Best optical illusion of the year

July 12, 2009

I like to use optical illusions for warm-ups and bell ringers, to get students thinking and looking at things a bit differently.

Richard Wiseman said this is the best new optical illusion he’s seen so far this year:

Image by Prof. Kitaoka, 2009

Image by Prof. Kitaoka, 2009

What’s the illusion?  Well, you see those green stripes?  See the blue stripes?  Actually they are the same color.

You don’t think so?  Zoom in.  Or click over to Wiseman’s blog site and see what happens when all the other colors are turned to black.

I know you think you know what you see; what you think you see may not be what you actually see.  Your brain modifies what you think you see, in order to make it appear sensible, and in doing so, it sometimes makes you see things quite differently from what they are.  Don’t forget that.

So, how do we know what we know?  How do we know that what we know is correct?

Leave a Comment » | Art, Bell Ringers, Brain development, Brain learning, psychology, Science, Warm-up exercises | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

From Homer, to Homer Simpson

September 26, 2007

Daumier's drawing, Thetis dipping Achilles in the River Styx

Homer Simpson and fried beignet

Images: Daumier’s drawing of Thetis dipping Achilles in the River Styx; Homer Simpson and the official fried beignet of Louisiana, credit for the latter lost, though no doubt copyrighted.

Homer to Homer Simpson: This is at least a good class warm up, if not a whole lesson plan of itself. Shades of Harry Wong, who knew there were such links?

What? Ken Jennings knew?

Tip of the old scrub brush to Alun Salt at Clioaudio, and at Revise and Dissent, for pointing to Debra Hamel at Blogographos.

1 Comment | Harry Wong, Lesson plans, Warm-up exercises, World history | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell