The most ordinary things are to philosophy a source of insoluble puzzles.
With infinite ingenuity it constructs a concept of space or time and then finds it absolutely impossible
that there be objects in this space or that processes occur during this time...
the source of this kind of logic lies in excessive confidence in the so-called laws of thought.

- Ludwig Boltzman
 

If you can't figure it out and want the answer, email me at ruth@chaos.net.nz.  If you have a fast connection, you can find the answer if you go to Brain Games and click on the Quiz "The Hole Thing".  When you click the "submit" button in the bottom right-hand corner, the answer page appears with the answer on it.  (You might even want to take the other quizzes in the series there...)

A Similar Version

Answer available by clicking here

Also see:

	Brain Games (in the Animation section) - requires a fast connection and Shockwave Flash.
	Answer Me! - 4-question Mensa quiz (contained in Brain Games, above).
	IQ Test - for an example of the cultural assumptions involved in assessing someone else.
	Are You a Professional? - test of creative thinking.
	Passing the 8th Grade, 1895 - and includes history and world affairs questions drawn from The Economist (the latter are also included in Brain Games, above).

The bottom four sites above are all elsewhere in this section if you really like taking tests.  In other sections are:

	100 Facts (in the section on Oddities) - I'll bet you don't know most of them...
	Thanks, Mom, for the Brains (in the section on Men) - articles which discuss the genetic basis for IQ

Can You Find 9 People in This Picture?

Source: visionsfineart.com "General's Family" by artist Octavio Ocampo

Tightly Coupled

Source: visionsfineart.com "Forever Always" also by artist Octavio Ocampo

Shades of Grey

"Sixteen equiluminant circles on a luminance staircase.  This pattern was created on a CRT display with a computer-controlled instrument.  Each rectangular area in the staircase is of a fixed uniform luminance.  The luminance of the circles - all of which have the same lumlnance - is the same as the mean luminance of the staircase."  [From Contrast Sensitivity]

Source: Science Volume 264 22 April 1994

Fun with Afterimages

Source: the web again

Seeing Things

Source: www.thesun.co.uk sent to them by Amit Kakkad

2-D Escher

Pink (and Green?) Spots

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, you will only see one colour, pink.  If you stare at the black + in the centre, the moving dot turns to green.  Now, concentrate on the black + in the centre of the picture.  After a short period of time, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a green dot rotating!  It's amazing how our brain works - there really is no green dot, and the pink ones really don't disappear.  This should be proof enough, we don't always see what we think we see...

Source: patmedia.net

I couldn't believe there was no green dot, so I slowed the animation down to one frame per second.  Click below to view...

Click to Play

For more articles, tests, film studies and visual amusements click the "Up" button below to take you to the Table of Contents for this Intellectual and Entertaining section.