Alex Rosenthal

So in 2015, a bride-to-be uploaded a picture of a dress to the internet.

And we all lost our minds.

If you see this as blue and black, say, team blue.

Team blue!

If you see this as white and gold, how?

How do you see that as white and gold?

Ah.

Why does this break our brains so much?

It's because it puts us into confrontation with the fact that two minds can perceive the same reality entirely differently.

I'd like to talk to you about two things.

One, our minds are much more different than we think.

And two, you should seek out minds that are different than your own, because that's where the magic happens.

I get to work with a lot of diverse minds by virtue of what I do.

I write and produce scripts for animation on a wide variety of topics, and I create puzzles and games.

And a few years ago, I had my own dress moment, where I realized that my brain works differently than almost everyone I know, and I'd like to show you how.

So if you'll indulge me for a second, please visualize the following.

You can do it with your eyes open or closed, whichever gives you the most vivid mental imagery.

A rocket ship crash lands on an alien planet, a creature comes up to the hatch and knocks, and someone opens it from within.

So now I'm going to ask you some questions about what you just saw.

What color was the planet?