I've seen my fair share of optical illusions, so nowadays it takes a lot to stump me but this baseball player optical illusion has my mind well and truly boggled. Featuring a simple illustration of a batter ready to strike it seems fairly innocuous at first, but when you look a little closer it gets harder to answer the question: are they batting right or left-handed?
This crafty mind trick is an example of the classic bistable optical illusion, in which one object can be seen from multiple perspectives, transforming before our very eyes. While you might feel certain of your answer at first, the more you look, the more the player's position seems to change and you're not alone – optical illusion fans can't decide on a correct answer.
Is The Baseball Player Batting Right or Left Handed? from r/opticalillusions
The image was shared on the r/opticalillusions subreddit, where Redditors were well and truly divided by the illustration. While some were staunchly team left or team right, others went for more logic-based answers, with one user writing "Since only 10% of the general population, and 25% of major leaguers, are left-handed, odds are this guy is batting right-handed," while another joked "Schrodinger’s bat. It’s both right and left-handed."
Due to the shading of the image, our eyes struggle to decipher proper depth perception, making the illusion's orientation appear ambiguous. While I can't decide on a correct answer, I can confirm my brain is fried. For more mind-bending art take a look at the fascinating Super Mario optical illusion that gives a surprising new perspective. If you'd like to create your own op-art check out this artist creating a trippy optical illusion right before your eyes and learn how to recreate it.
