A picture of a cat going up and down the stairs at the same time has once again taken the Internet by its claws and divided the online population into two camps: one that says the cat is going up and another that vehemently denies this and says the cat is obviously going down.
A quick first look at the black and white image will have you thinking that the cat is going down, with the edges of the step and the bright patch of wall behind the cat. Spend a little more time staring at the picture and you would think your eyes are playing tricks on you when you start seeing the cat going up, and the ground is lit up by a source of light somewhere beyond the picture.
The picture, which was posted on 9gag, has generated nearly 4,000 comments by netizens who have suddenly morphed into cat and stairs connoisseurs, weighing in with their own "expert" opinion on whether the picture above shows the cat is climbing up the stairs or going down.
One user says the cat is going "down for two reasons, one architectural and the other biological." He explains that the "tiles and mosaic" used on the stairs "are traditionally facing the person coming up the stairs which they are here. And second, look at the cats tail - its facing upwards, or the opposite of the direction its moving in. If the cat were to go up the stairs, its tail would point downwards."
Another user agrees, pointing out the squares on the side of the stairs indicate that the cat is indeed going down.
"Look at the left as you see the picture," the user says. "You can see [the] rectangles following the stairs. If [the] cat was going up, that means that these [do] not line perfectly with the stairs. Going down, though, they are placed perfectly with the stairs. [...] That is how the architecture of stairs are 99 percent of the time."
Team Cat Is Going Up is not about to let their rivals win the never-ending debate.
"Captain here. The cat is going up, the tail is used to balance the body and, in this case, the tail is elevated upwards so that when the cat uses its rear legs to push up, it pushes parallel to the line on which gravity is working on the tail to stabilize itself, the tail is not perfectly in line with the line on which gravity is acting in the photo due to the movement to stabilize the body," argues another user.
Once again, a cat has taken over the Internet. Which side are you on?
"Doesn't matter," says one user. "This cat is going places, that's for sure."
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Photo: Charlyn Wee | Flickr
