The dress that broke the Internet

Of all the things that broke the Internet on Thursday (llamas? really?), a particular dress quickly became the most talked about garment on social media – and there wasn't even a red carpet in sight. Tumblr user, swiked, posted a photo of a dress that pitted husbands against wives, friends against friends, and co-worker against co-worker. The question at hand? What color is the dress?You be the judge. What color do you think the dress is? Do the people around you think it's the same colors you do?Why is no one agreeing on the color of this dress?!?

When I came across this photo, it was clear to me that the dress was white and gold. I was sure the controversy was a joke. It was clear that the dress was white and gold. But then I showed it to my husband and son. They didn't hesitate to say the dress was black and blue.

The reasoning behind this phenomenon comes down to simple science. Basically, it's how your brain is processing the photo.

According to John Borghis, a cognitive neuroscientist at Rockefeller University, our vision is heavily influenced by so-called 'top-down' processing.Buzzfeed: Top-down processing 'begins with the brain and flows down, filtering information through our experience and expectations to produce perceptions.'Each person brings a different set of experiences and expectations, as well as attention levels and particular eye movements.For example, what you looked at just before you looked at the dress could influence the way your brain perceived it, Borghi added. 'It could also be that you've seen dresses (or fabric) with the same texture or shape before, which could also affect your perception.'

Via

Or it could just be a matter of different lighting, or maybe even different backgrounds.

Let's test this theory. Does the color of the dress on the right look different than the color of the dress on the left?