The TikTok mushroom illusion simulates a psychedelic experience and it’s seriously trippy

Optical illusions are a nice way of reminding ourselves that, although our brains are supercomputers that are capable of incredible things, they are also essentially balls of flesh that become flummoxed easily – and the most simplet yet confusing of all the optical illusions is undoubtedly the TikTok mushroom illusion. Basically, for those that don’t want to go down the whole illegal/anxiety-inducing route of trying psychedelics, the TikTok mushroom illusion replicates the visual effects down to a tee.

And when I say that it is down to a tee, I mean it. Staring at the video for thirty seconds produces some seriously trippy effects, causing walls to swirls and objects to move around you. Sounds good? Here’s how you get the effects for yourself.

@trippyhubturn your phone to the side for the best effect ##trippy ##illusion ##opticalillusion♬ Stranger Things (Main Theme) – I Love TV Themes

How do I do the TikTok mushroom illusion?

So, you want to see what it’s like to go on a psychedelic trip? Well, as it says above, you simply stare at the numbers in the middle of the moving picture for 30 seconds, before looking around and seeing the world move before your eyes. And it’s super weird.

The science behind this is relatively simple. The Queensland Brain Institute says that it’s down to the relay of information between the brain and the eyes: “To figure out what it needs, our eyes tell our brain what the things around us look like. The problem is our eyes only know a handful of words to describe what they see.

“Sometimes, our brain gets confused by what the eyes are trying to tell it.”

Thus, after staring at the stimuli for a sustained period and looking away, your brain tells you that you are “seeing” movements that aren’t really there. Cool, right? Well, if you’re not impressed by the above example, then luckily there’s a whole load of other videos that do different and equally weird things to your eyes:

@trippyhubDid this work 🤷🏼‍♂️? ##trippy ##opticalillusion♬ Space Song – Beach House

@trippyhubturn your phone sideways for the full effect ##trippy ##illusion ##opticalillusion♬ Stranger Things (Main Theme) – I Love TV Themes

@trippyhubReply to @1finlay turn your phone sideways for the full effect 🍃 ##trippy ##illusion ##opticalillusion♬ original sound – The Thinker

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