Optical illusions can have a way of messing with a person’s mind, and understandably so. A good illusion basically proves that what you see isn’t always the truth, and sometimes you are unable to see what is really there. So much for seeing is believing.

We all remember the dress fiasco last year, well, now there’s another optical illusion making the rounds on the internet:

There are 12 black dots in this image, but I’m betting you can’t see all 12 at once. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault — it’s science.

You are looking at Ninio’s extinction illusion, which takes advantage of lateral inhibition in the retina. Basically, the stimulated light receptors in your eye can sometimes mess with the ones adjacent to them, making you see things that aren’t there, or not see things that are there.

(Note: If you try to look hard enough to see all 12 dots, you’ll probably end up with a nice little headache. And anyone who tells you they can see ALL 12 at the same time is probably definitely most certainly trolling you and should not be trusted.)

I used to think I had good eyes, but apparently not. I can only see three, maybe four at a time. What about you?

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