An astonishing new optical illusion has swept across social media, leaving thousands both baffled and weirdly fascinated. Originally posted by @jagarikin on X (formerly Twitter) and later reshared by @itsthemind on Instagram, the image shows a set of perfectly round objects that look like they’re spinning endlessly. In reality, they’re just sitting there, completely motionless.
This visual trick has sparked a heated debate online, showing just how easily our brains get duped by clever patterns of color, shape, and contrast. It’s honestly wild how something so simple can throw us off.
The Science Behind the Illusion
Optical illusions like this mess with the way our brains process what we see. Our visual perception isn’t a flawless copy of what’s out there—it’s just the brain’s best guess based on the info it gets.
When artists arrange certain patterns, repeating shapes, and color contrasts in just the right way, our brains can slip up. That’s when we see movement, depth, or change that isn’t really there.
Why Still Images Appear to Move
These “moving” illusions usually work because of tiny differences in shading, edges, and color. As our eyes scan the picture, little muscle movements and the weird patterns they hit can trick our brains into thinking something’s shifting.
This mistake is called a motion illusion. It’s kept neuroscientists and psychologists busy (and probably a bit confused) for ages.
The Debate on What Causes the Effect
After the illusion started circulating, Instagram users jumped in to dissect what was going on. Theories popped up everywhere. Some folks blamed the direction of arrows inside the circles, while others said it was all about color layout.
Turns out, visual perception is way more subjective than you’d think—even when everyone’s staring at the same thing.
User Theories and Observations
Some of the more interesting public reactions:
- James Daniel Dixon thought the illusion was just about color, ignoring the arrows completely.
- Fertxu said the circles didn’t just spin—they also seemed to expand and contract, which makes the trick even weirder.
- Pratik Punjabi suggested a quick experiment: put two fingers on opposite edges of any circle to block part of the pattern. Doing this “breaks” the illusion and shows there’s actually no movement at all.
Why Our Brains Are So Easily Fooled
Our brains evolved to spot movement fast, mostly for survival. Noticing something darting in the corner of your eye could mean the difference between life and death in nature.
But this same speed can get hijacked by clever designs. With the right mix of high-contrast colors, radial shapes, and directional graphics, artists can trigger this old survival system, making us believe we’re seeing motion where there is none.
The Role of Eye Movements in Illusions
Small, involuntary eye movements—called microsaccades—play a part too. As your eyes drift even a little over a busy, repetitive pattern, your brain sometimes misreads the changing input as motion.
This is why staring at the illusion makes the effect stronger, but blocking part of the image or glancing away can stop it cold.
Optical Illusions as a Window to the Brain
For scientists, illusions like this aren’t just fun distractions. They’re a way to peek into how our visual system works.
By figuring out when and why perception fails, researchers can learn more about how our brains process what we see, diagnose visual disorders, and even design safer displays for pilots, surgeons, and drivers. Not bad for a spinning circle that doesn’t actually spin.
From Viral Curiosity to Scientific Learning
It’s tempting to brush off viral illusions as just another fleeting social media thing. But honestly, they do more than just entertain—they get people wondering about neuroscience and psychology.
These illusions keep popping up, and they really highlight how our perception isn’t perfect. Seeing is not always believing. When we share or puzzle over these images, we end up learning a bit about the quirks and strengths of our brains.
So, next time you scroll past a spinning circle, pause for a second. That thing isn’t moving at all—the real action’s all in your head.
Here is the source article for this story: Optical illusion: Can you figure out why these still circles appear to spin and move?