Optical illusion illusions.

January 10, 2012 12:18 PM

Your mind subconsciously interprets this line drawing of an impossible cube as a three-dimensional object, even though it is not actually possible for such an object to exist.

Known as “The Devil’s Tuning Fork”, this figure’s two cylindrical prongs mysteriously transform into two bars at the opposite end.

This staircase makes four 90-degree turns, yet forms a continuous loop that would not be possible in the real world.

And several more on this Tumblr blog! (via Avva)

posted by Nomyte (49 comments total)

Also, that is not a pipe.
posted by The Whelk at 12:20 PM on January 10, 2012 [4 favorites]

Oh, this is wonderful.
posted by cortex at 12:22 PM on January 10, 2012

I see what they did there.

Not sure what the point of it was, though. I think I'd rather look at a goth up a tree.
posted by Decani at 12:22 PM on January 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Didn't get it til I read the tags. This comment is not false.
posted by gubo at 12:23 PM on January 10, 2012

Optical Illusion trolling is a thing?
posted by Mcable at 12:25 PM on January 10, 2012 [9 favorites]

Eeeeevil.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:25 PM on January 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

you son of a bitch. I just asked a coworker to tell me what I was missing, and they just looked at me like I was an idiot.
posted by Think_Long at 12:27 PM on January 10, 2012 [7 favorites]

Look at the center point and concentrate for say 1 minute and look at wall then you are able to see your lover’s face. Time for concentrating at center point may vary from person to person depending on weight. This illusion will harm your eyes. So view it at your own risk.

Whoa, I need to lose a few pounds.
posted by wryly at 12:29 PM on January 10, 2012

I believe that most of the works on this tumblr are the work of M.C. Escher's little-known cousin, MC Hammer.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:30 PM on January 10, 2012 [6 favorites]

YES IT - oh.

.__.
posted by Phire at 12:36 PM on January 10, 2012

The Blivet, which is what the typical 3-prong Devil's Fork is called, can be seen on Monday's Girl Genius. I'm not sure that the 2-prong version is an actually called the Devil's Fork or not.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 12:39 PM on January 10, 2012

Look at the center point and concentrate for say 1 minute and look at wall then you are able to see your lover’s face. Time for concentrating at center point may vary from person to person depending on weight. This illusion will harm your eyes. So view it at your own risk.
posted by Artw at 12:42 PM on January 10, 2012

I'VE BEEN TROLLED.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 12:44 PM on January 10, 2012

I love the staircase one.
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:45 PM on January 10, 2012

I don't get the first one. Of the cube.

I mean, the others, I see what they're saying. And I feel like an idiot, but the line drawing of the cube looks like a cube. I don't see what's so impossible about it.
posted by kbanas at 12:46 PM on January 10, 2012 [4 favorites]

#morelikeopticalDISillusionsamirite
posted by psoas at 12:48 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Maybe they are from the Escher universe; where normal shapes are impossible and impossible shapes are normal.
posted by TwelveTwo at 12:51 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

I don't get the first one. Of the cube.

I mean, the others, I see what they're saying. And I feel like an idiot, but the line drawing of the cube looks like a cube. I don't see what's so impossible about it.

Oh, I'm starting to get the impression that this is just one of those things that's supposed to make me feel stupid because I didn't take the time to understand the context.

How funny and clever. And stuff.
posted by kbanas at 12:51 PM on January 10, 2012 [6 favorites]

This reminds of the old paradox about the Cretan truth teller.
posted by yoink at 12:52 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

reminded me of Broken Koans previously
posted by LogicalDash at 12:56 PM on January 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

I like how the descriptions given for the illusionary optical illusions are perfectly fit for the disillusioned originals.
posted by LogicalDash at 12:57 PM on January 10, 2012

This reminds of the old paradox about the Cretan truth teller.

Epimenides of Crete: "All Cretans are assholes."
posted by cortex at 1:03 PM on January 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

Your mind subconsciously interprets this line drawing of an impossible cube as a three-dimensional object, even though it is not actually possible for such an object to exist.

And then you go mad. MAD!
posted by emjaybee at 1:04 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's not an optical illusion, it just looks like one.
posted by kcds at 1:19 PM on January 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

You this read wrong.
posted by sidereal at 1:22 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

JOKE SPOILED: This is a bunch of common optical illusion images, except they're changed so that they're not *actually* optical illusions - the "impossible" cube is a normal cube, the forever staircase is just a set of two connected staircases, et cetera.

It's very cute.
posted by flatluigi at 1:25 PM on January 10, 2012

"Behold the esquilax! A legendary horse with the head of a rabbit… and the body of a rabbit!"
posted by Nomyte at 1:33 PM on January 10, 2012 [8 favorites]

warning: you can't unsee the shark
posted by grizzly at 1:34 PM on January 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Okay, with this, I think the Internet has officially run out of stuff.
posted by etc. at 1:36 PM on January 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

The other ones from the blog are funnier than the examples, imo.

Classic inverted face

Is it a DUCK or a FLOWER?
posted by mrgrimm at 1:51 PM on January 10, 2012

Don't think of it as a troll / rickroll.

Think of it as RTFA filter. Or Van Squealen's "Brown M&M Contract Rider".

I damn near fell into the trap myself, thinking "Devil's Tuning Fork, that's nothing new!" and only decided to RTFA at the last moment.

Every post should have a blowhard filter like this in it.
 
posted by Herodios at 1:52 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

So what you're saying is I totally blew my shot at crippling the Borg collective.

Fuckin' Internet, man....
posted by Dark Messiah at 1:57 PM on January 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

We need to BUILD this staircase to make sure.
posted by rainy at 2:20 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Literally nothing to see here.

Next up; a you-tube video of the inside of a black body, and an MP3 of the sounds in a vacuum.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 2:21 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

ok thanks tumblr

you have a good one ill talk to you in a few ok
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 2:28 PM on January 10, 2012

How many ROCKs can you see in this WINTER LANDSCAPE?

HOLY crap I can see the LAST SUPPER, except Judas is DRUNK!
posted by P.o.B. at 2:33 PM on January 10, 2012

I came across a flickr set of optical illusion illusions once... I think these are a little more clever:
posted by bxyldy at 2:58 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is Joel Johnson and I having a little fun. We were completely unaware of the Neil illusion article when we threw it together, but it will now, clearly, keep us in fresh Optillusions for a good week.
posted by beschizza at 3:01 PM on January 10, 2012

JOKE SPOILED: This is a bunch of common optical illusion images, except they're changed so that they're not *actually* optical illusions - the "impossible" cube is a normal cube, the forever staircase is just a set of two connected staircases, et cetera.

Oh yes they are illusions. You looked at a two dimensional pattern of lines on a screen and thought you were seeing a three dimensional cube.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 3:01 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

The illusion is that it's funny.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:26 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Behold the esquilax! A legendary horse with the head of a rabbit… and the body of a rabbit!"

"The great roe is a mythical beast with the head of a lion and the body of a lion, though not the same lion."
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:04 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ok, a show of hands, how many didn't post because they were too embarrassed at how long it took to get the joke.
posted by sammyo at 6:18 PM on January 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Although it may be impossible to believe, the squares marked A and B are actually exactly the same shade of grey.

It'd be funnier if the squares were right next to each other.
posted by janerica at 7:21 PM on January 10, 2012 [5 favorites]

Oh! It's a really short shaggy dog story!
posted by the atomic kung fu panda bandit inquisition at 8:11 PM on January 10, 2012

I kinda love this. Something about it reminds me of "Look Around You."
posted by webmutant at 9:56 PM on January 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

I assumed I was missing obvious illusions until I got to the color blindness one, at which point I fearfully thought, "Wait, I'm color blind?!" and raced in here to see if anybody else was having unexpected trouble.
posted by Defenestrator at 10:35 PM on January 10, 2012

RTFA in an *extremely* literal, by-the-word sense.

Impossible = impossible (therefore not represented here)
posted by ShutterBun at 2:18 AM on January 11, 2012

In retrospect, I think the cube would've been funnier if it came after the other two. It just doesn't register easily on its own as the other two.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:50 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

MetaFilter: You can't unsee the snark.

As someone who studied these (like, forreal), I loved this. When I saw it on facebook. You bunch of losers! Losers who are slow.
posted by Eideteker at 9:54 AM on January 11, 2012