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Let me know if y’all want a neuroscience on this!
So a very quick #neuroscience on this: initial visual processing in the brain (and retina) works through contrasts. Your brain sharpens differences/edges because that’s where information is...
Your neurons are tuned to heighten/inhibit each other in a way that magnifies differences. So when a neutral color goes up next to red, your brain magnifies that difference and makes the neutral seem as not-red as possible.
The effect depends on close proximity - it comes from literally/spatially nearby cells in the back of your eye: retinal ganglion cells, which I talked about back in a previous #NeuroThursday:
If you zoom in on the picture, so the brown and the (red, green, whatever) are no longer so densely packed, the effect fades.
So your mini Saturday #NeuroThursday takeaway is that the brain is always looking to find differences and distinctions - when you put contrasts close together, your brain latches on. Which means magnifying those differences.
