People Think This Sneaker Photo Can Determine Whether You're Right- or Left-Brain Dominant

Jordyn Taylor

October 14, 2019 2:03 PM

Destroying your most cherished relationships has never been easier, thanks to a viral photo of a sneaker that's tearing the internet apart.

Nobody Can Decide What Color This Sneaker Is

This story actually begins in 2017, when Twitter user @AliciaMarieBODY shared the following photo of a Vans Old Skool sneaker, along with the caption: "WHAT COLOR ARE THESE SNEAKERS/LACES?"

As with The Dress and Yanny/Laurel , people had very strong feelings one way or the other: Some saw the sneakers as grey and teal, while others saw pink and white.

WHAT COLOR ARE THESE SNEAKERS/LACES? pic.twitter.com/PklY0FO6UG Alicia Marie ComiconLA (@AliciaMarieBODY)

Two years later, the shoe is backthis time in the form of a viral meme suggesting you can tell if you're right- or left-brain dominant depending on which colors you see. None other than musical goddess Lizzo shared the meme on Instagram, writing: "I SEE GREY & TEAL BUT MY WHOLE TEAM SEES PINK & WHITE HELP "

According to meme, grey + teal = left-brain dominant, and pink + white = right-brain dominant.

So is the meme legit? Uh, probably not. The whole idea that logical people are left-brain dominant and creative people are right-brain dominant was disproven in a 2013 paper , according to Healthline . The study revealed that the brain doesn't favor one side in particularso the whole premise of the sneaker meme is basically nonexistent. Sorry to burst your bubble. It's still fun to look at, though.

Speaking of which: What color is the shoe, really? Back in 2017, Elle.com asked their photo editor to explain the optical illusion. The shoe is, in fact, pink and white; the color temperature is just off, making the white parts look teal and the pink parts look grey.

"The camera's not reading white as whitethe color temperature is totally off," Mariel Tyler said in the Elle.com story. "It's like when you take a picture when you have a flash on, you will look bluer than you are, because flashes have have a blue tintit's cooler-colored, versus, like, a tungsten light."

So there you go!

Jordyn Taylor