Unless you want to break your brain, avoid staring at the image below.
This warning comes from Tom Scott of Things You Might Not Know, who asserts that the two squares featuring opposing horizontal and vertical black, red, and green lines can cause permanent changes to an individual’s brain.
Referred to as the McCollough effect, this phenomenon is said not to operate on a retinal level but rather a cognitive one, potentially making individuals perceive white gratings as colored for up to three months after gazing at the image for a span of 15 seconds to 15 minutes.
“I understand that advising people on the internet against doing something is akin to telling a five-year-old not to insert beans into their nose, but genuinely, if your work involves text or video, avoid this,” Mr. Scott warns.
“It’s quite alarming; it’s an authentic image that can embed itself in your brain, altering its functionality and lingering for a considerable duration.”
