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The image below is a rock that is seemingly floating in the air which happens to be a great example of how optical illusions trick your brain. But that happens once and then you can't be tricked twice with the same picture, well some get tricked multiple times when they see the image again and again but can quickly see the real picture afterwards.
[Screenshot from X](https://x.com/ColoursOfBharat/status/1911287878812110946?s=20]
Why does it happen this way though?
When you see an optical illusion for the first time, there's that reaction of being tricked by the image and then when you see it again, you figure out exactly what is, just another picture. That reaction comes from your brain using a shortcut to see what it thinks is correct. Your brain doesn't care about actually being 100% accurate, it focuses more on seeing the picture faster.
When you see an illusion, your brain will assume logical rules about the way light, depth or motion work, and it is able to do this so fast because the illusion breaks all of these rules before your brain even realises it's following them.
After you learn the trick the first time, there's a noticeable change in how your brain processes the image. Instead of seeing the image automatically, after watching it for a second time you understand what has taken place. The shock element has gone and without that surprise element, the optical illusion begins to lose its impact.
This is why some optical illusions create a trick moment the first time you see them. At that moment of deception, it's the weirdness of it all that creates satisfaction. That trick moment only lasts as long as it takes your brain to be trained to know the correct way to process what you're seeing.
I wonder how many things we see on a daily basis that actually follow the same principle. How often do you really think you're seeing something that could deceive you? I would say most likely, a lot of the time.
