International collaboration has been crucial to some of humanity’s greatest achievements. When we combine different perspectives we close the gaps in the bigger picture and fill the different blind spots that every person has.

In an experiment it was discovered that Americans tend to focus on objects, while Japanese people were more likely to register the context in which an object is situated. Each culture has a shared blind spot, but when the two points of view are combined, a fuller picture emerges.

As a small test of your own blindspots, can you work out how many triangles are in the picture below? Ask a friend and see if they can find any that you’ve missed.