Which of the orange dots is bigger?

Which of the orange dots is bigger?
Take a look. I'll wait...

Hint: This image is the Ebbinghaus Illusion.

As the name ("illusion") suggests, our eyes deceive us.
The orange dots are the exact same size.

The illusion wasn't intended to trick participants.
It was to highlight a core truth about how our minds work.

The powerful truth is even more nuanced. It's not our eyes playing tricks on us, but our minds that's distorting reality.

Our eyes are capturing the information.
Our minds are interpreting it.

Even when we know the right answer, our minds still perceive the right dot as being larger. This distortion isn't limited to our visual senses... it's present in all parts of our mind, in every part of daily life.

Our minds don’t think in absolutes.
Our minds judge in terms of references points.

Reference points: a salient (but often irrelevant) standard against which all subsequent information is compared.

If we don't define (and defend) our own reference points, our minds will use whatever information is within reach (usually to our own detriment).