Foundations Reading 7B

Chap 14

Reading 7B SEEING THE IMPOSSIBLE Can you believe everything you see? Not always! Sometimes our minds and our eyes make mistakes and get confused. This may be because we are looking at an optical illusion. The word optical means "related to sight"—the way we see things. An illusion is something that looks different from the way it really is. In short, an optical illusion is a trick that our eyes play on us. Look at these optical illusions and compare what you see with what your classmates see. The way we see things is often personal, so not everyone will see things the same way. 1. Are the lines straight? At a first look, most people say "No." But if you compare the lines against an object with a straight edge, you'll see otherwise. The small circles in the squares help create the illusion. 2. What color are the squares? Square 1 is clearly gray. But what about square 2? Is it white? Is it light gray? You may not believe it, but squares 1 and 2 are exactly the same color. Your eyes see the colors, but your brain notices the shadow made by the apple. It therefore decides that the square in the shadow is a lighter color than it really is. 3. Are the circles moving? If you look closely at this picture, the circles may appear to move. Of course, this is impossible. How can a picture move? When we see circle-in-circle shapes, like in car wheels, they are usually moving. Our brains are used to seeing these shapes move. When our eyes see this shape, our mind decides that the image is moving. Other scientists believe the illusion of movement is caused by the movements of our eyes as we look at the different colors and patterns of the picture.

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