Photo: muratart / Shutterstock
And women are better at it than men.
By NyRee Ausler — Written on Mar 06, 2023
Good vision is a characteristic that is nice to have. Unfortunately, only 35% of adults have 20/20 vision without the use of glasses, contacts, or vision-correcting surgery.
Though many of us do not have perfect vision, the good news is that most people over the age of 12 have decent vision. But 14 million Americans are still visually impaired.
However, there is a vision test circulating on TikTok known as the vision strength test. And it claims that only 1% of the people on the planet can pass it.
This vision strength test reveals how sharp your eyesight is.
If you happen to be one of the few people that can pass the simple test, consider yourself a rarity of sorts.
The video purports to test that sharpness of your vision.
The TikToker in the video, named Bear, starts by telling viewers that they have 10 seconds to see the numbers in each image displayed on the screen.
The test contains five stages, and the object is to see how many of those you can get through by accurately identifying the digits shown.
Stage 1
The first image is a light blue background with four numbers that are very close to the background in color. In 10 seconds, you must try to read the numbers.
As time expires, the numbers darken in color and you can confirm whether or not you got them right.
Stage 2
Next is a yellow panel with numbers nearly the same hue. This one seems a little harder when it comes to differentiating the numbers from the background.
Stage 3
The yellow stage is followed by a burgundy one with hidden numbers. It is extremely difficult to separate the numbers by this stage.
Stage 4
Stage four is a lighter purple color with five digits that are easily identifiable.
Stage 5
The final stage of the test is magenta. The TikToker himself is unable to identify the numbers. And as you stare at it, you start to believe the numbers don’t exist until they are revealed.
Why can only 1% of people pass the vision strength test?
According to Bear, only 1% of the population can identify all five sets of numbers. That’s not surprising, considering that 300 million people in the world have color vision deficiency.
Because the test is associated with extracting text of a different color, it is likely that color blindness could be a factor.
Color blindness is a genetically inherited disorder and is carried recessively in the X chromosome. About 8% of men have it, while only 0.5% of women have color vision deficiency. So, women might be more likely to be able to see more of the embedded numbers than men.
The commenters in the video seemingly align with the statistics.
Several women claimed to have gotten all five sets of numbers correct. Men, on the other hand, were unable to identify most of them. Some were even skeptical as to whether or not a number was actually included in the pictures.
The fifth stage universally seemed to throw people off. One woman commented, “Got 3 but anybody who got the last one [is] not from this planet, that's why there is only 1% of them around.”
More for You:
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment and news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.