Complex Numbers

Seeing is Disbelieving

The Random Number Gods have chosen to bless us with another Cracked article this day.

    4 Illusions That Trick You in Your Everyday Life  

And no, one of them isn't "time." Well, the last one is. Sort of. Not really.

Don’t believe your eyes. They lie to you every day.

I might have mentioned this before, but I used to work with a guy who was constantly showing me optical illusions. As he was an engineer with more experience than I had, I thought he was trying to train me to believe the measurements and numbers more than my visual perception. But no; he was also a devout Christian and was trying to show me that only God is real or whatever.

Thing about those optical illusions you can find all over the internet is that most of them have documented, logical, proven explanations. So all that did was reinforce my admiration for science.

4. Your Nose Is Smaller Than Selfies Tell You It Is

Long ago, I was a semi-professional photographer (in that I got paid for it, but it wasn't my main source of income). This section reiterates what I've known for a long time about the difference between focal lengths.

For authentic pics, never hold your phone up close. Instead, set up a tripod several feet away, inconveniencing everyone in the name of better art.

Like anyone's gonna do that. Just hand your phone to some random stranger and ask them to take the pic. There's a very good chance you'll even get your phone back, afterwards.

3. The Moon Keeps Changing Its Size on You

Yes, this one was the real reason I saved this article to share.

If you’re lucky enough to see the Moon rise or set over the horizon, you’ll notice it looks different from how it looks when it’s high in the sky. It looks a bit more yellow, due to the greater amount of atmosphere that moonlight must travel through to reach your eyes from this angle. It may also look slightly squashed, which is another effect of looking at it through so much atmosphere.

I should note that there are times when the Moon really is bigger or smaller because its orbit, like pretty much every orbit, is elliptical. This horizon illusion dwarfs that effect, though, at least in my experience.

More than anything else, however, the low Moon simply looks much bigger than the Moon as you normally know it. Everyone sees this difference, and no one knows why.

Perhaps, but I'm convinced it's a combination of things. Including a version of the Ponzo Illusion   (not to be confused with the Ponzi Scheme). Flat Earth (not really, but we perceive it as such), mostly flat sky converging on it. Also the convergence of the two horizon lines. I'm sticking with that hypothesis until smarter people than me figure something else out. That might take a while.

2. They’re Using Color to Lie About Produce

Ever since that photo known as The Dress exploded into public consciousness, I've seen more and more articles explaining color perception. I got really tired of seeing it when it first happened, but apparently, some good has come from it in terms of public perception of color perception.

1. Clocks Look Like They Stop Because They Break Your Brain

Despite what I said above, no, time is not an illusion (probably). As with color, though, our perception of time can change with circumstances.

The article goes into the science here, and since it tracks with stuff I already knew, it's absolutely worth reading. Spolier: it's not a glitch in the Matrix. There is no Matrix, except in the movies.

In conclusion, my mom always told me "seeing is believing." Sorry, Mom. You were wrong.