My lyin' eyes

[MacMission]

Can somebody demystify?

http://bored.com/photos/lookcloselyattil...yside.html

[BigGuynRusty]

It is called an "Optical Illusion".
http://web.mit.edu/persci/people/adelson...usion.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion

BGnR

[archipirata]

Our brain tries to oversimplify by seeing only 2 types of tile, light and dark, and ignores the shift in the gradient. Since we "think" it is only two shades our mind only lets us choose two options, light or dark. Since "A" is darker than those around it, and "B" is lighter, they must be opposite shades (This is what our oversimplifying brain is telling us so this is what we "see".)

[OWC Jamie]

My eye isn't quite as easily fooled if I delete the leters A and B, which are not the same color.

[Don Kiyoti]

That's one heck of an illusion.

[Yoyodyne ArtWorks]

Ow, I think I broke my brain! Very cool and very strange...

[MacMission]

Thanks for the info guys.
I've been able to accept many unusual optical illusions but this one is bewildering and really confuses my brain. It's actually messin' with my mind.

[Carnos Jax]

Yes, I saw that one several years (or maybe it was a couple) ago. Very powerful illusion. It offers insights into the way our brains process information and how we perceive the universe around us. Scientists theorize that similar (though not optical) situations present themselves in the world around us, making what we think we know, not what we know (do I sound like Rumsfeld yet?), like the perception of time and other dimensions.