Oh, that dress picture. It’s burned up Facebook today. I, and many others saw it as white and gold. Others vehemently insist it’s blue and black.
There have been fights. I expect we’ll hear about a crime of passion at some point over the next few days, all about the color of a poorly-photographed dress.
But I can settle it – with science!
First off, the actual dress is blue and black. Wired has a great discussion of it here. Even knowing that, I can’t help but see it as white and gold. And you might see it as blue and black. But why, even when we know what the correct answer is?
It’s evolution, sort of. One of the weird little quirks of human biology is that the number of rods and cones in the back of your eye – the bits that actually see the color — are inversely proportional to synaptic connections in your brain.
The number of connections firing off in your head isn’t an ironclad indicator of intelligence, but it’s a pretty good marker. Dumbing it down significantly (heh), more connections=more ideas=a generally more inventive and smarter person.
Ever noticed that the smart guys wear glasses? And look at who’s more likely to be colorblind — people in the 90th percentile or higher of IQ tests (which have their own problems, but we’re not discussing that here).
But why do the eyes and the brains work this way? Why is it smarter people tend to see white and gold, which is a much less accurate representation of the image?
Dumbing it down again, it comes to evolution. When our ancestors couldn’t think their way out of a situation, they had to rely on their senses. The smarter proto-humans didn’t need to be able to see extremely well to know good ways to avoid sabre-toothed tigers. The dumber ones needed extra-keen eyesight to avoid becoming lunch.
So if you see white and gold on the dress, maybe you should consider retaking that MENSA test you’ve been putting off. But be sure to look both ways before crossing the street.