We rely on our senses to interpret the world around us, but they’re not as foolproof as we might think.
Ever noticed how food tastes different when you can’t smell it? Or how your hands fumble with textures in the dark? Our eyes are just as easily tricked—give them an optical illusion, and they’ll glitch out faster than an old computer.
That’s what makes them so fun to mess with! To put your perception to the test, we’ve gathered some of the most mind-bending photos from the subreddit Confusing Perspectives. Check them out below, and don’t miss our conversation with cognitive scientist Mark Changizi on why our brains keep falling for these visual tricks.
#1 Theres Something Wrong In Her Shadow
#2 Like A Big Wave
It’s kind of humbling when you think about it—our brains are powerful, yet it doesn’t take much to trick them. A simple optical illusion is enough to throw them off. But how exactly do these illusions work? To find out, We reached out to Mark Changizi, a cognitive scientist and author of The Vision Revolution and Motorcycle Mind.
#3 Skiers Looking Like Music Notes
#4 Pick Pocket!
“Optical illusions occur because your brain is slow,” Changizi explains. “It takes about a tenth of a second to generate a perception, meaning that if your brain simply registered the world as it was when light hit your retina, your perception would already be outdated. In that fraction of a second, even at a slow walking speed of 1 m/s, you would have moved 10 cm. Now imagine running or catching a ball—reacting to the past wouldn’t cut it.”
#5 Whats For Dinner?
#6 Oh, The Invisible Car!
#7 That Are Some Ferocious Teeth
“To compensate, your brain has evolved to anticipate the immediate future,” Changizi continues. “Instead of rendering a perception of the past, it predicts what will happen next and generates a perception of that future moment. By the time the perception is formed, reality has caught up, allowing you to experience the world in real-time.”
#8 Wth! Did Her Head Fall Off?
#9 Black Dress, Hands On Hips And A Huge Head
#10 Gabriel Medina At The Olympics Leaving The Truman Show
According to Changizi, many optical illusions take advantage of this predictive system.
“A common example is illusions featuring radiating lines, which your brain interprets as blur streaks—like those you experience when moving forward, where the visual field expands outward, similar to the Starship Enterprise jumping to warp speed,” he says.
#11 At First Glance This Is Very Strange
#12 Its Not Mountain View
#13 Retired Fire Chief Proudly Shows Off His 1:4 Scale Truck And Figures
The Hering Illusion, discovered in 1861 by German physiologist Ewald Hering, is a perfect showcase of this effect. Two straight vertical lines sit over a background of radiating lines, similar to bicycle spokes, yet somehow, your brain insists they’re curving. Look closer, and you’ll see they never moved at all.
“If you were actually passing through a tall cathedral door, for instance, its sides would appear to warp in your visual field in exactly this way—far apart at eye level but converging higher up,” says Changizi. “Your brain applies that same warping perception here, even though you’re standing still, creating the illusion.”
#14 Hey You Guys Forgot To Unpacked Me
#15 Thats Not A Tower
#16 Sneaky Hand
You might think that falling for illusions means your brain is making a mistake, but that’s not the case. In fact, these illusions prove just how advanced our brains are.
“These illusions reveal how your brain processes the world in real-time,” Changizi says. “While illusions may trick you in controlled settings, in everyday life your brain is constantly receiving optic flow and other cues about how the world will change in the next moment. By using those cues to generate a perception of the immediate future, it allows you to experience the present instead of lagging behind.”
#17 Perfect Towel For Your Sweat On A Hot Day
#18 It’s The Same Photo On The Left And On The Right. It’s Just Been Rotated 180°
#19 Two Story Beach
“This predictive mechanism is essential for navigation, coordination, and reacting quickly to your environment,” he adds. “In short, the same system that makes illusions possible is what allows you to function seamlessly in the real world.”
#20 This Is One Picture Of A Cemetery, Not 2 Images Stitched Together
#21 Ayoo
#22 Aliens Are Real!
Now, while we tend to call any tricky image an “optical illusion,” the photos in this list don’t actually fall into that category. What you’re seeing are ambiguous illusions, which work differently.
Instead of playing with motion and predictions, ambiguous illusions confuse your brain by offering two valid interpretations. Your mind can’t settle on just one, so it flips between the two.
#23 Jumping Skid
#24 Slender Legs
#25 Lazy Eye?
Take the illusion of the cat and the chicken—you’ll spot it somewhere between the lines. At first glance, it looks like one bizarre creature, a cat’s head seamlessly attached to a roasted chicken’s body. But after a moment, you realize that it’s just a cat sitting behind the bowl. Still, your brain keeps switching back and forth, unable to fully shake the first interpretation.
That’s the key difference:
Optical illusions trick your brain into seeing things that aren’t really there, usually by messing with depth, size, or motion.Ambiguous illusions give your brain two possible answers, making it flip between them. #26 This Is The First Time I Have Seen The Camouflage Work
#27 Both Dogs Are The Same Size
#28 Just Thought
At the end of the day, whether an illusion is optical or ambiguous, they both do the same thing: mess with your brain in the most fascinating way. And let’s be honest, sometimes getting tricked is half the fun. So next time you stumble upon one, take a moment to appreciate just how weird and wonderful human perception really is.
#29 Sometimes You Eat The Burger And Sometimes The Burger Eats You
#30 Stop Looking At Me
#31 Took My Helmet Off To Let My Hair Breathe
#32 This Stone In The Lake Looks Like A Floating Rock
#33 It Took A While To Understand
#34 My Brain Is Not Braining
#35 Where Are You Pointing At
#36 Photograph Of An Abandoned Hotel
#37 My Brother Took My Beard
#38 When You Only Pay For One Seat
#39 That Was Huge?!
#40 Giants Over The City
#41 So Many Staircases
#42 Inflated Cat
#43 Man In The Middle Of The Crowd Had Removed Someone’s Head And Is Holding It Aloft, Like A Trophy
#44 This Mug Is Empty
#45 Kitty Yoda
#46 Not Your Wife Brotha
#47 2D Bags
#48 Small Dog To Dog Ratio
#49 Bro Its Not Your Wife!
#50 Bro Is Going To Game Night
#51 Oh, Look At The Two Pups At The Lake
#52 Nobody Nose What That Cat Is Drinking
#53 Need A Hand?
#54 The Bmw Crossback, Comes With A Trunk And A Frunk
#55 What’s Going On
#56 I Have 2 Bodies, Hehe
#57 Its Too Cloudy Out There
#58 I Thought She Was Floating
#59 Wow She’s Strong
#60 Extreme Chinese Olympic Swimmer
#61 This Is The Reason Why You Should Not Forget Leg Day!!
#62 The Way My Pant Leg Is Laying Looks Like My Legs Are AI Generated
#63 So This Is Where Rainbows Come From
#64 Woah Where Are You Taking That?
#65 Something Is Wrong With Those Arms
#66 Is It A Neck ?
#67 The Bluetooth Device Is Connected Successfully
#68 Floating Tables
#69 Quite A Different Style Of Displaying
#70 It Really Fills The Room
#71 It’s Hard To Understand What’s Going On Here
#72 Messed With My Brain A Little Bit
#73 A Bird That Looks Like Another Bigger Bird
#74 Who Pays The Bill?
#75 This Picture My Friend Sent Me Of Their Dog
#76 Whats That Thing Flying
#77 Head Ball
#78 Door Handle Is Actually Behind The TV
#79 The Bear Is See-Through?
#80 Once You See It, You Can’t Unsee It
#81 Mirror
#82 Two Planes Crashing Into Eachother
#83 Skinny Legs Or No Legs?
#84 GF Took This Photo Of Me Stretching
#85 I Thought It Was Bad Photoshop At First
#86 No, Sir. I Don’t Like It
#87 Two Lamps On Grass
#88 Wait A Minute
#89 These Shoes Looking Like My Nightmares
#90 Boats On The Left Look Like They’re Floating
#91 Big Af Mouth
#92 The Norwegian Princess’ Husband Got A Fresh Haircut For The Wedding
#93 Nosy Woman
#94 Waistline Declines
#95 Doggie?
#96 Thought My Dad Was Dressed Scantily Clad Here 😳
#97 Still Cant Rn, Can You?
#98 This Nice Spiral Planter
#99 Where’s The Mirror?
#100 This Took My Brain So Long To Comprehend
#101 Saw This In Another Sub And Thought It Was Fitting For Here
#102 What Does Everyone Think It Is?
#103 Now I’m So Concerned
#104 That Kid Has A Big Arm
#105 Giant Broken Knife
