There's a paradox in our ability to pay attention. When we are hyper-focused on our surroundings, our senses become more acutely aware of the signals they pick up. But sometimes when we are paying attention, we miss things in our sensory field that are so glaringly obvious, on a second look we can’t help but question the legitimacy of our perception.
Back in 1999, the psychologist Daniel Simons created a clever scenario that poignantly demonstrates this phenomenon. (Test it yourself in less than two minutes by watching Simons’ video here, which we recommend before the spoiler below.)
