot of fun to try to solve them, no matter how we’re being fooled. The latest optical illusion to take the internet by storm is the one below. People can’t agree on whether or not they’re looking at is a lake or a concrete wall. What do you think?
Think you know what it is? We will share the solution on the next page. Meanwhile, check out this bonus puzzle. Can you find the fruit that is the odd one out?
Did you solve these two tricky questions? Head over to the next page for the solutions.