Psst! Do you want to see a lot of optical illusions in one sitting? Get ready, because The Paint Explainer (previously at Neatorama) is going to go through forty (40!) of them in this video. See, our eyes are amazing devices, sensing light in all its variations of shade, color, and movement, translating it into signals that go to our brain. Our brains are even more amazing, because they take those signals and translate them back into information we can use, in an instant, so we can negotiate the world around us. To keep up the pace, our brains take shortcuts based on what is familiar to us. The brain relies on the world being consistent in order to make these leaps in perception that give us those shortcuts. When something messes with our brains' "rules" for interpreting visual signals, we get optical illusions. While they can be confusing, they are also fun to see, and even more fun to understand. Still, since there are so many in this one video, you might want to see a few and take a break, then go back for the rest in short sessions. -via Geeks Are Sexy