The Monroe-Einstein illusion is a visual illusion that features a photograph of two people, one of whom is Albert Einstein and the other is Marilyn Monroe.
Table of Contents
- How does the Monroe Einstein Illusion work?
- Versions of the Monroe Einstein Illusion
- Illusions like the Monroe Einstein Illusion
- Discovery of the Monroe Einstein Illusion
- References and Resources
- Sign up for emails from Mental Bomb
How does the Monroe Einstein Illusion work?
The Monroe-Einstein illusion works by playing with the viewer’s expectations about the relationships between the features of the faces and the viewer’s sense of facial proportions.
The brain uses cues such as the position of the eyes, nose and mouth, as well as the shape and size of the facial features, to create a sense of familiarity and recognition of the faces.
However, in this case, the brain is presented with conflicting information, such as the distorted and melting features, which creates the illusion of a distorted and melting faces.
This illusion also highlights the concept of “top-down processing” where the brain uses prior knowledge to interpret the visual information coming from the eyes.
The brain recognizes the faces of Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe, but it’s unable to reconcile the conflicting information, creating the illusion of distorted and melting faces.
The Monroe-Einstein illusion illustrates how the brain’s prior knowledge can be misleading and create an illusion, and how it organizes the information in a way that creates the most meaningful and coherent interpretation.
Versions of the Monroe Einstein Illusion
The following is some alternate version of the Monroe Einstein Illusion:
Illusions like the Monroe Einstein Illusion
Ambiguous illusions are visual stimuli that can be interpreted in more than one way. These illusions typically consist of a single image that can be perceived in multiple ways. Ambiguous illusions can be used to study the neural mechanisms of perception and how the brain resolves ambiguity.
Some related illusions include the following:
The Rubin vase, also known as the Rubin face or the figure-ground vase, is a famous optical illusion in which the image of a vase can also be perceived as two faces in profile looking at each other.
The duck-rabbit illusion is an optical illusion that is an image that can be perceived as either a duck or a rabbit depending on how the viewer looks at it.
The Necker cube is an optical illusion that features a simple wireframe drawing of a cube. The cube appears to switch back and forth between two different orientations.
The My Wife and My Mother-in-Law illusion is an optical illusion with an image of a young woman’s face that can also be perceived as an older woman’s face.
The Schröder Staircase is an optical illusion that features a drawing of a staircase. The staircase appears to be either ascending or descending, depending on how the brain interprets the angles of the lines.
The impossible cube is an optical illusion that depicts a three-dimensional object that is physically impossible to construct.
The Penrose triangle, also known as the Penrose tribar, is an optical illusion that depicts a three-dimensional object that is physically impossible to construct.
The impossible trident is a three-pronged impossible shape resembling a trident. It is usually depicted as a three-pronged fork with each prong appearing to be a continuation of the next, creating an impossible shape.
The spinning dancer illusion is a visual illusion that depicts a silhouette of a dancer spinning clockwise or counterclockwise. The direction of the dancer’s spin can appear to change depending on the viewer’s perception
Discovery of the Monroe Einstein Illusion
The illusion was created by the artist George Redhawk in 2007.
References and Resources
Check out our complete list of illusions.