A fascinating video from the YouTube channel Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell has left viewers stunned as it unpacks the surprising science behind how we perceive reality—and how our brains actually ‘blind’ us for around two hours every single day.

“You’re not living in the moment you think you are,” the narrator says. “Your brain constructs your reality as you experience it. It edits your memories in real time, operates in different time spheres, and tells you a version of the world that simply feels real.”

One surprising detail? We only see a tiny, thumbnail-sized portion of our visual field in full detail. Everything else is blurry and unclear—until the brain fills in the gaps.

To do this, our eyes perform rapid movements called saccades—three to four times per second—each lasting about 50 milliseconds. During these micro-movements, your brain essentially turns off your vision to avoid motion blur.

But your brain doesn’t just black out those moments—it guesses what should have happened during that gap and stitches the pieces together to create what feels like seamless reality.

The video continues: “Your brain takes a moment to process, then invents a version of the present. What you feel as ‘now’ is actually a carefully edited playback of the past.”

The mind-bending revelation sparked big reactions in the YouTube comment section.

One viewer wrote:

“I actually find this comforting. The idea that my conscious self is just one part of a larger system working to support me makes me feel less alone. It’s like my brain is a lifelong friend doing its best.”

Another joked:

“Now when someone tells me to live in the moment, I can say I’m in the past, present, and future. Got’em!”