This is not just another viral Facebook post (though we wouldn’t mind if you all shared this to make it one). Your ability to read this message reveals something fascinating about the human mind. The message below – written as scrambled letters – suggests that only “strong minds” can read it. The fact is… just about everyone can read it.
It’s still amazing though.
According to Jon Andoni Duñabeitia, who is part of a team of cognitive scientists who wrote five papers on the subject, interpreting passages like this barely activates the section of the brain associated with numbers. Rather, our brain treats the numbers as letters based on their similar appearance.
In his interview with Business Insider, Duñabeitia notes that, “For your brain, it’s not a number in a word, it’s a wrongly written or strangely written letter… You are in this mode of tolerance that allows for small distortions in the identity of the letters.”
Try it out for yourself:
7H15 M3554G3
53RV35 7O PR0V3
H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N
D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5!
1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5!
1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG
17 WA5 H4RD BU7
N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3
Y0UR M1ND 1S
R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY
W17H0U7 3V3N
7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17,
B3 PROUD! 0NLY
C3R741N P30PL3 C4N
R3AD 7H15!
PL3453 F0RW4RD 1F
U C4N R34D 7H15.
Were you able to read it?
There may be some truth that some people are better at reading messages like this (commonly known as ‘leet speak‘). For example, younger people who have had computers throughout their lives with endless typographical choices may find it second nature. Alternatively, an older person who is more familiar with standardized cursive writing could have more trouble deciphering the message.
