Here's proof that it is not an illusion and is in fact just a matter of physics:
The original image (click to embiggen):
My version of the image (click to embiggen):
Note that the colors are identical, they are just arranged differently. Especially note that the center squares at the bottom are not only the same color, they actually still appear to be about the same color even though they are "surrounded" by different colors.
The truth is that it's not really an "illusion", it's just a matter of reaching the threshold of granularity beyond which individual colors are no longer perceptible and they are "mixed" or "averaged" instead. The exact same principle is at work in your computer monitor and your inkjet printer and nearly every other representation of color in the universe.
Lest you respond with "that only applies to things that are smaller than the resolution of your rods and cones", I must remind you that different wavelengths of light are bent to different degrees by prisms and lenses, and the very first thing that meets light as it hits your eyeball is in fact a lens. As an eyeglass wearer, I can tell you that my eyeglass lenses do that to a degree that is not only perceptible on a much larger scale, it is at times frustrating and aggravating. So yes, the different colors are actually mixed by the lens of your eyeball before it ever gets to your retina, and it is in fact a matter of physics and not only a matter of subjective perception or "how your brain works".
It is interesting to me that the shrunken versions above (before you click on them) exaggerate the effect even further, by making the colors in the spirals appear different than the colors in the original version. (Compare the spiral with the boxes to the right in my version to see what I mean.) That's because the optical properties become more pronounced and the compression algorithm that resizes the images does the same thing digitally that your eyes are doing physically. After all, you can't say "the computer is fooled"; it's just following a set of rules analogous to a lens: Pixels get averaged with their neighbors.
Bottom Line: Don't believe everything you read - especially on the Internet!
The Real Dope: Be cautious of "plausible" explanations. Often people are deliberately leading you astray, but even more often they are just clueless know-it-alls trying to bluff their way into respectability.
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