We Are Losing Our Minds Over a Picture of a Dress

Please be forewarned, this is not the most important thing you will read today (or at least I hope not). A picture of a dress that was originally posted on Tumblr and subsequently given a Buzzfeed article and poll -- since then it has actually damaged relationships and baffled a lot of people. I didn't hear about it until several of my friends shared it in a group message and chaos ensued. Some saw blue and black and some saw gold and white, such drastic color differences that I was amazed that there was any doubt (and the first time you see it you'll likely be adamant one way or the other... just wait).

There is now a schism between those who seen white and gold, and black and blue. Celebrities, those who work in post-production, doctors and common folk have all weighed in on the dress which I am legitimately mad became this big of a deal. One of the theories thrown around by friends was the cornsweet illusion where the edges of an object can determine your perception of the rest of it: Maybe it is a hereditary thing; the original Buzzfeed article had a 75% gold/white answer, the right distribution for a recessive trait. In the end, it really comes down to a bit of perception and the eye's ability to compensate for some poor lighting on a cell phone picture. Some of us may lose friends or, at the very least, pride over this, but I would like to remind you all that in the end, it is a picture of a dress that no one would care about if the human brain weren't such a mystery. The true colors of the dress have been revealed and very well explained in a few places like Wired (so save the link for after you've decided for yourself). Clearly, I have spent too much time on this, but I found it quite fascinating that people could see such differences. Let us know in the comments what you think of it and hope that something truly newsworthy happens soon (drops mic).     Photos via: Swiked -- The Journal of Neuroscience