Visual Illusions
Visual illusions. A subset of the more general category of all illusions. Visual illusions can be fun at times, like when we enjoy them at magic shows. At other times, they can be perplexing: how can squares A and B below be the same color? And yet they are : Then there is the famous ‘inferior mirage’, one that shows us things that don’t exist. Like the beaten to death oasis in a desert. If there’s such a thing as an ‘inferior mirage’, does that mean there’s a ‘superior mirage’, you ask? Yes. And it wrecked a man’s reputation. Kathryn Schulz describes it in her terrific book, Being Wrong . In 1818, John Ross set out to find a (faster) sea route from Europe to Asia via the Arctic. At one potential point of progress, he was disappointed when the fog cleared: a huge chain of mountains appeared about 27 miles. Ross gave up and returned. But his second-in-command, William Parry, who was following in a different ship, hadn’t seen any mountains blocking the way. Parry...