HardLateral
"On me, going up forever never gets you higher. Going down forever never gets you lower. I exist in art but not in physics. What am I?"
Answer
An Escher Staircase (Penrose Steps)
Explanation
The Penrose steps, made famous by M.C. Escher's lithograph 'Ascending and Descending', depicts a staircase that appears to continuously ascend or descend in a loop — an impossible object that exists in two-dimensional art but cannot be built in three-dimensional reality.
This is a hard riddle in the Lateral Thinking category — Riddles that require thinking completely outside the box.
Tags:lateralartmaths
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More Lateral Riddles
Keep going — other riddles in this category:
- I have cities but no houses live there. I have mountains but no trees grow. I have water but no fish swim. I have roads but no cars drive. What am I?
- When does tomorrow come before yesterday?
- What is at the end of a rainbow?
- I make your left hand your right hand and your right hand your left. I show you yourself but not as others see you. What am I?
- What has no beginning, no middle, and no end?
- The more it dries, the wetter it becomes. What is it?