<p>It's well known today that the susceptibility to optical illusions are influenced by the environment: multiple studies with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCller-Lyer_illusion#History" rel="nofollow">Müller-Lyer illusion</a> conducted in Zambia proved this environmental influence.</p>

<p>By I wonder if there are some optical illusions that are universal among human. </p>

<ul>
<li><p>The fact that animals (in particular birds and mammals) are subjects to optical illusions means that at least part of the illusions should be genetically influences. </p></li>
<li><p>The <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/03640210802035191/full" rel="nofollow">"perceive the present" hypothesis</a>, should also mean that every human should be subject to at least some illusions. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>So my question is: which visual illusions are universal among humans?</p>

<p>To focus the question I would only consider as illusions the one that are related an increase/decrease of the size of an object/subject, or the distance (perspective) or the luminance. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-21T19:52:43.563Z
I don't think we can answer this as written. It would be more amenable to answering if the question was of the form, "Are there people for whom the illusions X, Y and Z do not apply?"
Christian Hummeluhr
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-06T22:57:38.090Z
I don't think that what @ChristianHummeluhr describes is the only option for rewording this question. In particular, I think that "Which sort of visual illusions are believed to be universal across human cultures?" can be a perfectly well-formed question. However, the answer might be "what do you consider an illusion?". For example, [is colour an illusion?](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/4953/29) When I (and as far as I know when people of other cultures) look at my computer screen, I do not see decomposition into intensities of three wavelengths but have the illusion of their combination.
Artem Kaznatcheev
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-06T23:48:36.753Z
@ArtemKaznatcheev Avoiding having to deconstruct the question with a review of what might be considered an illusion was why I suggested defining a set of illusions, but defining illusions in principle would work for me too. It's certainly not the only way to go about it, of course, just a suggestion.
Christian Hummeluhr
<perception><vision><cross-cultural-psychology><optical-illusion>
Optical illusions : human universal vs environmental influences
MagTun
# Optical illusions : human universal vs environmental influences

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-03-08)

It's well known today that the susceptibility to optical illusions are influenced by the environment: multiple studies with the [Müller-Lyer illusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCller-Lyer_illusion#History) conducted in Zambia proved this environmental influence.

By I wonder if there are some optical illusions that are universal among human.

* The fact that animals (in particular birds and mammals) are subjects to optical illusions means that at least part of the illusions should be genetically influences.
* The ["perceive the present" hypothesis](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/03640210802035191/full), should also mean that every human should be subject to at least some illusions.

So my question is: which visual illusions are universal among humans?

To focus the question I would only consider as illusions the one that are related an increase/decrease of the size of an object/subject, or the distance (perspective) or the luminance.

**Tags:** perception, vision, cross-cultural-psychology, optical-illusion

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I don't think we can answer this as written. It would be more amenable to answering if the question was of the form, "Are there people for whom the illusions X, Y and Z do not apply?"  
> **username_2**: I don't think that what @ChristianHummeluhr describes is the only option for rewording this question. In particular, I think that "Which sort of visual illusions are believed to be universal across human cultures?" can be a perfectly well-formed question. However, the answer might be "what do you consider an illusion?". For example, [is colour an illusion?](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/4953/29) When I (and as far as I know when people of other cultures) look at my computer screen, I do not see decomposition into intensities of three wavelengths but have the illusion of their combination.  
> **username_1**: @ArtemKaznatcheev Avoiding having to deconstruct the question with a review of what might be considered an illusion was why I suggested defining a set of illusions, but defining illusions in principle would work for me too. It's certainly not the only way to go about it, of course, just a suggestion.  

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## 0 answers

