tsuwm, thanks for the link! It sure *seems as if you have found the correct word for the original question, but I'm apt to see both sides of a dichotomy.
Must one smoke some maple leaf before one can see this?
Thank you, Max! I was sure I was the only one who couldn't see those damn angry faces ! As for the Magic Eye thingies, with enough determined effort at changing my mental perspective, I can usually see the image, but the illusion in the Canadian flag remains elusive. I'm glad to have company!
Must one smoke some maple leaf before one can see this?
max and nancyk, i suspect the problem may be that you're both looking too hard for the illusion. all the "faces" consist of are crude geometric profiles; they are perfectly symmetrical and are formed by the lines that separate the white from the red on either of the top two quadrants of the leaf. their foreheads are conjoined, they have neanderthal brows, long pointy noses and open mouths which are similar to less than/greater than signs, respectively. their shoulders, also mirror images of each other, are pointed slightly downward.
Incroyable! I got it! I had to save the image, and blow it up to full-screen, then chant the secret Pooh-Bah mantra three times backward in Farsi, while wearing my special Canadian bacon toga and hitting myself on the head with a Celine Dion CD, but I got it! Thanks, bridget, even if the only thing it proves is that some of us have waaaay too much time on our hands.
the only thing it proves is that some of us have waaaay too much time on our hands
And some of us (moi, par example) have waaaay too little imagination: I'm not much good at seeing dragons, ducks, daisies, dogs, whatever, in clouds either. Hmmmm, did you mention smokable maple leaves, Max? .
In the interests of averting a charge of slandering a deity, I must clarify the identify of those acuused by me of having too much time. The word "us" was used to refer to the individuals who initially discovered this illusion, and the verbally inept Kiwi who wasted time intended for secular employment finding it. Thanks to the goddess for her assistance, without which the Canadian flag would still look like nothing more than a red maple leaf on a white background.
Well, I pulled the link up from my bookmarks but didn't test it before posting it. It's s'posed to be a three-dimensional representation of a four-dimensional cube on a two-dimensional screen. You can move it around by pressing the appropriate keys. Maybe someone else can come up with a workable link. I can draw a tesseract on a piece of paper, but I don't suppose that would help much.
I get a cube† and then, if I play around with it enough, some corners seem to get truncated, but nothing that looks like any kind of hypercube *I've ever seen.
We made one out of soldered together pieces of coat hanger once. Or at least a three space projection of one.
†Well, it starts out as a square that I stared at stupidly (Hi E, 9) for some time before I thought to follow the directions.
It's the 49th parallel. And actually in Canada the word American strictly means USns, so I'm not an American, if that's what you're implying! (Or, I am as much an American as you are an Australian!)
I have posted a desecration of the Canadian flag on Max's idrive site (http://www.idrive.com/) outlining the mouth, nose and eyes and adding a pair of ears to help the optically delusionarily challenged amongst us.
Back to the original question, if I may. There's a word for such pictorial illusions in German which is actually quite common, even a child would know it: Vexierbild. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any satisfactory English equivalent for it, only "picture puzzle" (too general). Maybe the German word should simply be borrowed...
And actually in Canada the word American strictly means USns, so I'm not an American, if that's what you're implying! (Or, I am as much an American as you are an Australian!)
Inudat, I was just playin' wit' ya. After all, being a resident of the Americas, you are an American by the same definition that makes a Guatamelan or an Uruguayan an American. I, on the other hand, am separated from the continent of Australia by 2000 kilometres of water, and the fact that we speak English here.
But, but, if the North Island and the South Island are the same country, why is not the West Island??
How far apart do you think the North and South Islands are? As a child I was fascinated to discover that a sizeable chunk of Te Ika a Maui lies South of the northernmost tip of Te Wai Pounamu. People swim between the North and South Islands aon a reasonably regular basis, the last being a 14 year old. I am not sure how many have swum from here to the West Island.
MaxQ asks: How far apart do you think the North and South Islands are? Ah, but the South Island and the West Island are closer together than are Long Island (the one in New York {or Nueva York, as the natives call it}) and Catalina Island.
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site.
Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to
hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.
.
! As for the Magic Eye thingies, with enough determined effort at changing my mental perspective, I can usually see the image, but the illusion in the Canadian flag remains elusive. I'm glad to have company!
I had to save the image, and blow it up to full-screen, then chant the secret Pooh-Bah mantra three times backward in Farsi, while wearing my special Canadian bacon toga and hitting myself on the head with a Celine Dion CD, but I got it! Thanks, bridget, even if the only thing it proves is that some of us have waaaay too much time on our hands.
My mouthy maladroitness has managed to impugn Americans on both sides of the 48th parallel!
I, on the other hand, am separated from the continent of Australia by 2000 kilometres of water, and the fact that we speak English here.
