balabs · the internet’s experiment lab
Your brain is
fooling you.
42 short experiments, 42 published studies. Join in seconds and see where your answer lands in the crowd.
83 responses
The first number that comes to mind
Over four short rounds you pick numbers, hunt for the least-chosen one and guess the crowd's favorite. How unpredictable do you think you are?
Rising this weekFeel 10 seconds
How precise is your inner clock? Try to hit 10, 3 and 20 seconds without counting, then keep a one-per-second beat, and see whether your error grows with the duration.
Rising this weekBouba or kiki?
Can a made-up word have a shape, or even a size? Match sounds to shapes over four short rounds; the crowd's answer may be surprising for Turkish.
Among this month’s most playedHow many candies are in the jar?
On its own, your guess is probably off; but what happens when hundreds of guesses come together? And does changing your mind after seeing the crowd actually help?
Among this month’s most playedName the color, not the word
Stopping yourself from reading is harder than you think: your brain has already read the word, whether you want it to or not. What changes when you flip the task, and when you race the clock?
The Linda problem
Linda, Bill, and a health survey: across four short scenarios, will your intuition win, or the simplest rule of probability?
Mavi or lacivert?
In Turkish, where does 'mavi' (blue) end and 'lacivert' (navy) begin? Find your own boundary with nine shades, and see how the same shade changes against different backgrounds.
Among this month’s most playedWhich line is longer?
Matching two lines looks easy, until arrowheads, rails, and surrounding circles get involved. We measure how much your eyes are fooled in four illusions.
How fast are you?
There is a gap between the moment your eye sees something and the moment your finger moves, and it grows as the options multiply. But can you stop yourself when you need to?
Two frames, one decision
Same numbers, different words. Are the numbers making your decision, or the way they are told?
The color of the crowd
Eight colored circles arranged in a ring appear for one second and disappear. Sometimes we ask for the average color of the set, sometimes for the color of a single circle. How does your visual system summarize a crowd?
NewWould you share?
If the other person refuses, you both walk away empty-handed. How generous, and how stubborn, are you?
Spot the change
The scene flickers back and forth; the difference is right in front of you, yet seeing it can sometimes take half a minute. Try change blindness for yourself.
Heads or tails: can you be random?
Being random looks easy, but whether people are imitating coin flips or predicting them, they almost always leave the same fingerprint.
The wheel and the guess
First the wheel spins, then you estimate. The wheel's number has nothing to do with the answer; but is your estimate really unaware of it?
Remember the spot
Three colored dots appear and disappear one by one; then you tap where each one was. Where does your memory shift the dots: toward the middle of the circle's quadrants, toward the center, or toward the edge?
NewTwo-thirds of the average
Everyone picks a number, and the winner is whoever comes closest to two-thirds of the average. The real question: how many steps ahead is everyone else thinking?
Rebuild the shape
A shape appears on the screen for 2.5 seconds and disappears; you rebuild it in the same place, at the same angle and the same size. Where does memory pull angles, sizes and positions?
NewHow many people are like you?
Tea or coffee, sea or mountains? Six choices and one question: are there as many people who think like you as you assume? Try the false consensus effect on yourself.
The coin-flip bet
Tails, you lose 100 TL; heads, you win more. How much does the gain have to outweigh the loss before you take a bet?
Fix the pattern
Study the grid, then after a brief blank screen find the tiles that moved and put them back. No color disappears, only what is where changes; how well can your memory keep track of it?
NewThree doors
Three doors, one car, two goats. First a single game, then 10 quick games and 100 doors: test for yourself the question that has infuriated even mathematicians.
Find the odd shade
First measure your hue and lightness thresholds in ΔE, then in level mode the grid grows while the difference shrinks: how many levels can you clear?
NewVolunteer's dilemma
If someone says 'I'll do it', everyone wins and the volunteer loses a little; if no one does, everyone drops to zero. Who will step forward in 20 seconds?
The bat and the ball
Seven questions that look easy. The real trap is that they look easy.
Hold the time
The screen fills with color from the bottom up; then it is your turn: lift your finger the moment you think the same time has passed. Across five durations, do you stretch the short ones and shorten the long ones?
NewNow or later?
Compare 1000 TL today with larger amounts a week, a month and a year from now; measure the price of your patience and your present bias.
How many dots?
We see three dots at a glance, but we estimate thirty. Measure how many you can count at a glance and how far off your estimates are.
Find the target
Some targets pop out of the crowd; others have to be searched for one by one. Measure the speed and limits of your visual search.
Remember the color
Hold a full-screen color in mind for three seconds, then rebuild it with hue, saturation and brightness sliders. Where does memory shift the color?
NewThe trust game
The money you send is tripled, but whether any of it comes back is up to the other person's conscience. In this game, you are both the one who trusts and the one who is trusted.
Meeting point
First pick whatever you like, then try to give the same answer as everyone else to the same questions. How well does a silent crowd meet?
Mirror or not?
The more a letter tilts, the more your mind seems to actually turn it. How fast do you rotate letters, shapes, and images under time pressure?
Digit memory
The digits flash by one at a time. How many can you type back without mixing up the order, and how many are left when you type them in reverse?
Match the pitch
First measure the smallest pitch difference you can hear between two tones, then match five tones by ear after a short silence. Headphones recommended.
NewFour cards
Four cards, one rule. In psychology's most famous logic puzzle, most people turn over the wrong cards; but move the same logic into a bar scene and things change.
Live crowd
Three questions, two rounds: first guess on your own, then see the room's guesses and update. Is a crowd that can see itself any wiser?
Visual memory
Nine squares, one flashing sequence. When you memorize places instead of digits, how many steps can your memory carry?
The common pot
Every token in the pot grows, but it is split equally among everyone. If everyone contributes, everyone wins; whoever contributes alone loses. What will your group do over eight rounds?
The minority game
The minority wins; but where is the minority when everyone is trying to be in it? Stay one step ahead of the crowd over 10 rounds in a live room.
How sure are you?
Ten questions, and for each one a lower and upper bound you are 90 percent sure about. We measure not what you know, but how well you know what you don't know.
The big counter
One button, one counter. If two people press in the same second, the counter resets. Can a crowd that cannot talk learn to take turns on its own?
You first. Then science.
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Each experiment takes about a minute. No sign-up, no names. Just go with your first instinct.
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Your answer lands next to thousands of others. You see right away where you stand in the crowd.
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Every experiment is based on published research. The science box explains why the result came out the way it did.
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- #00016 joined The first number that comes to mind2 hours ago
- #00015 joined The wheel and the guess2 hours ago
- #00015 joined The coin-flip bet2 hours ago
- #00015 joined Spot the change2 hours ago
- #00010 joined The Linda problem3 hours ago
- #00010 joined Which line is longer?3 hours ago
- #00010 joined Heads or tails: can you be random?3 hours ago
- #00002 joined How many people are like you?3 hours ago
All experiments.
Experiment indexBouba or kiki?
Can a made-up word have a shape, or even a size? Match sounds to shapes over four short rounds; the crowd's answer may be surprising for Turkish.
How many candies are in the jar?
On its own, your guess is probably off; but what happens when hundreds of guesses come together? And does changing your mind after seeing the crowd actually help?
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Go to the forumFindings.
AllAs experiments reach enough responses, we write up the results here and compare them with the research.
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