Optical illusions can be quite the mind-boggling experience. Growing up, there were plenty of images with colors and patterns meant to confuse your brain, which you would then share in a chain email with all your school friends.

Now, things are a little more… refined. You look at something and see something else entirely until your brain finally makes sense of what’s happening. But with cellphones, we can capture and share these mind-boggling moments online, which is exactly what some people did. So, here’s a selection of optical illusions that made us look twice at a picture.

#1 A Hole On A Door At My Work Looks Like Something Out Of A Movie (Not Edited At All)

#2 Bird Camouflaged To Look Like Pine Cone

#3 I Thought My 3 Year Old Threw Something At The TV. It Was Just A Picture Of Syria On The Screensaver

Here's what's curious about looking at these images and seeing something else entirely: it's not necessarily a vision issue.

It turns out there's a delay between light hitting your retina and your brain processing that signal. To keep you from constantly living in the past, your brain uses a predictive system called "predictive coding" to guess what the world will look like a tenth of a second from now. And when we look at these images, our brains get it wrong, causing us to see distorted versions of what's actually there.

#4 Confusing Hairwash

#5 A Horse Split

#6 Can't Park There Mate

#7 This Baby Polar Bear’s Face Looks Like It Was Photoshopped To It’s Mother’s Side

Because our eyes are such a fascinating part of the body, researchers have spent quite a bit of time studying them. One particular study led by the University of Oslo found an optical illusion that can trick both your brain and your eyes.

It's called the "expanding hole" illusion. When you look at the center of the black circle in the image, your pupils naturally dilate. That's because the illusion tricks your brain into thinking you're entering a dark tunnel, causing your pupils to expand to let in more light. The catch? There's no tunnel at all.

#8 The Two Faces Of Humidity

#9 Jabba The Bag

#10 Almost Every Morning My Coat Hanger Gives Me A Mini Heart Attack

#11 Little Sundog

But here's the thing: not everyone sees things the same way. Psychologists say not all human brains interpret optical illusions the same way. For example, Westerners are apparently susceptible to the Müller-Lyer illusion, where two lines of equal length appear different because of the arrows pointing inward or outward at their ends.

However, one study found that members of some Indigenous groups were far less likely to fall for it. The reason? People who grow up in Western urban societies are surrounded by right angles and architectural corners, which may condition their brains to interpret certain angles as depth cues. Those raised in more open, natural environments, by contrast, may not develop the same subconscious bias.

#12 Hi Ho Hi Ho It’s Off To Work I Go

#13 Thought You Guys Here Might Appreciate

#14 Am I Drunk Or Does The Foam In My Glass Look Exactly Like Scooby Doo?

#15 The Actual Schrodinger's Cat

#16 It Took Me An Hour To Find My Shoes

#17 Oh No There's A Hole In The Cat

Optical illusions aren't just fun and games, though. Some atmospheric scientists and historians have theorized that an optical illusion called "Fata Morgana," a mirage caused by a temperature inversion, may have played a role in the Titanic disaster.

The mirage could have created a false horizon by blurring the boundary between the sea and the sky. This may explain why the lookouts failed to spot the iceberg until it was too late. Of course, it was also extremely dark that night, which could have made the iceberg even harder to see.

#18 There's A Car In This Photo

#19 Neighbours Installed Floodlights, I Now Have Wallpaper

#20 The Label Putter-Onner Put The Pickle Labels On Upside Down

#21 Blursed Cake

And well, some people even use optical illusions to their advantage. During World War I, for instance, ships were painted with patterns designed to distort perspective rather than hide them completely. This technique was known as "Dazzle camouflage." Its bold geometric shapes made it extremely difficult for enemy rangefinders to accurately judge a ship's speed and distance.

But now, let us know, Pandas: which of these images was your favorite? Have you ever been fooled by perspective or an optical illusion? Tell us all about it in the comments!

#22 Uncontacted Man From North Sentinel Island Warns Approaching Visitors

#23 Blueberryseas

#24 Tracing Design Looks Like It Overlaps

#25 Floating Horse Head

#26 Is There A Soul Trapped In My Ice Water?

#27 I See You

#28 The Ceiling Vent In My Hotel Room's Bathroom

#29 Grapefruit Peacock

#30 Storm In Wetterau, Germany

#31 A Picture Found Of Dusk

#32 Static Tatoo With "Shaking" Effect By Scott Campbell

#33 There Are 9 Steps Here

#34 Tree Illusion

Saw this one night. Looks like the tree has shaped itself round the light but it was nothing but an illusion.

#35 Does Anyone Else See The Image Split Into Two Parts

#36 One Tree Or...?

#37 This Picture Is Not Edited

#38 Fluffy Pillow

#39 A Sweet Potato Dug Up From A Garden

#40 I Forgot To Water My Pet Cactus

#41 When You Clean Out The Tablesaw After A Few Jobs It Looks Straight Up Geological

#42 A Complicated Dice Game My Girlfriend Is Teaching Me

#43 I, For One, Welcome Our Robot Overlords (My Cat - Original Content)

#44 Two Pairs Of Green Eyes. No Photoshop. Stunning

#45 Holding A Plane

#46 Been Marinating This Turkey Breast For A Couple Days Now It’s Time To Smoke It

#47 Half A Girl Doing Her Hair On The Balcony

#48 Wooly Snake

#49 Wine Spill Giraffe

#50 I Still Can't Believe This Shadow Was Formed!

#51 Can Someone Explain This? Am I Just An Idiot? How Does The Reflection Come Out Like This? Several Photos. All The Same

#52 Brightness Slider

#53 Duplication Glitch Confirmed

Parked my car after shift, when I went back out a couple hours later there were 3 others almost exactly the same model and the exact colour parked around mine, couldn’t believe my eyes.