Visual illusions offer a fun behind-the-scenes glimpse at how our brains work and their limitations. For example, you might see a simple image of two faces side by side, as if about to kiss, and struggle to find any hidden symbols or messages in the picture. Once you realize the image can just as easily be seen as the silhouette of a vase or candle, your eyes immediately find it. You simply get “locked in” to the way your brain originally perceived it, and for a while it’s difficult to see it any other way. The classic “Rubin Vase” illusion. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons This phenomenon isn’t restricted to the way our eyes and brains perceive visual images. Simple, everyday tasks or problems can have the same effect. Sometimes, a challenge seems frustrating, difficult, or even impossible when the blindingly simple solution is right in front of us the entire time. These “duh” moments can take an embarrassingly long time—years, even—to occur to us. But we’re all equally guilty of overlooking the obvious from time to time. Thankfully, some brave souls on social media are sharing their most embarrassing “duh” moments so the rest of us don’t feel so alone. 1. You can wait for the shower to warm up before getting in A user on Reddit bared their soul with this one: “I didn’t realise you can warm up the shower before you get in for years. Nobody told me the proper procedure so for years I would turn it on while I’m inside already, then kinda hide in the corner while I wait for it to warm up.” Surprisingly, they’re not the only ones. While there’s a whole subset of people who believe a few minutes of cold water does the body good, there’s another—perhaps larger—group of people who simply never realized waiting for the water to heat up was an option. @lammylami the shower was not on ♬ Fields in the Rain – Spirit Twin 2. You’re allowed to separate bunches of bananas at the grocery store Another poster was eternally frustrated that the store never seemed to have a bunch of bananas in quite the right size. It was always either too few or too many. It took them years to realize there was an incredibly simple solution: “I didn’t realize until I was 25yo that you were allowed to rip apart banana bunches at the grocery store to get the amount you want. I always thought you were required to grab a bunch that had the exact amount you wanted.” 3. Turn the electric toothbrush on once it’s in your mouth A viral post on X had everyone laughing at the thought of specks of toothpaste flying across the bathroom: “When I was 18 I bought an electric tooth brush. I would apply paste to the bristles, turn it on and try to shove it in my mouth as fast as possible without slinging the paste everywhere. One morning, my then girlfriend looked at me and asked ‘why don’t you turn it on after you put it in your mouth?’ Top 5 dumbest feeling I’ve ever felt in my life.” There’s an easier way to brush your teeth. Photo credit: Canva 4. A double scoop of ice cream can be two different flavors One person had been living their entire life under the crushing weight of wanting to try multiple flavors of ice cream but not being able to—until it hit them: “[Recently I learned] that if you order a double scoop of ice cream, it doesn’t have to be the same flavor for both scoops. I grew up poor and never had double scoops as an option. I learned this a few weeks ago and I’m 47.” 5. Scraping the dishes before washing them makes cleaning less disgusting Another Redditor admitted they dreaded doing the dishes because of all the soggy chunks of food floating around in the water: “It only recently occurred to me that I can use a dry paper towel to wipe away the bulk of the filth straight into the garbage can making doing dishes notably less disgusting. Why’d it take me so long to think of that?” 6. A dull box cutter blade can be saved There’s nothing more annoying than digging your box cutter out of the junk drawer or toolbox and finding it dull past the point of use. If you’re like this X user and aren’t in the mood to sharpen it, you might be overlooking a far easier way to fix it: Flip it over. “I threw away 3 box cutters before i figured out you can not only flip the blade when it gets dull but you can replace it too…..” 7. You can (usually) lift up the stove grates, or even the entire top Cleaning the stove is a gross, annoying job. It’s made even worse when you’re unwittingly doing it on hard mode, like this person’s daughter-in-law, who must have been painstakingly scrubbing between the grates: “I was cleaning the kitchen and had the stove top lifted up, my sons wife walked around the corner and was like ‘what the hell? I didn’t know stoves did that!! They need to teach these things in high school!'” 8. There’s an easier way to fill the coffee maker How do you make sure you’ve added the right amount of water to the coffee maker before brewing? For some, it can be a painstaking, one-cup-at-a-time process—until they realize there’s an easier way: “I used to always pour water into our coffee maker one glass at a time. It was such a pain … especially to fill the reservoir to the number of cups I wanted. Until I realized I could just fill the carafe with water, which has the exact same measurements, and pour the water in that way.” “My coworker, in the first week of work, picked up the whole damn coffee maker and brought it over to the water cooler to fill it up. The whole. Coffee. Maker. He unplugged it and carried it across the office. Outstanding.” 9. Small cats can fit through big holes Once upon a time, there was a busy man whose cats were always interrupting his work. He wanted them to be able to come and go through the door as they pleased without bothering him, so he cut two holes in it: One large hole for the mother cat, and one smaller hole for the kittens. It wasn’t until a carpenter pointed it out to him that he realized the smaller cats could just…go through the big hole. This “duh” moment is alleged to have happened to Sir Isaac Newton, who—legend has it—went on to invent the cat flap. The story is likely apocryphal, but it’s probably based on some kernel of truth. So, if it can happen to one of the smartest astronomers, physicists, and mathematicians who ever lived, you definitely shouldn’t feel bad the next time you realize you’ve been struggling with a problem that has a laughably obvious solution. The post People admit their most embarrassing ‘duh’ moments that took them years to figure out appeared first on Upworthy.