Has anyone else seen this cat optical illusion floating around Facebook? It was even featured on the Today Show, and I’m not sure how I missed it until now.
Take a look…
Now look again and answer me this—is that cat going up or down the stairs? People who have looked at this cat on the stairs have two completely different opinions. Let’s call the Team Down the Stairs and Team Up the Stairs.
Team Down the Stairs uses the tail to support their decisions. They say that if the cat was heading down the stairs, then its tail would be pointing downward, or behind it. The position of the tail helps the cat balance. However, I’m a cat owner myself, and this doesn’t necessarily prove this theory for me. I’ve seen my own little fur ball scamper down the stairs with her tail straight in the air. But, then again, she’s weird.
On the other hand, Team Up the Stairs points out the edges of the stairs to support their opinion. These look like the overhang of the treads, which could be seen if you were looking up from the bottom of the steps. On the other hand, what looks like tread overhang could also be a wood molding protecting a mosaic tile on the steps, which supports the fact that the cat is indeed going up the steps.
Up, down, all around what do you think? I know I’ve already formed an opinion and joined a team. Let us know if you’re on Team Up the Steps or Team Down the Steps!
If you liked this illusion, make sure you check out this mind boggling stair illusion!
Another thought here on stair…I dont think they are Wood stair, and Some cement stairs use a metal piece on the front edge, a V’ that covers the edge top and bottom… You can tell at the sides of the steps there is a pattern that shows these are Poured steps..
Tails are generally, horizontal to gravity, when cats are abit Insecure of the location, or what they are doing..And UP if they are interested in something ahead..
This one is quite logical. One can’t tell by the cats movement by a photo like this whether it’s going up or down. However, look at the steps themselves. There’s a support edge facing you. The cat in going down the steps. If it were going up, that edge would cause people to trip on it. That edge allows for one to two more inches for the average foot to be placed upon.
Up to me!
Up. Look at its face. It’s at the wrong angle to be going down.
Its going down because you can see the ridges of the stairs.