Do you ever get the feeling that you’re having trouble seeing the “bigger picture”? You know, all of those pesky, piercing facts that make it so you can weigh in on every angle of an issue?

Yep, we have that problem, too, especially considering folks these days are just so divisive about everything!

But “bigger picture” social issues aside, there are other times when we sometimes find ourselves questioning whether or not we can actually see everything in front of us. Let us explain…

When we first came across this photo, we were told that we should be able to spot a grand total of twelve dots within the gray intersecting lines. Easy enough, right?

As with all optical illusions — and we’ve shared plenty with you over the years! — we went into the challenge feeling kind of cocky. After all, this wasn’t a math or spatial type of challenge that requires a degree in geometry to solve.

BUT, of course, our cockiness was quickly replaced with shame and confusion after we realized that we could only count six. We blinked our eyes, re-adjusted, and even added a couple of drops of re-wetting solution to our now sticky overworked contact lenses, but we still saw only those six dots— except this time, they lined the top and middle grids instead of the middle and bottom ones.

Of course, we were super confused, but when we read up more on the confounding optical illusion, we were happy to find that we weren’t the only ones having trouble seeing all twelve dots at the same time. Conversely, we were also happy to find that we weren’t in the midst of some mysterious bout of delirium either. Whew!

Apparently, very few people are able to pull off seeing each and every one of the twelve dots at the same time— but some people can!

When this optical illusion first made its rounds on Twitter, plenty of people responded with their experiences spotting the black dots. One Twitter user, @PJCavan, wrote that he, too, had trouble making heads or tails of the illusion, but his better half could.

“My wife can see all 12 just fine,” he wrote. “Is she a witch? Please advise.”

Yikes! Good thing that Puritans didn’t have this visual puzzle back in their witch-hunting days because if they did, we have a feeling that anyone with a good set of peepers would have been burned at the stake!

Interestingly, there were other people who came forward, saying that they were able to see all 12 dots, but one of the stories was kind of suspect…

User @fredfalcone wrote: “Nah, I can see them all well but I’ve had a bottle of wine. Maybe that helps!”

Guess it couldn’t hurt!

Now that you know whether or not you can see all twelve dots at the same time, it’s time for you to learn why you either can or can’t! Just watch the video below to hear what scientists have to say about the phenomenon.

What are your thoughts on this striking optical illusion? Can you see all twelve dots at the same time? Do you know of another similar optical illusion that you would like to share?