People who see it as white and gold, this is what is happening. Your brain is interpreting the light part of the dress as being white with a cool shade. Your brain is overcompensating on this. Just like how this house is white and navy, but if you really looked the image colour palette, it is actually just light blue. You just understand that it's only the lighting that is doing that. I ask you what colour it is, you will say white and navy.
People who see it as Blue and Black, you are NOT really seeing black, that is the illusion. Zoom in, look at the palette, you are seeing the brown as black because your brain thinks the brighter part of the image should be a darker blue.
This is why when you see the original dress, its saturated dark blue doesn't surprise you. The actual image doesn't have that colour, but that is what your brain interprets.
It is fascinating. The choices White And Gold, Blue And Black, coupled with knowledge of what it actually is and knowledge of what exposure does, is causing such a heated argument.
"How is it white?"
"How is it black?"
We never hear, "how is it blue?"
Or, "How is it gold?"
The illusion is whether or not our brains decide to assume the light blue should be darker or lighter in better lighting.
My GF is on Black and Blue and from this thread I know it is very hard to see it the other way if that is what she sees the first time, but at the very least I was able to make her understand that the Black lace she sees is not the actual colour.
I think seeing Blue and Brown is important to understanding that it can be seen another way.
It's not about convincing yourself, or trying to understand how the colours can be different. You will be able to see it differently, and when it does you won't be able to explain it. Blue and Black have more scientific backing and they swear by it far more than White and Gold.
I think this is because we are used to calling dark colours "blacks" more in society, as we rarely get to see actual black. Making us less sensitive to changes in dark colours.