How many holes does this t-shirt have? Only one in seven people gets the answer right.

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Why does our brain make so many mistakes?

Our brain loves shortcuts. When faced with a t-shirt, it immediately thinks of the obvious openings: the head, the arms, the bottom. But it tends to ignore a fundamental detail… or rather two: the front and the back.

In this type of puzzle, we focus on what we see first. We forget that the holes go right through the fabric. And that’s precisely where the trap is sprung.

Let’s take the time to count together

Let’s start calmly, without rushing.

  • A hole for the head
  • Two holes for the arms
  • A hole at the bottom for the body

So far, everyone agrees. We therefore arrive at four holes. It is often at this point that many stop… or add the two holes visible on the front of the t-shirt (in the challenge illustration), which brings them to six.

But this reasoning remains incomplete.

The detail that almost everyone forgets

A hole, by definition, passes through a material. If you can see through it, it means there is an entrance and an exit. In other words, a hole visible at the front also exists at the back.

The two holes visible on the front of the t-shirt are therefore also present on the back. We don’t always notice them, because our gaze naturally focuses on what is directly in front of us.

This is where the puzzle becomes really interesting… and the answer takes a turn.