Viral Meme Has People Confused About Why 'No One Has Found The Right Number' In This Image
What number do you see?
Twitter Remember that dress that made its way around the internet over half a decade ago? Did you think it was black and blue or gold and white?
Another one of these eye teasers is going around the Twittersphere. That is the "so far no one has found the right number" meme.
The meme is a black and white picture with zigzag lines all over it going in opposite directions. These lines end up creating certain numbers in an optical illusion.
The catch? Some people are seeing different ones and no one can decide on what the answer is.
On February 16, 2022, Twitter user Benonwine posted this now-viral photo and asked his followers what number they saw.
As you can imagine, a debate ensued. The tweet has now gained 1226 retweets, 1,286 answers, and 4,581 likes. People replied with a wide variety of numbers ranging from 3 digits to 7 digits, and the combinations are seemingly endless.
Some popular answers include 45283, 845283, and 15283.
And we all know that the internet will probably never stop debating what number it really is. People are still talking about the dress, after all. And who can forget Yanny and Laurel?
Of course, some Twitter users are being clever about their responses.
Others are so invested that they are even trying out different methods from tilting their head to closing one eye to moving the image around to finally see the correct number.
One user tweeted, "Scroll down quickly on the picture - I could see the extra 2 then!!!"
Since everyone seems to enjoy these eye teasers, some Twitter users are adding on other optical illusions to continue the fun, like this one about finding the black dot.
The trend even caught the eyes of celebrities, including Former Olympian Sharron Davies MBE!
What's the correct answer?
Alongside all of the wildly various answers, the correct number appears to be 3452839.
This can be determined by changing the contrast on the image.
So why is it that everyone has a different perspective on this meme?
The many different answers being given may be due to something known as contrast sensitivity.
Contrast sensitivity?! Yep, this concept is the ability to distinguish between an object and the background behind it.
It's different from visual acuity (how clearly you see things from a distance). You can have great visual acuity but rather poor contrast sensitivity and vice versa.
Contrast sensitivity is a refractive error, like astigmatism. It basically keeps light from focusing on your retina in the correct way. Doctors can test this by using a chart where the characters gradually fade from black to gray.
At the end of the day though these are just some fun optical illusions for the internet to enjoy and even learn something new.
So, what number do you see?
Deauna Nunes is an associate editor who covers pop culture, lifestyle, love and relationship topics for YourTango. She's been published by Emerson College's literary magazine Generic. Follow her on Twitter and on Instagram.