The Dress & Perception

Last night after I caught up on all of my homework, I checked my social media sites like I typically do. I was surprised at the amount of traffic caused by an unattractive blue and black dress. It seemed that the exact picture of this blue and black dress was posted all over the internet yet some people were under the impression the dress was white and gold. How could this be? Nowhere in the mass amount of posts was there a white and gold dress!

At this point, I’m sure you have become familiar with the dress controversy. Unless you have been away on a cruise (lucky you), or asleep for the past 24 hours, you have probably seen the image and formed your own opinion on this debate.

If you are unfamiliar with this topic, essentially the picture was posted to Tumblr yesterday, and it rapidly spread across all social platforms due to the high amount of argument over the color. Buzzfeed  recently came out with a survey which had the following results:

I tried so hard to see how people were seeing white and gold. I thought they were maybe talking about the background. It didn’t make any sense to me.

According to ophthalmology professor Reena Garg of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, “Cells in our eyes are light sensitive and help us tell the difference between color and shade. Those cells are called rods and cones. The cones are color sensitive, specifically to red, green and blue. The rods are shade sensitive and see black and white. In dim light, our rods are activated to help us see contrast, and in bright light, our cones are activated to help us discern color” (USA Today). So essentially, the dress will appear differently to people based on factors such as: surrounding lights and the ability for ones eyes to focus on the contrast.

This dress controversy has made hilarious articles stating how friendships are being ruined. Even the teams #BlueandBlack and #WhiteandGold have been formed on Twitter. My own family is also divided on the color of the dress.

Instead of focusing on who is right and who is wrong (both are right given that each side has a logical explanation) we should all realize how incredible it is that we can experience the same image differently. I think this is the perfect example of perception. It is very clear that people CAN and WILL take an exact situation in differently. There is not always a correct way to do so either. What we should all take away from this is to remember and actively use consideration. In many situations we should give others of the possibility of being correct even if our own perspective is different.

This morning when I looked at the image, instead of looking blue and black as I had before, it actually appeared white and gold. This moment was so incredibly thrilling and yet confusing. I thought someone had switched the image. It was really cool to see the dress from the perspective that so many others had seen.

Either way you see it is completely fine. It is just an accidental metaphor.