The sweetness and brightness of tangerines are always mouth-watering. However, a seemingly ordinary shopping experience reveals a shocking secret that shocks the entire scientific community. Karl Gegenfurtner, a psychologist at the University of Giessen ·Germany, found in his daily supermarket shopping that oranges in red or yellow nets look ripe and attractive, but once they are taken out, they turn yellow-green and show no signs of ripeness. This phenomenon not only angered him personally, but also fueled his passion for research, which ultimately revealed an incredible scientific truth.
It was a hot summer day, and Gegenfurtner went to the local supermarket to buy oranges as usual. His love for oranges speaks for itself, and it has become his habit to buy oranges every Saturday. However, the shopping experience was full of drama. When he returns home, ready to enjoy these seemingly ripe oranges with antiquity, the unexpected happens. The oranges, which used to look attractive in the supermarket, turned into a half-ripe yellow-green color when they were taken out of the net pocket. This made him doubt his eyes and led to a series of questions: Why did these oranges suddenly become so unsightly?
This question drove him to a series of in-depth researches, which eventually revealed a shocking truth. The red net pocket is not only for the convenience of carrying fruits, but also a tool used by merchants to create optical illusions. This phenomenon of color assimilation makes the yellow color of the orange look more orange and more mature against the red net. This discovery has not only attracted widespread attention in the scientific community, but also made more ordinary consumers begin to reflect on their shopping behavior.
The Secret of the Net Pocket: The Magic of Optical Illusions
Oranges, oranges, lemons and even eggs in supermarkets are often sold in red or yellow nets. This packaging method not only gives people a sense of luxury, but also a kind of careful thinking of merchants. The color of the net bag influences our perception of the ripeness of the fruit through optical illusions. When an orange is placed in a red mesh pocket, the surrounding red color makes the yellow of the orange look more orange, as if the orange is fully ripe. This phenomenon is known as "color assimilation", where the color of our surroundings affects our perception of the color of an object.
Scientists have verified the existence of this phenomenon through a series of experiments. For example, if you place an object of the same color against a background of different colors, people will perceive the color of the object to be different. This phenomenon not only reveals the complexity of our visual system, but also gives us a new understanding of visual phenomena in our daily lives. By changing the reflection of light, the red mesh pocket affects people's perception of the color of the orange, making the otherwise unripe orange look more attractive.
Scientists' anger and research
Carl · Gegenfutner, as a psychologist, was curious and angry about this phenomenon. He decided to delve into the question and reveal the scientific rationale behind it. He conducted a series of experiments in an attempt to understand the roots of this optical illusion. He found that the red net pocket affects people's perception of the color of oranges by changing the reflection of light, a phenomenon that is not just a simple optical illusion, but also involves the way the human brain processes color.
He compiled these findings into a paper titled "Perceptual ripening of oranges," which was published in the scientific journal i-perception. The process and results of the experiment are described in detail in the paper, showing how the red mesh pocket affects people's perception through "color assimilation". This paper has not only attracted wide attention from the scientific community, but also made more people begin to reflect on their shopping habits and visual perception.
Color Assimilation: The Mystery of Vision
To better explain the phenomenon of "color assimilation", scientists have used some classic visual experiments. For example, if an object of the same color is placed on a background of different colors, people will perceive the color of the object to be different. This phenomenon suggests that our visual system does not simply perceive colors, but is strongly influenced by the environment around them.
This optical illusion is not only present in color perception, but is also widespread in other visual phenomena. For example, the "Hermann grid" is a classic optical illusion in which people see gray phantom points when they look at white intersections in a black lattice. These hallucinatory points do not exist, but are due to illusions created by our brains as they process visual information. These phenomena reveal the complexity of our brains in processing visual information and give us a deeper understanding of visual perception.
Historical Review: The Evolution of Optical Illusion Research
The study of optical illusions is not a new field, scientists began studying these phenomena as early as the 19th century. Wilhelm von Bezold ·· described for the first time what he called the phenomenon of "color diffusion", revealing how color spreads and influences in the visual system. In the 60s and 70s of the 20th century, researchers such as Hanns Munker ·· Michael White made further progress in understanding these phenomena. Their research revealed the complexity of color perception and provided an important basis for later research.
This study of oranges, although seemingly simple, continues the tradition of this field. By revealing the influence of red nets on the color perception of oranges, Gegenfurtner's research not only provides a new perspective for the study of optical illusions, but also gives us a deeper understanding of visual phenomena in daily life.
Modern Research: Implications for the Optic Nerve in Animals
In a study published last year ·in PLOS Computational Biology, researchers modeled how the optic nerve works in animals and unexpectedly found that the model could also correctly predict many of the optical illusions humans see, including "color assimilation." The research team believes that many optical illusions may be caused by limitations in the way the eye and optic nerves work, rather than more complex mental processes. This discovery provides a new way of understanding optical illusions and reveals the limitations of our visual system.
Through these studies, we can understand that visual perception is not just a simple physiological process, but also the result of a complex neural and psychological process. Our brains are influenced by a variety of factors when processing visual information, including light, color, background, and experience. These factors work together to form our perception of the world.
To sum up, the effect of the red net pocket on the color perception of oranges reveals the complexity and fragility of our visual system. This optical illusion not only makes us easily misled when shopping, but also gives us a deeper understanding of visual perception. Through the research of scientists, we can better understand these phenomena and make more informed choices in our daily lives. The next time you go to the supermarket to buy oranges, you might want to keep an eye out for these seemingly inconspicuous red net pockets. Take the oranges out of your net pocket and double-check their color and ripeness to ensure that you are buying a truly ripe fruit. At the same time, it also reminds us to be vigilant when facing other visual phenomena and not to be easily deceived by appearances.
Finally, this research has not only attracted a lot of attention in the scientific community, but also made us think about visual perception in a new way. Through continuous exploration and research, we can better understand the human perception system and find solutions to the optical illusion problem in the future. This small red net, although it seems simple, reveals a profound scientific truth and makes our perception of the world clearer and more accurate.